Video from Associated Press
Trump has been our post-truth president.
Post-truth is pre-fascism and authoritarian to say the least.
And here’s the amazing thing when the populace gives up on truth or fabricates their own truth, they allow people like Trump who are wealthy and influential, the Elites, to take over which ironically is the same type or class of people they insist they are overthrowing.
Without agreement about some basic facts, citizens cannot form the civil society that would allow them to defend themselves. We must get along or will continue this decline into chaos. Christians in America have become complicit in this anarchy. Be warned God will not be mocked.
Plato explained what you and I already know from the past four years is that a tyrants/authoritarian like Trump is surrounded in the end by yes-men and enablers. In a similar fashion Aristotle was concerned that in a democracy, a wealthy/ambitious demagogue easily master the minds of the populace. The framers of the Constitution instituted a system of checks and balances to try and offset these possibilities. Their goal was to ensure that no one branch of government dominated the others and to anchor the other branches/institutions in different points of view.
The time has passed for all the many proponents of the Fraudulent Election/Big Lie to either put up or shut up. After 60 or more lawsuits and much rhetoric the claim that a massive societal conspiracy is keeping the evidence hidden has worn very thin.
The insurrection at the capitol was an orgy of pride, sin and evil. Many Christians bought into it and were in the crowd. Now they are guilty by association. No excuses.
Over the past 10 or more years we have all but lost local news. Local news helps to ground us in truth, the truth of our surroundings, our community. Even in the small community I live in it is gone. Social media some believe is now our source of all news yet that cannot be validated. What we find in social media is more hearsay and bearing false witness if not outright fiction. People now seek emotional stimulation instead of a reality check which blurs the distinction between what they think is true and what is true.
Historically fascist leaders have done what Trump has done by presenting himself as the single source of truth. Of course there must be a susceptible population ready and willing to believe lies and conspiracies. In our apostate and Godless nation we are prime candidates. Cynical and materialistic we give Christ lip service as did those who stormed our Capitol. Trumps use of the term “fake news” was a shadow of the Nazi smear Lügenpresse (“lying press”); and like the Nazis, Trump referred to reporters as “enemies of the people.” The Nazis tried and largely succeeded in using radio to replace the diversity and truth telling of the newspaper. Trump did the same with Twitter and Facebook.
Since Trump was shut off social media disinformation has dropped 73 per cent. The social media companies are complicit in this profiting of lies, conspiracies and disinformation. So the point is we can do something about lies and disinformation.
Social media must be held accountable. The companies involved must be held accountable for their profit motivated complicity in lies, conspiracies and other civil unrest. Section 231 must be rescinded.
Right now many Christians are on social media defending their savior Trump. Many national Christian leaders like Franklin Graham and Eric Metaxas have bought into the Big Lie and continue to promote the narrative. Yet they can provide no proof for the national conspiracy of voter fraud. This lie has become fuel and mental poison for those already promoting anarchy and evil and now they have found an excuse.
Now let’s be clear, Trump is not the ultimate cause he is a symptom, a trigger for what was already there. He has many accomplices like Hawley, and Cruz to name a few. They all must be held accountable, no excuses.
We are all sinners. God wants none to perish.
We have been rotting from within since at least the 1960’s. The sexual revolution, and the rise of mainstreamed pornography, expressive individualism and moral relativism have created the “immanent frame” of our demise.
So where do you stand? Be reflective, be honest with yourself. Have you prayed and asked for discernment from God? Can you back away from your political enthusiasm and work with your fellow citizens to make things better or will you continue to be lost in the halls of conspiracies and lies?
Article links:
A Secular Age by Charles Taylor amazon link