“Then I saw an angel coming down from Heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the devil and satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and he cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more…” Revelation 20:1-3 Deceiving the Nations We are warned that satan "…will go out to deceive the nations…" Revelation 20:8 The Bible continually warns us: "lest satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices." 2 Corinthians 2:11 "But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." 2 Corinthians 11:3 In the Book of Revelation we are told that at the end God will send an Angel to bind satan "so that he should deceive the nations no more…" Revelation 20:3 We are taught that: "…satan who deceives the whole world…" Revelation 12:9. Plainly satan is deceiving nations today. “And war broke out in Heaven… that serpent of old, called the devil and satan who deceives the whole world…” Revelation 12:7 Deceiving the Nations Satan is deceiving the nations. Education teaches you how to think. Indoctrination teaches you what to think. The ability to think critically is becoming less and less common. We are being subjected to the greatest flood of misinformation and disinformation in the history of mankind. Misinformation Misinformation is error, either as a result of sincere mistakes or typographical errors. Frequently trusting in unreliable sources results in misunderstanding the facts of a matter. Disinformation Disinformation is the intentional distortion of events or issues. Communist governments establish departments of disinformation to manufacture deceit and confuse the issues. While misinformation is unintentional, disinformation is intentional. The Scripture warns us of "The lawless one… according to the working of satan, with all power, signs and lying wonders." 2 Thessalonians 2:9 "…the Prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience." Ephesians 2:2 "Whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them." 2 Corinthians 4:4 Spiritual Warfare We are called "to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, from the power of satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by Faith in Me." Acts 26:18 The Duty to Stand for the Truth Under the Duties Required in the Ninth Commandment, the Westminster Larger Catechism lists: The Duty of preserving and promoting truth. The duty to stand for the truth and to do so from the heart. The duty to speak the truth and only the truth in matters of judgment and justice. The duty to speak the truth at all times. The duty to study and practice everything true, noble, lovely and of good report. "Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." Ephesians 6:11-12 Enemies of Truth Under the Sins Forbidden in the Ninth Commandment, the Westminster Standards includes: The sin of giving false evidence. The sin of lying. The sin of concealing the truth. The sin of misconstruing intentions. The sin of exaggerating minor faults. The sin of perverting the truth to a wrong meaning. World Opinion The Scripture teaches us that satan is deceiving the nations. If we find ourselves in full agreement with the United Nations, we need to stop and carefully consider where we have been deceived. Global warming! Sexism! Racism! Black Economic Empowerment. Affirmative Action. Alternative Lifestyles. Gay Marriage, Evolution. Atheism. Socialism. If you agree with the world on any of these issues then satan has deceived you. Pervasive Propaganda Propaganda, the calculated manipulation of public opinion to serve political and ideological interests is pervasive. Propaganda aims to do other peoples thinking for them. Propaganda today has moved into Prop-Agenda, not only controlling what we think, but how we think, and what we think about. Privileges for Perverts If you don’t support gay rights (privileges for perverts), then you are a homophobic, narrow-minded, hateful bigot! Repeat this Mantra Islam is a peaceful and tolerant religion! If you dare to suggest that Islam is violent and intolerant then you are a mean, intolerant, Islamaphobe! (and you may receive death threats or worse.) Science Fiction If you don’t accept the politically correct fairy tale for grownups: Evolution, then you are unscientific. A whole lot of time and a whole lot of nothing made everything. From goo, to the Zoo, to you. From mud, to monkeys, to man. If you demand evidence of these unproven assertions, or advocate Intelligent Design, then you are an ignorant, unscientific fool and you are too dangerous to allow as a teacher or lecturer in government schools and colleges. Pro-Abortion Propaganda If you oppose abortion, then you are against women’s rights! If you insist on calling it the killing of a baby, we will try to have you prosecuted for hate speech. It is a Product of Conception (POC) and we need to refer to Termination of Pregnancy (TOP) not aborting the baby! If you insist on equal rights for unborn babies, then you are anti-choice and should expect to never be promoted or appointed to any senior position in a government hospital. Revolutionary Truth In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act. Politically Correct Euphemisms Secular humanist indoctrination requires that you use the politically correct euphemisms: Racial discrimination is now called Black Economic Empowerment and Affirmative Action. Sexual perversion is to be called Alternative Lifestyles. Looting of farms and murder of farmers is to be called Land Reform. Killing of babies is to be called Removal of the Product of Conception or Termination of Pregnancy. Killing old or sick people is to be called Euthanasia. Censorship is to be called the Information Bill. Newspeak George Orwell in his book 1984, described it as: Newspeak and Thought Control. The Manufacture of Consent As American journalist Walter Lippmann, wrote: The art of democracy required the manufacture of consent. Rewriting History Karl Marx declared: The first battlefield is the rewriting of history. Propaganda and Agitation Vladimir Lenin, in his book: What Is To Be Done, required the Communist Party to use propaganda to indoctrinate the educated and intelligent masses, and agitation – the use of slogans, stories and selected half-truths to exploit the grievances of the uneducated and ignorant masses. Justifying Deceit Every unit in the Communist Party is to have an Agit-Prop section. As Vladimir Lenin taught: Deceit in propaganda is justified, because the end justifies the means. As Vladimir Lenin famously noted: Treaties are like pie crusts, made to be broken. To tell the truth is a petty bourgeois habit, but to lie and to lie convincingly is a sign of superior intelligence. Regimenting the Public Mind As Walter Lippmann wrote in Public Opinion: The simple minded and sheep-like people need to be led by a specialised class of enlightened elites. The goal is: the making of one general will out of multitude of general wishes. As Edward Bernays of the Committee of Public Information (CPI) declared: The public must be regimented. A Bodyguard of Lies Sir Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister during World War II declared: In war time, truth is so precious, that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies. Manipulation of Minds George Creel, who coordinated the Committee on Public Information in the United States, defined their goals as: To manipulate attitudes, beliefs and actions. Daily Deception On almost any given day you will be confronted with deception. Certainly through the news media and the entertainment industry. Deceit is their stock and trade. As has been observed, you can always tell when a politician is lying, his lips move. An even when he dies, he lies still. Identifying Propaganda There are numerous tell tail signs that you can look for to identify deception in propaganda. Propaganda can be subtle, but it is aimed at your emotions. Over simplification, emotionalisation and sentimentality are all dead giveaways of deceit. Propagandists tend to reuse short, catchy slogans to communicate their agenda. Its repetivity begins to sound something like a mantra. Alternative Opinions Forbidden When you come across forcefulness and authoritarian implied condemnation of any alternative viewpoint then you are ensured that you are dealing with indoctrination, not education. Truth does not fear investigation. Truth does not fear debate. Ignoring the Wider Context Propaganda commonly ignores the historical context, uses selective stories and a narrow source of experts, those who tow the party line. Propaganda demonises the enemy and uses such a narrow focus that you could describe it as using the zoom lens rather than the wide-angle lens of context. One Sided Generalisations The always, or never type of extremism also frequently rears its head in propaganda. There is only one side of the story when it comes to classic propaganda. Stampeding the Herd Propaganda often intimidates readers, listeners or viewers into joining the herd by using prejudicial and harsh labels for anyone who disagrees with the party line. This stampede into rubber stamping the prescribed agenda is a hallmark of all propaganda: All right thinking people agree! No one in their right mind would deny! Scientists have confirmed! Those who care for the poor agree… All freedom loving people want to see…No proof or investigation is needed. You may not question the official version. Criminalising Dissent Lies, omissions and distortions are a hallmark of propaganda. There are frequently logical fallacies and inconsistencies if one looks for them. When laws need to be passed criminalizing those who disagree with any given piece of indoctrination, then you know that it must be a lie. The truth does not need to bully people into chanting a mantra of agreement. Animal Farm George Orwell’s books: 1984 and Animal Farm, are most insightful in exposing the inconsistencies and falsehood inherent in propaganda. In Animal Farm, the chant of the faithful sheep: Four legs good! Two legs bad! The rewriting of the laws of their revolution on the barn wall: 1.All animals are equal, later becomes: All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others. 2.To: No animal shall kill another animal, is later added without cause. 3.The: No animals shall sleep in a bed, is later changed to No Animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets. The pigs who represent the Communist Party officials, violate and change every rule of their own Revolution. George Orwell didn’t dream all this up, he merely was using a parable to communicate exactly what had happened in the Soviet Union. Hypocrites Those who claim to stand for freedom became the most oppressive regime in history. Those who claimed to want to uplift the poor, actually oppressed the poor worse than any other state in history. Those who claimed to champion world peace, caused more war, more bloodshed and more massacres of civilians than any other movement in history. Though they talk of freedom, they themselves are slaves of corruption (2 Peter 2:19). Thought Crimes In 1984, George Orwell wrote of Thought Crimes. Today one is getting to the stage where if you disagree with, for example, perversion, you can be accused of a hate crime! Deceptive Language Jargon is also used to obscure the truth. Civilian casualties are referred to as: collateral damage. Murder is frequently: liquidation. Terror bombing of cities is called: Saturation Bombing or Strategic Bombing Campaign. Starvation of civilian populations is called: an economic blockade, or sanctions. Labels Scientology speak about those people who have gone through their programmes as: clear. Those who have not are labelled: toxic! Foolishness Frequently we are encouraged: If it feels good, do it!, or to follow your heart! Yet the Book of Proverbs warns us that those who trust in their own heart are fools! True Freedom Jesus Christ said: “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32 It is absolutely essential that we know the truth of history to recognise the lies of propaganda and indoctrination. We need to study God’s Word in the Bible so that we can be freed from the deceptions of the world, the flesh and the devil. Defeating Deceit The Church of Ephesus is commended by God: "You have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars." Revelation 2:2 The Church in Smyrna is told: "I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of satan." Revelation 2:9 To the Church of Philadelphia, the Lord writes: "Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie… he who overcomes I will make him a pillar in the Temple of My God…" Revelation 3:9-12 "You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another." Leviticus 19:11 "Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips and from a deceitful tongue. Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord. But those who deal truthfully are His delight." Proverbs 12:22 "A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who speaks lies shall perish." Proverbs 19:9 "Everyone will deceive his neighbour, and will not speak the truth. They have taught their tongue to speak lies, they weary themselves to commit iniquity." Jeremiah 9:5 "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" Jeremiah 17:9 "Their throat is an open tomb; with their tongues they have practised deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips." Romans 3:13 "You shall destroy those who speak falsehood: the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man." Psalm 5:6 "Let the lying lips be put to silence, which speak insolent things proudly and contentiously against the righteous." Psalm 31:18 "He who works deceit shall not dwell within my house. He who tells lies shall not continue in my presence." Psalm 101:7 Do You Like Being Lied To?
We are being subjected to the most pervasive tsunami of disinformation in history. This includes: Hollywood's distortion of history, myths and legends propagated in school textbooks, half-truths, distractions, glaring omissions, selective focus, fictional incidents, imaginary anecdotes, prejudicial language, stereotypical characterisations, inverting reality, manipulating emotions, politically correct parrot cries, stock phrases and mantras to demonize the victims and to justify aggression, trivialising the main issues, ignoring key issues, focussing on side issues and reinforcing deceit with manufactured versions of the past. Facts are Stubborn Things We need to understand the context of our history and rediscover the real facts, the real people and the real history - so that we might counter satan's deceptions of the nations. The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. Our highest priority on earth is the fulfilment of the Great Commission. It is impossible to fulfil the Great Commission without understanding the times and knowing what God's people must do. For us to teach the nations to obey all things that the Lord has commanded, we need to understand how satan is deceiving the nations. Truth does not fear investigation. "Remove from me the way of lying…" Psalm 119:29 "The truthful lip shall be established forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment." Proverbs 12:19 "Remove falsehood and lies far from me…" Proverbs 30:8 "These are the things you shall do: speak each man the truth to his neighbour; give judgement in your gates for truth, justice and peace." Zechariah 8:16 "Therefore, putting away lying, let each one of you speak truth with his neighbour…" Ephesians 4:25 "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to your Name give glory, because of your mercy, because of your Truth." Psalm 115:1 "Buy the truth and do not sell it. Also wisdom and instruction and understanding." Proverbs 23:23 "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth." 2 Timothy 2:15 God is Truth. God’s Word is Truth. Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Dr. Peter Hammond Reformation Society P.O. Box 74 Newlands 7725 Cape Town South Africa Tel: 021-689-4480 Email: [email protected] Website: www.ReformationSA.org
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