It certainly is a time of spiritual warfare—which has now gone mainstream. (Below, a podcast about exorcism.)

It’s not the usual, posting so many articles about the darker side, as we’ve done of late. But often there’s little choice. Our interesting times!

Most recently, it has been U.S. Vice President J. D. Vance.

In late August (2026), Vance discussed these topics during an interview on an evangelical podcast hosted by Bryce Crawford. During it he stated that he would “not be shocked if the Antichrist was walking among us,” noting that global events and societal trends make the concept feel less distant.

The vice president acknowledged a lifelong fascination with biblical prophecy regarding the apocalyptics (an interest we ceratinly share), saying, “The end times may be coming, in fact they are coming, it’s just a question of whether they’re coming thousands of years down the road, or a few months down.”

He added that focusing too heavily on apocalypse scenarios is “spiritually bad” because his primary focus must remain on doing “as much of God’s work as possible right now.”

It’s a matter of balance. There are always extremes: too much emphasis and not enough.

Now it gets especially interesting.

When discussing artificial intelligence, Vance described certain applications and tech corporate cultures as having “a really, really weird spiritual dark energy.” These days they call it “vibe.”

He explicitly called the use of A.I. for emotional or personal human tasks “kind of satanic” and pointed to an acquaintance who relies on A.I. for marriage counseling, arguing that removing the human element from God-given social structures short-circuits how people relate to one another.

He also cited a story about an A.I. company holding symbolic “burial ceremonies” when deprecating old models as an example of strange, dark forces in tech culture.

Separately, earlier in 2026, Vance praised Catholic moral frameworks surrounding AI, calling for strong moral guidance as the technology redefines work, warfare, and human interactions. Right on (as they used to say), J. D. Vance.

But it’s time also, Mr. Vice President, to address concerns about your friend and political backer Peter Thiel, the multi-billionaire who founded Palantir, the massive personal-data collection company, which has sparked Big Brother concerns. Thiel has given lectures around the world in which—with no modicum of irony—he has argued that Pope Leo XIV and the Vatican are wrong in calling for A.I. regulations—explaining that restrictions on A.I. would aid an anti-christ.

How that could be the case is not exactly clear.

Thiel has previously stated his belief that the Antichrist is not necessarily a person but could come as a global government system. It would take control, he has argued, by exploiting people’s fears around artificial intelligence, climate change, or nuclear war.

When it comes to A.I. (including mass collection of personal data of the type that has made Thiel billions), we join the Vatican in begging to differ.