From the City of Babel to today’s bureaucracies, one truth endures: unchecked government often replaces God. In ancient Babel, officials seized control, and statues of the many-breasted Artemis, pagan goddess of false provision, became symbols of civic idolatry. These grotesque figures foreshadow today’s bloated institutions.
False Provision Through Earthly Power
Artemis, the so-called “goddess of government,” became a perfect symbol of secular deception. Her many breasts, representing false sources of nourishment, mirror how public agencies today offer superficial sustenance. Programs claiming to help—free housing, food, and endless “entitlements”—flow from a system many now recognize as Babylon.
The Catechism warns: “Man’s freedom is limited and fallible. In fact, man failed.” (CCC 1739) When civil power usurps God’s law, it corrupts. The divine order gives true nourishment through faith, not government excess.
The Idol of Misguided Funding
Public funds flow into futile experiments and social fantasies: “new math,” “gender ideology,” and “green energy” projects with no merit. These wasteful endeavors reflect a system built on illusion, not reason. One can easily imagine false prophets feeding at the breast of modern Babylon, worshiping created things over the Creator.
As Scripture teaches, “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and revered and worshiped the creature rather than the creator.” (Romans 1:25, a warning against idolatry)
Spiritual Blindness in High Places
Public officials, misled by propaganda and worldly praise, often believe their own press releases. They forget the soul’s eternal destiny. According to Dante’s Inferno, souls who commit “Complex Fraud” in public office suffer eternal punishment by demons. Ignorance will not save them.
We must pray: “Lord, grant our leaders wisdom to love justice, resist greed, and choose righteousness over false hope.”
Our Duty: Prayer for Our Leaders
Temptation surrounds those in authority. Power entices, and corruption whispers in every bureaucratic hall. Christians must respond not with cynicism, but with prayer. “I urge that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone, for kings and for all in authority.” (1 Timothy 2:1-2, calling us to intercede)
Each time we see a press release declaring a “crisis” and a funding solution, let us ask: “Which breast of Babylon did that come from?” In this question lies the beginning of wisdom.
