Alea Iacta Est
On the 10th of January, 49 BC, Julius Caesar made the fateful, irreversible decision to cross the Rubicon river in Northern Italy in defiance of the Senate of what was then known as the Roman Republic. This intrusion was seen as a hostile attack, and it triggered a civil war that ultimately saw the fall of the Roman Republic and the establishment of the Roman Empire.
On that fateful day, when Julius made the decision to cross the Rubicon and launch a maelstrom of events that he was well aware would lead to either victory or death, it is reported that he uttered the following words:
Alea iacta est!
"The die is cast!" Indeed. There was no turning back, and Julius and his men knew it. These words went down in history, and are sometimes invoked when a situation reaches the point of no return.
And it is these words that echo in my mind as I see the United States on the brink of a presidential election that will unquestionably lead this country down one of two radically different paths, and for a variety of reasons I feel strongly that, in a real sense, it is a point of no return for a country that our national anthem hails as "the land of the free and the home of the brave."
It is exquisitely ironic that the title of this article is connected to the Roman Empire, which adopted Christianity as its official state religion in the fourth century and then saw that official state religion begin to metastasize into the malignant tumor that became today's Roman Catholic Church.
The reason I say that is because the spark that ignited this article came from the pen of a notorious maverick within the Roman Catholic Church who has become a royal pain in the vestments for the highest levels of leadership in the RCC* from the pope on down.
*Note: With all due respect to any of my brothers and sisters in Christ who identify as Catholic, I feel compelled to refrain from referring to the Roman Catholic Church as "the Church" because I don't wish to cause confusion. When I say "the Church," I mean the body of Christ, or the invisible body of all born-again believers in the gospel of Jesus Christ, regardless of their denominational affiliations. The problem is that it has become far too easy for some to think of the Roman Catholic Church as a man-made organization with only superficial connections to the gospel and rightly divided biblical doctrine, and which has become little more than an apostate monstrosity that hides behind a religious façade and devotes itself to amassing wealth and wielding political power and control over the populace for reasons that have little to do with the Word of God. So to avoid confusion in this article, I will often use the abbreviated form "the RCC" instead of "the Church" when referring to the Roman Catholic Church. If you happen to be a born-again believer who identifies as a member of the Roman Catholic Church, no problemo. I'm not condemning anyone who does so...I just want to be 100 percent clear.
According to information at Wikipedia, Carlo Maria Viganò is an 83-year-old Catholic archbishop from Varese, Italy who served as the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States from 2011 to 2016, and also served as the secretary-general of the Governate of Vatican City State from 2009 to 2011.
Viganò is known for publicizing the Vatican leaks scandal of 2012 (aka "Vatileaks"), a scandal involving financial corruption and money laundering within the RCC under Pope Benedict XVI.
In 2018, Viganò released a letter that accused Pope Francis and other high-ranking RCC officials of concealing and going soft on accusations of sexual misconduct by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who faced substantive charges of having sexually abused a 16-year-old altar boy in 1971–1972. According to Viganò, Pope Benedict had imposed sanctions against McCarrick; however, Pope Francis had not only failed to impose those sanctions, he actually elevated McCarrick to a high-level advisory position. As a result, Viganò called on Pope Francis to resign.
After several years of vicious infighting within the upper echelon of the RCC, in 2024 Viganò was charged with "schism," which is officially defined as a rejection of communion with certain authorities within the RCC. This lies just a notch below heresy, which is a rejection of any doctrine the RCC considers essential. Then in July 2024, Viganò was excommunicated—the most severe penalty the RCC can inflict on any Catholic individual.
To the surprise of no one, ever since that time Viganò has either been excoriated as a right-wing, conspiracy-spouting nutjob or praised as a heroic, outspoken beacon of common sense and what is good and right, depending on which side of the fence someone happens to be on.
And I trust you've already guessed which side of that fence I'm on.
Much to his credit, however, Viganò was just getting warmed up.
So...at this point, you may be wondering what's so special about an excommunicated archbishop, and how and why he figures into this article. And the answer might surprise you:
Before God, Carlo Viganò is the only person associated with the RCC I've ever known that I can honestly say is one of my personal heroes.
Just like me: If you've read very many of my articles, you know that I give no quarter to the Roman Catholic Church. I treasure the integrity of God's Word far too much to do otherwise. But although I may sound harsh at times, know that it's directed at the organization, not every individual person within that organization. I am keenly aware that there are many good people in the Roman Catholic Church who love and honor God, glorify Christ, and have trusted in His work of atonement for their salvation. Just like me.
On October 25 of this year, Carlo Viganò published an open letter that appeared on certain news websites and that was addressed to all American Catholics in regard to the upcoming election and its two candidates, Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris. And listen up:
I want everyone reading this to promise me they will follow the above link and take 5–10 minutes to read that letter from start to finish.
It's positively nuclear...and if it were a tad shorter, I would have simply posted it in its entirety right here in this article. But I decided to just quote a number of passages from it and comment and elaborate on some of what Viganò has to say about the upcoming election, the decision that Americans face, and the consequences thereof.
I will be the first to admit that this is a rather unusual article for me. But after reading this open letter from Viganò, I truly felt led to share with you some of the things this man has to say along with some comments and observations of my own, because what this man has to say goes out to all born-again believers in America, certainly not just Catholics.
And I can say this with all honesty and sincerity:
Carlo Viganò, this excommunicated archbishop,
didn't just read my mind—he read my heart.
And believe me...I worked my tail off to get this article posted at least a few days before the election, because I wish I could get every American to read what Viganò has to say, no matter who they plan to vote for...or even if they are not planning to vote at all.
Because if they do read his letter, they just might have a change of heart.
A peek at the letter
As I said, what I basically want to do here is quote and comment on a number of select passages from Viganò's letter to American Catholics, and I'm going to start off with part of his opening remarks:
I am addressing all of you, a few days before the Presidential Election that will call millions of American citizens to the polls.
Even in conditions of relative normality, the exercise of the vote is your moral duty, through which you cooperate in the first person in choosing the person who will lead the Nation for the next four years.
But in this coming electoral round—just as in 2020 and indeed much more so—you are not simply called to choose between two candidates who happen to be on different political sides but who both nevertheless have the common good at heart in compliance with the Constitution and the Law.
No; in this election you must choose between two radically opposed ways of conceiving the government of your Nation: you are called to choose between democracy and dictatorship, between freedom and slavery. [That pretty well sets the tone of the letter.]
(emphasis in original, [comments] added)
— Carlo Viganò: Open Letter to American Catholics [Source]
From the very start, Viganò doesn't mince words. He let's you know right off the bat what he sees as being at stake in this election:
It's democracy or dictatorship—freedom or slavery.
And Viganò cuts to the chase:
On one side we have candidate Donald J. Trump, who, despite serious problems in his positions—especially in the matter of abortion and assisted procreation—has as his objective the common good and the protection of the fundamental freedoms of citizens. [Note that throughout his letter, Viganò is brutally honest—he never once tries to whitewash what he sees as Trump's failings or shortcomings as a political leader.]
In Donald Trump's America, every Catholic can practice their Faith and educate their children in it without interference from the State. [Naturally, Viganò is constantly focusing specifically on Catholics, but I can forgive him for that. What he says applies to all born-again believers.]
On the other side we have a candidate and a party that promotes everything that directly opposes the Faith and Morals of the Catholic Church. [Make that "of all born-again believers."]
In Kamala Harris' America, Catholics—but also Protestants [thanks, Carlo]—are considered fundamentalists to be marginalized and eliminated, and their children are considered the property of the State, which arrogates to itself the right to lead them astray from an early age in both body and soul. [See my question below.]
Trump's America can become great and prosperous again. Harris' America is destined for invasion and for moral, social, and economic destruction: the most ferocious dictatorship.
Look at your country! Your cities have become dumps filled with derelicts and criminals, drug dealers and addicts, prostitutes and robbers. [And a large percentage of them have waltzed through our Southern border (which was secure under Trump) over the last four years while Kamala "The Border Czar" Harris cackled and looked the other way.] Your schools are dense with indoctrination and corruption from kindergarten onwards.
(emphasis & [comments] added)
— Carlo Viganò: Open Letter to American Catholics [Source]
Yes, young children. Please explain to me how this is right...how this is good...how this is something that we should allow in our country.
Q. What kind of government would allow the state to remove a child from their parents' care if those parents wisely and protectively refused to allow that child to undergo permanently life-damaging treatment and/or surgery because their minds have been temporarily filled with perverted but alluring gender fantasies by teachers they trust?
A. To find out, vote for Kamala Harris and stand by.
And man-made climate change? YES!! Viganò gets it:
They have gone so far as to tamper with the climate by means of sophisticated geoengineering operations and devastating arson in order to make the global warming fraud credible and impose the green transition, the increase in the cost of energy, and electric cars and scooters. [No? Ask people from Maui about lasers and blue roofs. And then be prepared to have Google inundate you with hysterical claims that it's all just a bunch of lunatic conspiracy theories.]
And all this is done based on evidence that consists of lies without any scientific proof, but which are propagated through the servile collaboration of the regime media, ever ready to label any dissenters as conspiracy theorists. [There is in fact scientific evidence that man-made climate change has no basis in fact, but good luck trying to disseminate it and getting people to open their eyes and look at it...or get funding for any research to further support it.]
(emphasis & [comments] added)
— Carlo Viganò: Open Letter to American Catholics [Source]
I was extremely gratified to see that Viganò gets the man-made climate change hoax, because I get sick and tired of having people look at me as if I had a couple of screws loose when I tell them about this stuff...as if I were the only one in the world who believed such a laughable idea.
This is a biggie, because this is the boogie man that the left hopes to use to force the world to kowtow to a powerful global government.
No other way: A terrifying global problem that threatens life on earth as we know it and that is far beyond the abilities of any one country to deal with. The solution? Isn't it obvious?! A global government, of course!
And anyone who doesn't toe the line on this global government idea is endangering the lives of all of mankind and will need to be silenced and removed...otherwise we'll all be dead by 2030!!!
That's the magic year: 2030. It's do or die!
Viganò also gets the deep state:
In these four disastrous years of the Biden-Harris administration, we have had a puppet in the White House and a corrupt and incompetent Vice President who has never stopped lying and deceiving voters about her past and her future. [Never stopped lying and cackling, that is. After watching a clip from a recent interview of Harris, it occurred to me that Kamala's cackling was a signal to the interviewer that means "I don't have the faintest idea how to answer that question, so just be nice and cackle along with me and just change the subject."]
Power is managed by the criminal deep state—whose names and faces we now know—that is responsible for the destruction of your great Nation. [Chief among them, one Barack Hussein Obama: The first president in American history to continue living in Washington after his official tenure as president ended. And it doesn't take a genius to figure out why.]
(emphasis & [comments] added)
— Carlo Viganò: Open Letter to American Catholics [Source]
He's 100 percent right: Kamala Harris has been lying to the American public for four years. You expect that to stop if she gets elected president?
Do something, will ya? I actually hesitate to call Kamala Harris incompetent. Why? Because it seems to me that a person would have to actually attempt to do something—and then do it poorly—before being judged incompetent. Kamala Harris hasn't done a blessed thing except cackle in fake accents...but she's competent at that!
Viganò knows that Kamala Harris is completely enmeshed in the deep state world, just like our old friends Barack Obama, Bill and Hillary Clinton, George Soros, Klaus Schwab, Bill Gates, and many others. And he knows that Donald Trump is ready to do everything in his power to pull the plug on their plans for the U.S. and the world:
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris: we are not talking about two visions that are a bit different but still part of the normal political back-and-forth. [In other words, the American people need to wake up to the fact that we have left the world of politics as usual. This is something very different.]
No; we are talking about two diametrically opposed and irreconcilable worlds, in which Trump fights against the deep state and is committed to freeing America from its tentacled grip, while on the opposite side we have a corrupt and blackmailed candidate, an organic part of the deep state, who acts as a puppet in the hands of warmongers like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, of self-proclaimed "philanthropists" like the criminals George Soros and Klaus Schwab, or of characters like Jeffrey Epstein and Sean Combs. [A good, accurate summary.]
Their program is that of the Global Left, the World Economic Forum, [founded by the above-mentioned Klaus Schwab] the Rockefeller Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and ultimately the program of Vanguard, BlackRock, and State Street. [State Street is associated with the WEF.]
(emphasis & [comments] added)
— Carlo Viganò: Open Letter to American Catholics [Source]
Here Viganò really gets to where the rubber meets the road:
Behind these people—by now we should know this—are people devoted to evil, united by the satanic hatred against Our Lord Jesus Christ and those who believe in Him, mainly against the Catholic faithful. [Sorry Carlo, but I'm gonna have to follow a different tack on that one. This is certainly not focused "mainly against the Catholic faithful." It is focused on all those who love, honor, and worship the God of the Bible and lift up the name of Jesus—the name that is above every name!]
We want Christ to reign, and we proclaim it with pride: Christ is King! [But I'm with you 100 percent on that one, Carlo!] They want the Antichrist to reign, whose tyranny is made of chaos, war, disease, famine, and death. [Not sure if Viganò intended it that way, but that sounds an awful lot like the seal judgments of Revelation 6 in the first part of the Tribulation.]
(emphasis & [comments] added)
— Carlo Viganò: Open Letter to American Catholics [Source]
Viganò makes it crystal clear that he understands that Trump has his flaws and failings, but in spite of that he urgently makes the case for casting one's vote for him in this election:
Candidate Donald J. Trump, while certainly taking some serious critical positions that a Catholic cannot agree with, represents for us, dear American faithful, in this specific historical moment, the only possible choice to counter the globalist coup that the woke Left is about to implement definitively, irreparably, and with incalculable damage for future generations. [Again, not cutting Trump any slack on moral or biblical issues, but urging believers to vote for him anyway in view of the terrifying alternative.]
Voting for Donald Trump means firmly distancing ourselves from an anti-Catholic, anti-Christian and anti-human vision of society. It means stopping those who want to create a hellish dystopia that is even worse than the one announced by George Orwell.
(emphasis in original, [comments] added)
— Carlo Viganò: Open Letter to American Catholics [Source]
Viganò wraps it up by getting back to what is most important:
I repeat: the choice is between a conservative President, who is paying with his very life for his fight against the deep state, and an infernal monster who obeys Satan.
For a Catholic, there can be no question: voting for Kamala Harris is morally inadmissible and constitutes a very serious sin. Nor is it morally possible to abstain, because in this war declaring oneself neutral means allying oneself with the enemy. [Bravissimo! Extremely few people have the courage to say what should be obvious to any born-again believer: If you are in Christ, there is simply no way to justify voting for Kamala Harris. None. It's that simple in the eyes of Carlo Viganò...and in my eyes as well.]
People around the world are beginning to understand the threat that looms over them and their children's future, and you Americans have understood it too. But even if this time it will be more difficult for the deep state to repeat the fraud of 2020, you must not think that it will resign itself to defeat so easily. [He knows as well as I do that the 2020 election was stolen through fraud, and this one may be as well. After all, the Democrats had four years to develop the techniques used in 2020, and they've had four more years to develop new and improved techniques.]
Let us therefore prepare to prevent possible attacks and civil war scenarios from being used to impose martial law and new restrictions, after the attempts on his life from which President Trump providentially escaped.
But let us not forget, dear Faithful, that human energies alone are powerless in the face of this infernal display of forces. We proclaim that Christ is King—this means that Our Lord must return to reign, and the first way to make Him reign is by obeying His holy Law and living in His Grace. [Yes! Christ is King! And yes...He will return to reign! And He will probably return to reign a lot sooner than Carlo Viganò or any other Catholic imagines. Sadly, Roman Catholic eschatology is a royal postmillennial mess.]
Let Christ reign in your hearts, in your families, in your communities, and throughout the entire United States of America: this is the only way to peace, harmony, and prosperity for your Nation.
Think of how many of you Catholics there are in the United States! Vote without hesitation, and pray that Our Lord will enlighten American citizens in making their choice and grant victory to those who, at least, have no problem proclaiming that Christ is Lord. [Yes! Christ is Lord, regardless of any wisecracks that emanate from the mouth of Kamala Harris.]
May God bless you all, and may the Virgin of Guadalupe, she who is the Patroness of the United States and all the Americas, and Saint Michael the Archangel, protect you. [Guadawho?! Oh well...no matter how right he may be about what's going on in the world, he's still a Roman Catholic. <8^]
(emphasis in original, [comments] added)
— Carlo Viganò: Open Letter to American Catholics [Source]
When a couple of people in the crowd began shouting "Christ is King!" and "Jesus is Lord!" at a recent Kamala Harris rally, Kamala quipped:
"I think you guys are at the wrong rally..."
The crowd cheered and howled with laughter, but I believe Kamala's words had a deeper significance. Actually, a Kamala Harris rally is one of the best places on earth to shout out praises to Christ the King. But at the same time, it is a sad truth that if you want to honor Christ as Lord, you will certainly not be welcome at a Kamala Harris event.
One minor thing to note about Viganò's letter:
The Virgin of Guadaloopy: As I'm sure you're aware, Roman Catholicism has legions of saints that they worship and lots of man-made beliefs and rituals that have been added to and are often contrary to or incompatible with the clear teachings of God's Word—and I'm not going to waste my time digging into any of that. I will just say this: As much as I respect him and agree with him on many things, Carlo Viganò is still a Roman Catholic and as such still adheres to all of the religious folderol that the RCC wallows in and is famous for. I'm sure Viganò was raised to take all of that very seriously, and I doubt that will ever change. So be it. And so although I may disagree with him on all the RCC rigamarole, I still recognize him as a bold, brutally honest, clear-thinking man who is not afraid to speak the truth in the face of persecution and who refuses to become mired in the political games that characterize and abound throughout the upper echelons of leadership within the Roman Catholic Church. And for that, he has my undying respect and remains one of my personal heroes, Virgin of Guadalupe or no Virgin of Guadalupe.
OK, but what about that decision America is about to make?
Cast your die
If Christ is going to
return soon to make
the world great again,
then why vote for this
foul-mouthed narcissist
with ridiculous hair?
America is about to make a decision filled to the brim with critical issues and that could potentially lead this country to some dire consequences. And just as Carlo Viganò points out, in the final analysis this election comes down to a choice between a candidate who, to put it succinctly, seeks to promote democracy and freedom and a candidate who seeks to promote dictatorship and slavery.
And if you think that's a bit overstated, go back and look at what Trump did and supported during his term as president, and what Kamala Harris did (or didn't do) and supported (or didn't support) during her term as vice president.
That should give any clear-thinking individual all the convincing they need.
And I've said it before, but I feel compelled to emphasize this:
I certainly do not worship Donald Trump, nor am I trying to encourage anyone else to do so. I am not one who is looking to Donald Trump to Make America Great Again. I am not anticipating that Donald Trump is going to undo all the damage that has been done to our country in the last four disastrous years.
The reason I say that is because I believe America is coming under God's judgment, and no one is going to change that: not Donald Trump, and certainly not Kamala Harris. No one. The United States performed its 70 millionth legal abortion this year, our support for Israel has been reduced to arm-twisting that is contrary to Israel's best interests, and our nation continues its slide into a cesspool that includes the glorification of sexual perversion (including the perversion of innocent children). As I have discussed previously, these are things God judges nations for. And that hasn't changed.
So, one might wonder, why am I urging readers to vote for Trump? What difference does it make? What does it matter? If Christ is going to return soon to make the world great again, then why vote for this foul-mouthed narcissist with ridiculous hair?
Carlo Viganò thinks Trump can turn things around...but is that what I think? Not exactly. I believe America's fall is inevitable, and that no one—including Trump—is going to be able to turn things around to the degree that many Trump supporters are envisioning (or are "proffuh-sighing").
So...why in the world am I bothering to write this?
Why? Because even though I am convinced of the truth of what I just said, I also believe that if Trump were to actually win this election and get back in the White House, it may very well be God's way of giving our nation one brief, final respite before He unleashes His judgment in fuller, more devastating forms.
I believe that if Trump wins this election, it just might give our country one last gasp of fresh air during which the satanic forces who are busy leading the Democrats and the deep state by the nose and our country to ruin could be held at bay long enough to give a number of people who are on the fence a chance to be brought into the kingdom before the bottom falls out in the wake of the Rapture. It would also give believers all over the country one final, God-honoring opportunity to shout out "Christ is King!" and "Jesus is Lord!" at a political rally without being mocked by the speaker. It would give members of the body of Christ one last, brief chance to raise their collective voices to point the world to the Savior without having their words shoved back down their throats by government leaders who consider it hate speech and are demonically driven to do so.
On the other hand, if it turns out that Kamala Harris wins this election, I see no such respite. This country's precipitous slide toward God's judgment will continue unabated, and if anything will be accelerated. Either way, after the Rapture it will go into free fall.
In other words, the way I see it, it may very well come down to this:
One thing Carlo Viganò said that really hit me was that fact that if you don't vote at all, you are effectively voting for Kamala Harris. And he's got a point, because this is so much more than a choice between...
"...two candidates who happen to be on different political sides but who both nevertheless have the common good at heart in compliance with the Constitution and the Law."
If only it were so. I hate to sound like I'm oversimplifying things, but the closer you look at Kamala Harris, the Biden administration, and the deep state that controls both, the more you realize that this election could realistically be called a choice between good and evil. That's just about what it comes down to.
And when you are faced with a choice between good and evil and you decline to choose good for whatever reason, you are effectively choosing evil. I hate to say it, but it's pretty much that simple—and it's shocking and tragic that it has reached that point in this country.
So help me: If I get any more emails from people with their sniveling, elitist reasons why they don't want to lower themselves to vote for Donald J. Trump, I will simply delete them for the sake of my blood pressure.
I'm kidding—my blood pressure is actually low. It's just that I'm afraid I might respond in a way that would dishonor my Lord and Savior. But if you were thinking about not voting because there's just something about Trump that ruffles your feathers, let me put it to you this way:
If you think he stinks...
• Hold your nose and vote for Trump anyway.
If you think he's got ugly hair...
• Close your eyes and vote for Trump anyway.
If some of the things he says offend your sensitivities...
• Close your ears and vote for Trump anyway.
To be honest, I had no intention of writing anything about the election before the election. But the Lord used the words of an excommunicated archbishop to make me get off my duff and get busy sharing with all of you what I perceive to be the heart and soul of this election—because I believe it matters.
The Bible calls us to be good citizens, and voting for the presidential candidate whom you think will best support and promote the good of the nation and its people is part of being a good citizen. So, just as the nation's die is about to be cast, get out there and cast your die on November 5.
And I feel compelled to say this to a few folks out there:
It's not about voting for the candidate whom you think exemplifies sterling Christian behavior! Good grief...I hope you're not that naive, because in that case you'd never vote at all! That's politics...deal with it.
Which reminds me...got one more to add to the list:
If you're turned off by his moral imperfections…
• Look in the mirror and vote for Trump anyway.
Finally, if you truly believe in your heart that Kamala Harris is the best choice for America and will do more to make this country a better place than Trump will, then by all means get out there and cast your vote for her with pride, and may God's blessings and protection dwell richly upon you.
Because if she wins, you're gonna need 'em.
Greg Lauer — NOV '24
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1. Adapted from Sunset Over Grass Field © AOosthuizen at Can Stock Photo
2. White Dice © Ben_Stevens at Depositphotos
3. Adapted from Carlomvigano © Joshuarodri (cropped), [CC0 1.0]
4. Adapted from 4a–4b:
4a. Kamala Harris Official Photo from the Office of Senator Kamala Harris, marked as public domain [PD], more details on Wikimedia Commons
4b. Donald Trump (52250930172) (cropped) © Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America (cropped), [CC BY-SA 2.0]
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5. 70 Million by Greg Lauer (own work)
6. Previews of Coming Attractions by Greg Lauer (own work)
Scripture Quotations:
All Scripture is taken from the World English Bible, unless specifically annotated as the King James Version (KJV) or the American King James Version (AKJV).