Remember, the Bible
encourages you to use your mind. (Proverbs 2:3-11; consider Romans 12:2;
Colossians 2:8; I Thessalonians 5:21; Hebrews 5:14)
Remember these points: Propaganda
is merely information in favour of a cause and can be good or evil, honest or
dishonest, and informative or misleading; the danger is that propaganda serves
the function of self-delusion in the absence of critical thinking. Leftist
ideologies normally look and sound ideal or correct until you ask pointed
questions, make comparisons, look for hard evidence, and consider the costs and
repercussions. There are times when science appears to contradict Scripture
UNTIL you ask or look for hard evidence, and all too often common knowledge and
official narratives are merely oft-repeated myths. Heresies often sound like
Bible truths until you ask pointed questions and interpret Bible passages in
relation to immediate context and the whole Bible and pay close attention to
words and grammar.
Consider a few myths and
unproved theories promoted by the left that have had a big impact on
viewpoints:
·
Evolution is a scientific fact, and
creationism is merely religion and not genuine science because it involves
faith. (If you believe this, can you give one example of hard evidence
supporting the theory of evolution that does not have to be accepted by faith?
How do you reconcile the theory of evolution with the DNA Code Barrier, Gene
Depletion, & Natural Selection? How can a mutation result in a change
from one species into another since a mutation takes away from a genetic code
but never adds to it? Have you ever read a book or magazine that teaches or
promotes evolution and took note of how heavily the theory of evolution relies
on logic fallacies and mathematical absurdities?)
·
The age of the universe and heavenly
bodies can be calculated by using the speed of light as a metric. (The speed of
light is not constant and therefore is not a reliable metric for this.)
·
Guns and poverty cause crime. (During the
Great Depression there was more of both and a lower crime rate.)
·
Lincoln freed the slaves. (Abraham Lincoln
was not against slavery, he just opposed the spread of slavery, and he was
planning to deport all black people, and this plan was hindered by his
assassination. Both sides of The War of Northern Aggression (1861-1865) had
slaves until the Thirteenth Amendment. Slavery did not become an issue of the
war until about two years after the war started, and Abraham Lincoln made it an
issue because he needed a moral high ground as the armed invasion of the
Confederate States of America was carried out without constitutional or
congressional authorization. The Emancipation Proclamation gave the
Confederate States the choice to quit fighting and keep slavery or their slaves
would be freed if they kept fighting and gave them a deadline of January 1,
1863. The Emancipation Proclamation only called for the emancipation of slaves
in areas where the US government had no power to do anything about slavery and
specified the areas, even counties. It was not ratified until December 6, 1865,
and was merely a propaganda tool that did not free a single slave. Slavery was
abolished by the Thirteenth Amendment, not the Emancipation Proclamation.)
·
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 gave Black
people the right to vote in Southern States. (If black people were not allowed
to vote in Alabama and other Southern States prior to the Voting Rights Act of
1965, then how do you explain the black counties and black cities in Alabama
and other Southern States with black public officials and all-black electorates
prior to 1965? The Voting Rights Act of 1965 secured the vote for illiterates.
Prior to 1965 the state of Alabama and other Southern States required basic literacy
and a basic knowledge of the US Constitution and State government to be
eligible to vote.)
·
Abortion is not killing a baby because an
unborn child is just a clump of cells. (Every human, born or unborn, young or
old, is a clump of cells.)
·
Abortion is a choice, not murder. (Murder
is always a choice. If it is not a choice it is not murder.)
·
Premarital sex and illicit cohabitation
are good preparation for marriage. (Think about it: How meaningful and secure
is a relationship based on freedom to leave? Premarital sex normally leads to
selfishness, disrespect, and distrust after a couple marries, and couples that
live together before marriage usually end up divorced.)
·
Male and female think and feel the same
about sex. (The myth about male and female sexual equality makes both sexes
more vulnerable to exploitation and manipulation. While each gender has just as
strong a libido as the other, and both sexes desire sex and affection, their
responses and priorities tend to differ. Generally, men trade affection for sex
and women trade sex for affection. While neither gender is immune to lust, and
both genders can be verbally and visually stimulated, women tend to be more verbally
stimulated, and men tend to be more visually stimulated. Men tend to fall in
love with, or lust for, what they see, and women tend to fall in love with what
they hear.)
·
In marriage, compatibility in everything
is essential and incompatibility is an acceptable ground for divorce. (In other
words, differences nullify commitment, which is convenient as it is not
possible to find someone that always likes or dislikes the same things and
always agrees on every point. Ironically, several extensive secular studies on
marriage and divorce concluded that the differences normally blamed for
incompatibility are not problems for married couples that share the same
religious and moral values.)
·
Emotions are acceptable grounds for
divorce. (“I’m not happy,” “I’m not in love anymore,” etc. Love is a choice:
You choose to love or not love someone.)
·
The Age Gap in the Prefrontal Cortex
Theory. (Please note that "an intelligent person with a big college degree
said the human brain is not developed till the age of 25" is not hard
evidence that proves anything. Was this conclusion reached because of the weight
of evidence or merely because someone wanted it to be true? Also note that I am
not claiming to have the last word on this, I am hoping to encourage you to
research and analyze the data on this.)
·
Homosexuals are born that way. (What is
the hard evidence that homosexuals are born that way? What is the hard evidence
that there is such a thing as homosexual orientation? What is the hard evidence
that homosexuality is an immutable characteristic? What is the hard evidence
that homosexuality is an inherited trait and not distorted love needs and
learned behaviour?)
The examples could continue, but these should suffice
for now to make the point.
Know-it-alls, the young,
and people with a victim mentality are especially vulnerable to left-wing
propaganda because the left always appeals to wishful thinking and intellectual
arrogance, and a victim mentality makes people more receptive to left-wing victim
narratives.
If leftists were realistic, they would be conservatives. Be expecting the left to
try to persuade you to believe reality is debatable and their arguments and
assertions are absolute because leftist ideologies normally priorities personal beliefs over objective knowledge, and because people act on what they believe and not what they know.
Keep in mind that the
left seeks to change or distort core beliefs and values because a person
without principles is more easily controlled and manipulated, and if a
community (local, State, or national) is without principles, it is easier to
replace self-government with submission to tyranny.
The left has a vested
interest in promoting the pagan worldview (and downplaying or denying the
authority of Scripture), and this is obviously being promoted by schools, colleges,
and news and entertainment media. All too many Christians do not recognise this
propaganda as propaganda because they are not alert to it. The pagan
concept of man and government (pagan worldview) makes man (corporate man, the
state) the standard of truth and the ultimate authority, which puts it in
conflict with God and those who believe that God is the standard of truth and
the present ruler of the earth (the Christian worldview), and sees the
individual as a mere servant of the state whose value is determined by his
usefulness to the state, thus making encroachments upon God-given rights
inevitable. Socialism and leftism (which significantly overlap) are modern
versions of ancient paganism. (Ecclesiastes 1:9-10) The Biblical Worldview
Socialism is not always
recognised or understood because of the facades and misconceptions. For
example, many believe that fascists (e.g., Nazis) are right-wingers, and
fascism is a right-wing movement, because they merely compare fascism to
communism. This is like comparing a scalene triangle and an isosceles triangle
without comparing any other shapes. If you compare the triangles to each other
it is only possible to notice the differences, but if you compare both
triangles to a rectangle or a circle the similarities between the two triangles
stand out. If we merely compare fascism and communism with each other, the
superficial appearance of free enterprise can make fascism appear to be
right-wing, but if we compare fascism and communism to the social system of
free enterprise and limited constitutional government it becomes clear that
fascism and communism are different forms of socialism.
All too often there is a
tendency to place the opinions of experts (e.g., scientists, psychologists,
historians, theologians, etc.) in the status of inerrancy, especially when the
opinion of some expert happens to support the left or what the left wants you
to think. While we do need experts, try to keep a balanced view of experts
(and do research and apply critical thinking). When you come across the
argument or assertion that the findings or conclusions of certain experts in a
certain field are inaccurate or wrong merely because they differ from the
findings or conclusions of other experts, or even most experts in that field,
or merely because an essay or thesis did not pass a peer review, it is
important to keep in mind that most expert (even scientific) findings or
conclusions are educated opinions and reviewers are often biased. At any
time and on any subject, there are disagreements among qualified experts in the
same fields, and they cannot all be right. A majority opinion is still an
opinion, and all too often the majority opinion of experts in a particular
field is considered proof or verification of assertions or theories even though
whatever is the majority opinion of experts in certain fields changes often
enough to make the majority opinion dubious. (For example, if a teacher or
professor used a fifty-year-old textbook to teach evolution he would be
teaching theories that were disproved by evolutionists years and decades
ago.) Experts are fallible humans and are just as vulnerable to emotional
pressure and the influence of preconceived ideas as anyone else. Experts are
just as capable of dishonesty and distorting facts to support their pet
theories as other humans, and many experts have been caught deliberately
deceiving the public. When presented with the facts ordinary people can
and often do come to better conclusions than experts, which is one reason that
a trial verdict is decided by a jury of ordinary citizens and not a panel of
legal experts.
An old trick of tyrants
and empires is to keep different ethnic groups pitted against each other to
keep them from recognising their common enemy. The liberal media and
public schools often try to make it appear that centralised US government, US
government intrusions, and increased police powers of the US government were
and are necessary by pointing to examples of racial problems in history, but
when the whole story and all sides of the issues are considered, those examples
usually illustrate the evils of big government and the importance of limited
constitutional government.
When a character in a
movie or TV show gives statistics or data or talks about scientific findings or
historical events or opinions of psychologists or otherwise appears to make an
intelligent argument or assessment, do your own homework before you accept the
argument or assessment as valid or correct. This is a method the left uses to
persuade the public to accept myths and delusions as reality and dismiss facts
and logic as misinformation or fantasy.
Avoid automatically assuming
that a leftist is stupid or foolish because he does things you consider
foolish, and avoid assuming you know the plan, goal, or actual intention of the
left based on what they are currently doing. They can be expected to put on a facade,
occasionally appear to support the right, and they are often comparable to a
chess expert who is always several moves ahead of what you see on the board.
While we should be
concerned about current events and taking a stand on issues, it is important to
watch for crisis manipulation, a simple method to achieving specific goals,
justifying control, or creating a police state that has been used by governments
and would-be tyrants throughout history. (e.g., Nimrod, Napoleon, Lenin,
Hitler, etc.) First, a crisis-type situation or emergency is utilized or
created. (Terrorism, high crime rate, child abuse, counterfeiting, sex
trafficking, drug money laundering, contagious disease, etc.) The
"crisis" (which could be real, imagined, or exaggerated) is
emphasized and propagandized until it becomes a great concern to a significant
percentage of the population. Then the government or would-be tyrant and accomplices
appear to come up with the best or most effective solution to the crisis so
many are concerned about. (Of course, the "solution" just happens to
increase government intrusion and police power or eliminate safeguards against
governmental abuse.) At this point the average citizen is so concerned with
dealing with the crisis and finding or implementing a solution that he is
willing to go along with what appears to be a good solution without considering
the costs and repercussions. Here are just a few red flags:
·
Be wary of “solutions” offered by
“experts” that sound more like a left-wing wish list than facts, logic, or
actual science.
·
Be wary of so-called solutions to crises,
emergencies, and social maladies that depend on an assumed natural goodness of
man, or an assumed goodness or benevolence of human government, for the
solutions to work. (How many parents reading this ever had to teach
a child how to be bad? Humans can choose to do right but sin comes naturally
because of natural depravity. History demonstrates that any human government,
even good government, is dangerous, which is why government must be limited and
restricted.)
·
Keep in mind that we do not live in a
perfect world and there are no perfect solutions.
The phrase "(one)
just doesn't get it" or "(they) just don't get it" typically
refers to something that affects the speaker emotionally. If you feel this way
about those who disagree with you this does not necessarily mean you are wrong,
but this tends to imply that you are convinced due to allowing emotional
appeals and other logic fallacies detract you from critical thinking.
Has the media persuaded
you to accept unscriptural and misguided teachings, theories, and ideas? You
might be surprised. Try applying these questions to specific beliefs and
issues, including beliefs that you consider settled:
·
Have you personally studied or researched
this belief or teaching, and can it withstand questions and critical analysis?
(Acts 17:11; 1 Thessalonians 5:21)
·
What would be your response if an
unbeliever asked you why you believe this? (2 Timothy 2:14-15; 3:16-17)
·
How important is this in relation to other
matters and what Bible truths and principles or standards apply? (Matthew
23:24; Romans 14; 2 Thessalonians 5:21; 1 Timothy 1:5-7)
·
Is this what the Bible says, or is this
what someone thinks the Bible ought to say? (Proverbs 30:5-6; Isaiah 29:13;
Matthew 15:9)
·
Was this true in the distant past and will
this still be true in the distant future? (Psalm 33:11; 119:89; Proverbs 19:21;
Ecclesiastes 1:9-10)
·
What is the origin of this teaching or
belief? Can you verify this with Scripture or is it necessary to use the
arguments of the world? (Psalm 33:10; Romans 12:2; 1 Corinthians 1:20; 2:5;
Colossians 1:9; 2:8)
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