By their fruits ye shall know them

One thing is important: the polarization into sides is, in our time, visible. Not that the battle is close or far ahead—but that the sides are being drawn…We know the signs by which the Devil can be identified; they have been familiar for millenniums. Are these signs presently visible? Are they in evidence? We see hatred, cruelty, violence, on all sides. We see each nation preparing itself, girding its loins, to destroy whosoever stands to its left or right. Naked, brute force, the power of the armed fist, has emerged within every nation of the earth: the disguise of international law is gone. And naked force is the sign by which ye shall know him—the Evil One branded by the mark of God, cast out of Heaven, hurled into the lake of fire! Does any man in his sane mind imagine that in the Final Battle, God’s standard will be carried forward by nuclear weapons, armored tanks and strike aircraft? Does any man believe that He Who made this universe could also manufacture mustard gas and bacteriological warfare? By their fruits ye shall know them. The mark is upon them! Pretense is gone—the filthy, hairy shape stands naked for all to see. He calls them in his own name, and to that name they respond. There is no shame, no horror: they have made their choice. They will fight for him, and when he falls for the second death, they will fall beside him. - Adapted from Voice from the street by Philip K. Dick Trust, 2007.