STRONG DELUSION

From My Perspective - - -

There is so much verbiage that comes our way every day requiring one to sort through it all in terms of that which is authentic and true versus that which is prevarication and deception. There is a great and growing need for a return to speak truthfully about all matters and at all times. Someone has defined truth as “sincerity in action, character and utterance.” More than 50 years ago, Francis Schaeffer observed: “Today not only in philosophy but in politics, government, and individual morality, our generation sees solutions in terms of synthesis and not absolutes. When this happens, truth, as people have always thought of truth, has died.” He was right then and his words are right today. The issue – are people able to comprehend, accept and act upon truth in this culture today?

When Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes was awarded the Bradley Prize, he made particular remarks. Some are: “…we must all focus on defining the themes for the future and lead the people to it…I speak here with the highest authority and title anyone could ever aspire to -- citizen of the United States.We must stop waving our extended arms in an effort to balance ourselves as we tiptoe along the edges of the Constitution, in an effort not to upset weak-kneed appeasers, with our unflinching belief in the ideas and principles that made our country different and yes, great!Are we losing America to the inevitable onrushing tides of history? No. But we are in a storm, the mast is broken, the compass is barely functioning, and there is a big…hole in the boat!We have allowed ourselves to be manipulated by others, many of whom want to impose their culture and laws under the manufactured utopian idea that all cultures are equal and most are better than America’s. Of course all people should be proud of their heritage. They should teach their children to be proud of their history and traditions….Back to the hole in the boat: America is losing its historic literacy. Recently some 556 seniors surveyed at 55 of the nation’s top colleges -- only 60 percent placed the American Civil War in the correct half of the 19th century. Only 34 percent identified George Washington as the American general at the Battle of Yorktown. Thirty-four percent thought it was Ulysses S. Grant. At 78 percent of the institutions polled, no history whatsoever was required in the undergraduate program…If the hole in the boat is to be fixed, it will require the tenacity and ingenuity of the pioneers. Each of us must understand and teach the journey of liberty and justice. It requires steadfast insistence -- we must not allow our collective memory to fade or morph into trendy revisionist versions of political correctness, which becomes a substitute for truth…”

The truth – what is it and who can one believe is speaking it? How does a nation or people arrive at the point where prevarication and falsehood is embraced over veracity and integrity? Two thoughts from Scripture may explain it. First - Ephesians 4:25, the directive is: “…having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.” To speak the truth is a deliberate discipline – not as an act of convenience but as a principle of conviction. Second – II Thessalonians 2:9-12, the day of delusion is due to: “The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” The two major factors stated are: (1) “they refused to love the truth” and (2) “they had pleasure in unrighteousness.” The result is that “God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false.”

Are we living in a day when falsehood or truth is paramount? Are we living in a day of arrogance or humility? Are we living in a day of base instincts or moral verities? Roger Ailes spoke of the political climate of our day. However, his remarks can and should be applied to the spiritual climate of our time, namely, “we must not allow our collective memory to fade or morph into trendy revisionist versions of political correctness, which becomes a substitute for truth…” Take heed while you still can. Consider these things with me.