Memes, themes, and the like have become all the rage in this little blip of time known as the social media era. Everything from kittens to politics is now often presented in short, high-octane bursts able to quickly inspire everything from hysterical laughter at what the cute, cuddly little kitties are doing, to burning outrage at what “those people are doing to our country”.
And there’s nothing at all inherently wrong with this. In fact, there’s nothing inherently wrong with propaganda itself, which is what most of these little snippets of carefully directed information are.
Propaganda, advertising, marketing and the like are only as good or as bad as the object of their affection. Put another way, they are only as good or as evil as the nature in which they are grounded.
As Christians, we are told again and again (but can take quite a while to begin to “get it”), that Jesus is the embodiment of truth (John 14:6), that all things are defined by His nature, and that everything in His creation that is not firmly rooted in Him is fundamentally flawed, no matter how attractive it may seem from a worldly perspective. This applies to everything – both material and immaterial, from books, clothes, and toys to ideas, philosophies, and politics. (See: Colossians 1:16-17)
When we embrace that idea and make it the heart of our worldview, things like considering propaganda in light of Christ’s nature not only make a whole lot more sense, but such vital pursuits begin to just come naturally…which is precisely why everything in and of this world aims to prevent us from doing so.
That said, let’s consider for a moment a sweet little graphic-word piece going around on Facebook. It makes for a good example of the sort of thing that is wildly popular with professing Christians who also claim to be conservatively inclined, politically.
Here it is:
First off, I have to say that I’m in general agreement with the message carried by this particular bit of propaganda. I’m about as repulsed by the Obama Administration as one can possibly be.
At the same time, I cannot help but cringe at the sight of it.
I cringe at the sight of this sort of propaganda because it is not the exception. It is the norm. And by “the norm”, I mean the overwhelmingly normative norm, if there can be such a thing. This “Obama [or Democrats or Liberals] is the problem” approach to pro-Republican (not to be confused with true pro-conservative and certainly not pro-Christian) propaganda is alarming – not because of what it says (most, if not all of which I would heartily agree with), but because of what it purposefully does not say and the context that it purposefully does not provide.
It is the success of this sort of pro-Republican propaganda that is largely to blame for our current Orwellian condition.
What is meant here by Orwellian?
How is it that Republican propaganda in particular has contributed so greatly to leading us to this place?
These are two important questions to ponder, and we should at least try to consider them through the lens of Christ’s nature as revealed in His perfect Word. There we learn that the inevitable consequence of severing anything from explicit connection to His nature leaves the thing in question dead and capable of spreading only more death, decay, and darkness.
This inescapable truth is once again confirmed by what passes now as “conservatism” (and even “Christianity”) in America. After generations of swimming in such carefully crafted pro-Republican, Christ-dismissing propaganda as the example presented above, the vast majority of Republicans, (most of whom loudly claim Christianity as well), now understand and proclaim a “conservative” worldview that usually includes and enthusiastically defends things like State-controlled children’s education, which is straight out of the Communist Manifesto.
How many “conservative” Republicans on the national stage are actively campaigning to eliminate Social Security, MediCare, Medicade, and the like?
How many “conservative” Republican rank and file members even want those things significantly reduced, much less repealed or eliminated?
[Tweet “How many so-called “conservative” Republicans actively campaign to eliminate Social Security and State-controlled children’s education?”]
I hear roughly nine out of ten of these folks defending each and every one of these overtly Socialist/Marxist, culture-shaping, State-empowering, citizen-enslaving programs whenever they get the chance.
Which is precisely what happens when we set aside Christ as our explicit, detailed guide to anything, including our politics.
We end up with a bunch of loud, proud “conservatives” who are, in practice, openly advocating Socialism in practice and paving the way for much, much worse in America.
We end up with easily manipulated masses who can all be led along by the folks directing the propaganda from the macro level so that the “liberal first” pawns on the Left (many of whom also profess Christianity) get what they want and need to enthusiastically keep on playing the game, and “conservative first” professing Christian pawns on the Right get the red meat they love and are emboldened to continue to dismiss Christ and rail against the “evil Commies” on the Left…all while greatly helping to forge the chains of Socialism in America themselves.
It is with these things in mind that I crafted the following “accessory” bit of propaganda:
My aim wasn’t so much to correct what was said in the original – again, I agree wholeheartedly with the basic idea behind that original. My hope was to give it the context that you will almost never see in the typical Right/Left paradigm promoting propaganda that saturates and dominates politically inclined presentations these days.
The Christ-dismissing Left and Christ-dismissing Right are two heads of the same dragon. They both ultimately have the same view of the authority of Scripture, no matter how much each side may claim other wise. No matter how many favored verses out of context they can each parrot when it suits them, no matter how often they go to church, and no matter how much they claim to “love” or “love God”, the proof of their rebellion is in their shared adoration of Orwellian doublespeak, particularly when it comes to the truth of God as revealed in His Word.
Just ask the typical Christian conservative in America (you know, the one who routinely supports Socialism in practice) what First Commandment says, what it means, and how our nation’s law should/must strive to obey that Command in order bring glory to God and true peace, joy, and prosperity to our land?
99 times our of 100 (at least), that “Christian conservative” won’t even know where to begin…but they will be strongly inclined against taking the First Commandment seriously when it comes to governing in practice.
Oh sure, they want Ten Commandments plaques and monuments here, there, and everywhere, but to actually read, obey, and apply those Commandments?
Not on your life!
They want a lucky rabbits foot. They do not want God.
This is what happens when Conservatives trade in Christ for The Founding Fathers as the Gold Standard in law givers.
This is what happens when Conservatives trade in Scripture for the Constitution as the Gold Standard in law.
This is what happens when Conservatives get their political marching orders from unbelievers rather than from the Word of God.
This is how you get Conservatives forging the chains of Socialism around the necks of America’s children.
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See also:
Problem>Reaction>Solution: Why we will beg to have our freedoms taken away and go to war forever.
The America Idol (Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love The Almighty State)
US raises terror threat level to “Orwellian”: Citizens line up to hand over more freedoms
Singing Sweet, Sweet Lies in the “Land of the Free” and the Home of the NSA
Why Americans don’t do repentance.
7 Empowering Truths for Politically Active Christians
Politics, Religion, and the Threat of Spontaneous Combustion
The (church built) Zombie Apocalypse is upon us…
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© 2014 Scott Alan Buss – All Rights Reserved.
My fb friend shared your site and I love it!!!!
Thank you so much for the encouraging words, Diane! God is good!