The entrenched Elite vs. the minimized Truth
The United States was first founded for a myriad of reasons, religious liberty, personal freedom, and probably mostly for freedom from the tyrants and dictators of Europe and the banking cartels holding such monopolies over the people of Europe to keep them in persecution and poverty.
This world has always been lies vs. truth. Jesus walked the Earth and taught the truth, and he was crucified for it. And then he conquered, and rose to life. He is alive today, as the victorious truth. He will make all things right and perfect. He will make nature perfect, stars perfect, weather perfect, animals perfect, and people in Christ will be made perfect. That is our glorious hope!
Until then, we exist in a world where the truth is actively suppressed and attacked.
Ravi Zacharias said, "Man's problem is not the absence of evidence (for God) but the suppression of it."
The truth is not usually popular, is it? In fact today, ask a person on the street if they believe in God and that person might say something like, "I don't believe in a God who judges or condemns, I believe in a god of my understanding."
Do you see what that means? They've decided to make their own god, in their own image. Truth itself is redefined to suit the desires and whims of the beholder.
So what is truth? Let's go to the vaunted Dictionary (dot com) and see what it says: Truth
2. conformity with fact or reality; verity:
the truth of a statement.
3. a verified or indisputable fact, proposition, principle, or the like:
mathematical truths.
4. the state or character of being true.
5 .actuality or actual existence.
6. an obvious or accepted fact; truism; platitude.
7. honesty; integrity; truthfulness.
Yes, that is how brain dead or at least brainwashed we've become in the west, that we have to go to the dictionary to figure out what the word "truth" means, before we can actually ask what the truth then is.
Actuality, the actual state of things. I use the words "actual" and "real" a lot. Because I can say "Jesus rose from the dead." And people can take that so many different ways. But I literally mean, he really, two thousand years ago, in the history of man, on Earth, physically rose from a dead corpse to alive and well, physically. Do you see how I have to add all these qualifiers? Why is that? Maybe English is somewhat imprecise. Or maybe it's because in the west we tend to stand in judgment, the ethereal drive-through menu demigod, and decide what we want to be true and real. But that's contradictory. We "feel" this is true, or that is true.
But what is actually true? The truth is actual, real. Most importantly it conforms to the facts. The evidence is consistent with it.
Lies vs. Truth, again and again we see it. Lies have had a powerful surge in the United State since the early 1900s. Lies and corruption have really taken charge, and now in the early 21st century they are now at the point of having claimed a firm majority and are now just about finished evicting truth from all public forums and venues. The war has been precise, directed, and spans multiple fronts of conquest and consolidation.
It's not all bad news though.
The truth appears to be gathering it's forces in multiple arenas as well. The sort of "rebel alliance" in eviction gathering it's forces near Sullust (thats a Star Wars reference by the way). It's always been like this, hasn't it?
How long can a corrupt, entrenched power keep the truth behind a bodyguard of lies? How long can a corrupt entrenched elite hold power over a disillusioned populace? Hard to say, hard to say. One might wonder if technology, weapons, surveillance, power, might be able to finally curb that problem of the disenfranchised so vastly outnumbering the elite.
These are all repeated paradigms I've noticed developing in major areas of the United States and European society. Let's look at the five paradigms I've noticed: an entrenched elite attempting to shut out and keep down a disenfranchised, but growing resistance movement.
1. The Political Paradigm
Public Awareness: Growing
In the United States, it's always been Democrats vs. Republicans. Divide et empera. Divide and conquer as Julius Caesar said. Split the views of the public evenly between two parties, so doing, divide the people. The mood in the United States is that of disillusionment. People are fed up with both parties for different reasons. The anti-war party becomes the pro-war party in 2008. The authoritarian party becomes the civil liberties party in 2012. People bounce from voting Democrat to voting Republican, as both parties serve the interests of big business and big banking. There is actually an App called Greenhouse to see which businesses and banks fund each congress member. Click here to get Greenhouse. Recently Princeton University and Northwestern University released a study in which they officially declared that the United States is now an oligarchy, a form of government where a moneyed elite few control the country. I guess finally liberals (Princeton) and conservative Christians (Northwestern) can finally agree on something: this is not a democratic republic anymore.
So we see the public effectively divided into two waring parties, both corrupt to the core. Now, we jump to the rebel resistance. It's not just one group, but many, and we've seen manifestations of it's formation in the past twenty years. The Tea Party was the conservative-minded form of it. Then came the Occupy Wallstreet liberal form of it. There are many subgroups in this arena of resistance, such as the Constitution party, the Green Party, and Liberty party. But probably the most organized, educated, and powerful of the various politically disenfranchised subgroups would be the Libertarians. They are a highly diverse group made up of principled Democrats, Republicans, and everywhere in between with a major focus on a return to the Constitution, peace, non-interventionalist foreign policy, strong civil liberties, personal freedom, economic freedom, and transparency in government. But the money and power is all centered on the Democratic party and the Republican party. Will this growing resistance about 1 million strong be able to mount any real change? It's hard to say. The initial strategy of the Libertarians was to attempt a takeover of the Republican party through the election process, with delegates and voting and adhering to the rules of the party. The result of that attempt in 2012 was a powerful counter-attack by the status-quo moneyed and powerful in the Republican party who changed many of the rules at the Republican National Convention to block and eject the movement from ever getting as far as it did in 2012. The struggle continues between the disenfranchised and the powerful. The deciding factor is information, as we'll discuss later in this essay. As a final thought, always watch for a false dichotomy, one verses the other. Democrat vs. Republican, Science vs. Religion. Those are methods of control, not choices. One need not choose between them, but choose what is actually true and right.
2. The Economic Paradigm
Public Awareness: Growing Slightly
The Rich vs. the poor. This is an age old struggle on the planet Earth. We see it again and again. Very often in history we've seen it end in violent revolution, successfully or unsuccessfully. The Bible says Debt is slavery. Inflation has become the tax of choice for the Federal Reserve as it prints money. The people are over-taxed (Republican view) yet they are also mistreated and underpaid by big business (Democrat view). Are you starting to see how the truth is divided up? And thus, those seeking change are rendered impotent to change. The Republicans attempt to lower taxes and the Democrats block it in the Senate. The Democrats attempt to raise the minimum wage and Republicans block it in the House. All the while, banks grow richer, companies grow richer, and the divide between rich and poor extends to a wider and wider range.
The resistance on this issue really manifested itself in the Occupy Wallstreet protests in major cities from 2009-2011. The rich wielded city police forces against the protesters, bulldozed them out of the cities while the mainstream media mounted a massive discrediting campaign against the entire movement. The same was done to the Tea Party before it was divided, discredited, and forced back under the status quo banner of the Republican party machine. Libertarians were more of an educated force so they had to be tactically ignored, total media black out.
Please be in prayer about this issue, because it causes so much poverty and pain across our planet. The knowledge of this is growing, and as it grows, we will see more positive changes take place.
3. The Academic/Scientific Paradigm
Public Awareness: Low
This is the paradigm where the current out-flowing is this false dichotomy: Science vs. Religion. The current mood is that Science is all knowing (scientism) and that Religion is bad, but spirituality is good. We'll get into that one soon enough, but let's talk about the real conflict first: the establishment vs. the intelligent design movement. In the Academic world there are certain doctrines that you aren't allowed to question. One of those is darwinian evolution. Intelligent design suggests the possibility of an intelligent architect who triggered the big bang. The intelligent design movement has faced a massive assault by the mainstream media. In the Academic world, if you write articles or papers that in anyway mention intelligent design as plausible or in a positive light, be prepared to lose your job. If you'd like to learn more about the issue of intelligent design and the war against it by the academic establishment, view this documentary by Ben Stein called "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed." It's an awesome one. This is an issue that many people are in the dark about and awareness is not gaining much traction. Consider stepping up and being a voice for this critical issue.
4. The Media Paradigm
Public Awareness: Growing Quickly
The mainstream media is really the key, the gatekeeper to 1,2,3, and 5. It effectively ensures that truth stays in the dark, and lies and distractions remain in the bright lights of public interest. And yes, I do refer to the mainstream media as a sort of entity. What we term the mainstream media are mainly television media outlets like CNN, Fox, MSNBC, ABC, BBC, CBS, and PBS, as well as the internet sites, local newspapers, local news stations, and many other affiliates of those giants. Whether it's George Soros or Rupert Murdock, or others, the mainstream media has very completely fallen into the pockets of big business and big banking. Much has changed since the days of real news reporting, when issues like Watergate were exposed for what they really were.
Imagine if there was 24 hour coverage on the Federal Reserve's money printing, for months on end, exposing the issue on even one of those major networks. Things would change immediately. The Public would cry foul with a massive shout.
Imagine if there was continuing daily coverage on the HSBC bank scandal, or 24 hour coverage on the income gap, or constant daily coverage of Wal Mart's disturbing business practices, or Wallstreet's part in the economic collapse of 2009. Imagine if there was continuing coverage on the bailouts? Do you see what I mean? Instead the mainstream media covers celebrity gossip, gay marriage, and never fails to mention how backwards religious people are. So much propaganda, it's a head-spinner.
Thankfully, there is a powerful and growing resistance, and it's centered on the open-media called, yes, you guessed it, the Internet! Alternative news networks are on the rise, covering the truth, through websites, internet radio, internet television, it's truly a beautiful thing. But the television still wields a lot of power, and too many are still in the dark. But I expect to see God's sovereign blessing in this area grow over time. God loves the truth, and he always helps it shine through. Pray about this issue too, and get involved!
5. The Philosophical/Spiritual Paradigm
Public Awareness: Very Low
The divide here is simple: believing what I want to be true vs. believing what is actually true. There is a great amount of respect and admiration for believing in one's own experience of life. In fact it's a natural reaction against a dogmatic-closed minded theology. But believing in whatever I want, while disregarding reality is simply nonsense. That's living in a fantasy world. Christianity, the Bible has been abused. It's been used by the power hungry, it's been used by the crazy, and it's been used by the wealth-seeking. However, one must never judge a worldview by it's abuse. The simple fact is the entire western world has been shaped by the Judao-Christian view of life. It's the reason for a democratic and reasonably prosperous Europe and United States.
But as we see Europe having ditched Christianity and the United States now post-Christian, we see corruption growing in the west. The west is beginning to look just like the east in terms of corruption and income inequality. Yet we can't see the problem? The problem is we've left behind the Bible, we've left behind Jesus, and we've left behind the true message of Christianity.
What do we now have instead? All-inclusive spirituality. The Deepak Chopra, evolution, eastern mysticism, gnostic gospels, prosperity gospel, holistic, reiki, meditation meltdown. Very interesting indeed. All kinds of stuff really. New age universalism. Just all kinds of things. Tolerance for all religions, gay marriage friendly, evolution friendly, all inclusive, everything is fine, spiritualize, meditate on nothingness, and experience everything. All the perks of religion without any of the good deeds or hard realities. Drugs, sex, tolerance, LGBT rights, and scientism all under the same roof. Truly disturbing, but certainly easily made popular. It fits with whatever the world is saying at the moment. If pedophilia becomes popular in the next 20 years they can add that under the umbrella, no problem. Too bad that doesn't fit with reality though. Too bad it isn't true.
The truth is rarely an easy thing, as you may have noticed. But the fact that it's real is so vital. The fact that Jesus Christ is not just another idea or philosophy, but a person, whose encounter with is not simply a meditation or a trendy topic, but a real transformational experience. Substance in the Christian worldview. Not the popularized myths, but what's actually in the Bible. Not the dogmatic, closed minded theology of the strict and the mean, but the loving, powerful, compassionate good news of Jesus Christ; full of liberty, freedom, justice, power and grace.
The paradigm is once again a false dichotomy spirituality vs. religion. Religion is pictured as the modernist nightmare church where everyone creeps you out, judges you, condemns you, and nothing of substance is ever spoken of. Spirituality is the personal experience, the internal thought out adventure of journeying in meditation and contemplation through new and interesting eastern mysticism coupled with evolutionary science and metaphysics.
Once again, we need a third option. The third option combines the powerful freeing experience of spirituality with the rock hard truth of religion; bound in with intelligent design, scientific inquiry, intellectual substance, real humility, and actual loving compassion. The closest I could think of would be the Evangelical Intelligentsia movement, or Evangelical Christianity.
I have seen Christianity beginning to regain some of it's foothold in the United States. Europe not so much. But there is a very long way to go. But we can go the distance, together, we are the body of Christ, the ultimate manifestation of unity in diversity. Jesus Christ works in us, on us, and through us, and in him all things are possible. Amen.
Related Posts:
Five Presentations by Ravi Zacharias on Christian Philosophy
Nine Documentaries & Presentations on Atheism, Intelligent Design, Young Earth, Old Earth, and the Existence of God
Five Causes for the New Christian Activist
The Modern Mindset & Challenges we Face
Secular Views vs. Christian Truth
The Power of Love in Western Culture
Why is Jesus the perfect example to follow?
12 YouTube Sermons by Mark Driscoll on Jesus
