Beneath the demons or above the angels?

If the purpose of religion is to raise us above the angels, why do we insist on bowing to demons?

This question is occasioned by the post on Pinochet, as well as the black news that has emanated all year from Iraq, or from any of a number of sources. All the explanations, rationalizations, and so forth serve only to trivialize these deaths to the point of being insulting, just so that we can get on with the fantasies that constitute our lives. Pascal condemned his contemporaries for distracting themselves, lest they struggle with the question of meaning; in the same way, we all seek constant distractions, lest we face the great challenge of our time.

A black cloud of meaninglessness has engulfed us, one that spreads and grows by swallowing souls at a horrific rate. Christ alone can lift us above the angels, yet Christians themselves are often enough declaring this meaninglessness divine. The rest of us are failing to offer any defense besides platitudes and pedantries. How do we address the seemingly pointless and inexhaustible capacity of man to abandon God?

Should the answer lie with the babe in the manger, and the Holy Innocents murdered shortly thereafter? Is there no human word to comfort those who weep, only the divine Word? How is it that Mary picks up her son to suckle and coo to him, when He should pick us up to suckle and coo to us?