War on truth

In the US, the Democrats seek once again to impeach President Trump – conveniently ignoring their own scandalous behaviour throughout his term of office – while at the same time Amazon, Apple and Google have combined to shut down Parler, the social media network noted for upholding pro-life and conservative views (https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/09/tech/parler-suspended-apple-app-store/index.html).

Sad to say, whatever your views on American politics and President Trump, this appears an overt declaration of war on views deemed unacceptable by the Secularist elite because, at heart, it is manifestation of a spirit that wants to silence and suppress any views that conflict with its own ‘Woke’ ideas.  An object lesson, in fact, in conditioned totalitarianism, with the general public, like Pavlov’s dog, trained to respond mindlessly to stimuli approved by an increasingly powerful plutocracy…   Which is why this battle goes way beyond a mere a conflict of political opinion, and is instead a battle of religions.    The unpalatable truth is that Christianity is under threat, and unless we recognise that fact and speak up – unless we fight to defend our faith – we shall be immured in the rubbish dump of outmoded and antiquated superstition, our every protest silenced by ridicule and vilification.

So how do we resist evil, when a partisan media suppresses and actively distorts the truth?

This was a question faced by the Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer in World War 2 when confronted by the evils of Nazism.  From the first he opposed the cult of the Fuhrer and spoke out against the genocidal persecution of the Jews and Hitler’s campaign for ethnic cleansing, at the same time unreservedly and unequivocally condemning Hitler’s broader programme of euthanasia of the ‘disabled’.  For Bonhoeffer, obedience to Christ was all, and as a result he was himself sent to a concentration camp, before being executed on 9 April 1945.   The position he took from the first was that silence in the face of evil was to make one complicit.

Sadly, we live in an age where evil seems once again on the ascendant and, just as back in the 1930s when Nazism was gaining a stranglehold on power, it is not enough to opt for a quiet life, in hopes the storm will pass us by.  It will not.  On the contrary, if we fail now to speak out and uphold the values enjoined by our faith, we shall ourselves be systematically silenced and ‘cleansed’.

In the garden of Eden the snake tempted Eve with a lie, holding out the lure of knowledge and power.  Unfortunately, the couple listened and the result was separation from God and death.    But Christ, by His death and resurrection, broke the power of Satan and restored us to life and that relationship with God for which we had been created.  So just like Bonhoeffer, faced with the evils of Nazism, it behoves us now to speak up for and defend that hard won freedom – to claim our right to speak and defend those who cannot defend themselves.  Silence in the face of evil is not an option.

The truth is, social media platforms and the press are increasingly ‘policing’ what is allowed into the public domain, actively suppressing anything that runs counter to the preferred ‘Woke’ narrative with the weasel and duplicitous justification that they are promoting tolerance and inclusivity – branding contrary opinions and unwelcome facts (even where scientifically validated) as fake.   This is not in public interest – it is resurgence of the same spirit of Nazism evident in the 1930s.  We urge people to complain – directly, to the media and network outlets involved, and to Ofcom, the government media regulator.  Make the point that while we welcome protection of children against sexual exploitation and abuse, the right to freedom of speech and belief must be upheld, and in that regard it does not lie with social media platforms or the press to decide what is, or is not, acceptable.