Making changes is never easy. That’s because we have to overcome the inertia that we have in being in our respective “comfort zone” for so long a time. Coming out of ignorance is, likewise, no easy matter.
For one thing, the truth is sometimes not all that easy to swallow as it can chaff against decades of social and/or religious programming. Another reason is that no one wants to be wrong. Also, we may want to avoid change because, if that truth causes us to be set apart from others, we simply don’t want to be different.
We may appear to be peculiar and be the odd ball of the family, work environment, church, or community. No one looks forward to that. Being different may easily provoke persecution and being rejected to whatever degree. But, we can and must discipline ourselves to overcome our feelings and not fear such consequences. We must learn to seek bottom-line truth at any cost and then act on that truth knowing in advance that truth will set us apart making us “peculiar”.
This concept must be categorically applied but certainly applied to matters having such profound impact as politics and religion. To do otherwise is to remain in ignorance and ignorance, at the very least is captivity and bondage; at the worst, it is destruction.
Please note that we’ve all been brainwashed; it is impossible to not be programmed by one’s environment. Yes; I did say “brainwashed” and it isn’t a dirty word. The fact of the matter is that all learning is brainwashing. It’s just a matter of which information with which the brain is going to be washed. It will either be washed with clean (i.e. truthful) water or unclean (un-truthful) water.
For instance, a believer should be washing his brain/mind with the “washing of the water of the word of God” (Ephesians 5:26) unto the pure truth that makes free. With this bottom-line Godly truth, we can discern right from wrong and truth from un-truth. We will not be deceived!
That even includes seeing the truth in politics and history.
Take, for instance, if you are brainwashed with “the truth” of what America is, how and why it was founded, and by whom (knowing the intentions of the founding fathers), then it is difficult to be deceived by anyone touting any particular political persuasion.
Obviously, such truth will not come by osmosis or by any other means. As with all truth, it must be diligently mined. Such diligence is the sole way to break out of ignorance which, not only cannot make free, but which engenders deeper bondage. Deciding to exert such diligence to rise above our comfort zone, then, is the problem we face.
First of all, we must never assume that what we already know is “the truth”. It should be obvious to all that, in today’s (secular) world, “truth” is a subjective mish-mash of ideas, emotions, grievances, agendas, and political spin.
Many taken-for-granted truths are actually half-truths or partial truths which cannot make you free. To arrogantly assume oneself to be correct and having all the answers is to be placed in a dangerous position of never coming into the knowledge of the bottom-line truth and remaining in captivity; it is willful ignorance and self-deception. And, because the entirety of the history of mankind and all of his knowledge is available on the Internet, it is inexcusable to remain in darkness.
Because “the truth” is available to all who seek for it, there is no reason to settle for or accept any particular teaching, political position, or religious doctrine at face value. In fact, concerning religion, we should actually scrutinize every single thing we think we know about Christianity except for the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.
Likewise, in politics, the truth may be hidden but it is most assuredly available. Therefore nothing of politics should be accepted at face value and should be thoroughly studied and vetted (search engines are our friends).
This is to say, we really don’t know that we are in error until we start seeking the truth. When we seek truth, it will be revealed as it is never so hidden that it cannot be obtained (IBID). So, we must suspect (not necessarily discount) the veracity of even the most basic of our political or religious tenants.
Secondly, there is no other conclusion that can be reached than that we all start in error. That’s not a crime, a sin, or even a shame; it’s just a simple fact. We have all been programmed by our parents, schools, and churches to believe certain things about our society, our educational system, and our God.
Obviously, no one likes being wrong. However, because it’s not a shame to be wrong, progress toward finding the truth is merely a matter of overcoming our ego and pride. But, it must be done or we will remain in darkness and will be led into captivity (if we aren’t already there). We must be “overcomers” who fight our way out of the darkness of un-truth and who win the prize of enlightenment; that prize is freedom.
We can say it this way: it’s never a problem to be wrong but it is a problem to stay wrong and remain in bondage. To remain a slave is, at once, sad and unnecessary as the sword of truth may be used at any time to conduct warfare unto complete freedom.
So, there’s good news: the truth that makes free is readily available. And, there’s bad news: the truth that makes free doesn’t come cheaply. It must be mined as one would mine for precious metals or gems and truth is a “pearl of great price”. It requires discomfort and even great discomfort and sacrifice at times.
In fact, constant vigilance is required to not only garner truth, but also to protect it because darkness and its fight against truth never takes a day off. It is the default pressure (i.e. resistance) of the world and it must be overcome and displaced if progress is to be gained and truth obtained. Otherwise, it caustically eats away at our progress and weakens the chances of our success. We must never be complacent or be slow to enjoin the battle against darkness by preferring the comfort of tradition and the acceptance of men.
Let’s more closely examine this principle as applied to politics: surely, anyone who has turned on a TV set in the previous 20 years knows that there are those who are indefatigable in their pursuit of the destruction of sanity, purity, chastity, truth (which is light), and the enslavement of America. They are without resile in their insane war to “save America by destroying it with Socialism”.
In other words, they are pursuing “salvation” using intellectually gallantry. Their desire is to supplant the truth and freedom by use of their (wholly-un-American) pathetic political pandering and propaganda and the subsuming of all things good to their prurient Godless agenda.
Notice also that they consider those who are deeply rooted in truth and in their Christian faith to be “weak minded” at least and mentally ill at the worst. They (Christians) are, therefore, considered enemies of the state and to be dealt with mercilessly.
The point: without maintaining a diligent resistance (as uncomfortable as it is) there can be no victory over such ruthless savagery. This is not a game; there are no “King’s X” or “do overs”. Their definition of peace is simple: “peace is when all of our enemies are crushed” (per Joseph Stalin).
Not having done all to stand and fight the good fight of faith, we will fall prey to those who deal in mockery of common sense and hatred of all good. We will be at the hands of merciless foes who call “good” evil and who call “evil” good. It is an environment devoid of love and peace; a world steeped in deception and rife with seduction of the intellectual religion of humanism and which is full of all imaginable evil and unimaginable insanity.
To do nothing or to stand idly frozen with fear (not knowing what to do) or ignorance by assuming the “let God worry about it since He’s in control”(the “ostrich” approach) is to, by default, surrender to the vain doctrines of existentialism and nihilism. Those who do not resist will be considered by the enemy as just another common herd animal without worth: a tool or pawn to be used to achieve lordship and mastery.
The temptation to take the “path of least resistance” must be rejected at all cost! Doing little or nothing to save one’s life is to be taken captive by those who think little or nothing of making such captivity a death sentence.
We must not lose hope or be overcome by fainting in our minds. This is a winner-take-all war of wills where many could lose their souls and the souls of their children and grandchildren. This is no time to be asleep at the wheel. We follow a dangerous road filled with precipitous curves and steep hills and which has side ditches that are deep.
For good reason we are being mustered to fight the good fight of faith (by the Bible) and to hope unto the end. We are no longer in the “end times” but rather at the “end of the end times”. The hour is late and the time is short. Without controversy, there is a monumental struggle of politics and religion being waged which will conclude in an epic showdown. But, no revolution or war was successful and tyranny has never been overthrown without great effort and sacrifice.
The soldiers must be strong, valiant, and disciplined: soldiers who have a vision of victory and not failure and who are not slack to implement the dynamics of war and not ignorant concerning the wiles of their enemy.
To do nothing is more than shameful. It is to willfully allow darkness to assume the ruling authority and governorship over our nation and to destroy all truth and freedom. If there is no light in the land, then darkness will reign. Are we not the light of the world who are to resist darkness?
Consider another aspect of ignorance: how shameful would it be to fight for a “good cause” only to discover later that you were fighting for the enemy of your soul, your nation, and against God? Yet, this dynamic is far from uncommon.
Think not? Consider that only about 25% of all Christians vote (per CNN in a survey during the 2000 election). 75% willfully refuse to resist the death of their freedom by taking a few minutes out of their day every two years to vote. Does it even cross their minds that, if all Christians voted, there would be none of the insanity that we see in politics today?! There would be no more close elections and truth would prevail in our nation. Do they not understand that not voting is a vote for the enemy (i.e. actually fighting for the opponent by helping him defeat you)?!
To make matters worse, of the 25% of Christians who do vote, 25% of those vote for the Satan’s man of the hour (IBID). They support and vote for those who slaughter babies in their mother’s womb and who promote the wholesale purveying of homosexuality (and even teaching it to our grade school children!). They are voting for those who wish to eradicate Christianity from our land and replace it with secular humanism and even Islam!
What wisdom it this and what understanding when the children of light walk in such darkness?! Such lack of Godly wisdom is incomprehensible given that we are commanded to “get wisdom and to get understanding and to forsake it not”.
We need to note that there are only two spirits involved. One is the “Spirit of truth”; the other is the “spirit of error”. If we know what spirit we are of through the knowledge of the word of God, we will discern truth from un-truth. If we do not know, we will not be able to do so and will be taken captive at the least or will be a willing participant or asset (i.e. warrior) for the enemy and will be found as enemies of God. Let us, therefore, examine all that we think we know about our brainwashing concerning politics and religion and diligently at that.
There can be no victory without bottom-line truth and there can be no truth without it being sought with all diligence, with all discipline, and with all obedience to that truth (the enemy does no less and will not stop until defeated).
All warfare “ain’t fair” and it is far from being comfortable. But, the price for being uncomfortable now is far more preferable than a very very uncomfortable captivity later (if not for us, certainly for our children and grandchildren). A price will be paid and what price is too high to pay for freedom? We must come out of ignorance.
