One of the focal points of my book, Not Just Any Old God Will Do, was that perception plays a very powerful role in our lives. It is critical in the formation and maintenance of our relationships with others and with God. And our perception of ourselves often affects how we interact with others.
Since the completion of my book, I have written several blogs on this site. With the vast majority of these articles, I strived to demonstrate how the enemy of our souls has weaponized the collective perception of different groups of people in this country in an effort to destroy its arguably single greatest attribute – freedom. Most of my illustrations dealt with the enemy’s use of political leaders and some conservative media outlets to distort the perception of groups of people in a way that caused them to lose faith in our electoral process. Ultimately, this loss of faith in our electoral system resulted in the January 6th insurrection wherein numerous American citizens, most of whom apparently believing they were acting as patriots, violently stormed the Capitol and sought to do bodily harm to certain members of Congress.
My previous writings have largely focused on the enemy’s exploitation of the perception of many on the Right because of its potentially adverse effect on our democracy; however, as I stated in my book, the enemy is an equal-opportunity manipulator of perception. As such, he works on both sides of the political aisle. In fact, it seems to me that he sometimes uses the results of misperceptions he engendered among one group as fuel to deceive and to influence the perception of members of another group. For example, I think most Americans would agree that the Democrat Party has been moving further toward the Left for several years now. As this has happened, many have begun to accept (as fact) views that were, until recently, considered extreme such as an individual’s right to change his/her sex. And those of us who do not agree with this view are often considered narrow-minded and are cancelled. In the end, their apparent sense of “enlightenment” serves to further alienate people on the Right, making them more vulnerable to further manipulation by the enemy of our souls.
As a result of the enemy’s work on both sides of the aisle, our country is now in an extremely divided state. In such an environment, it is easy for us to drive a stake in the ground on one side or the other, thereby blindly accepting and supporting every position our leaders advocate for. But the people of God must resist the temptation to do this. James 4:7 tells us to submit ourselves to God and resist the enemy and he will flee from us. This verse of Scripture implies that if we do not resist the enemy, he will not flee from us. He will not be satisfied with the progress he has made in separating people from God. He will continue to pressure us to accept beliefs that gradually further alienate us from God. If you do not believe this, think about the progression of evil on both sides of the aisle in recent years. There have always been extremists on the Left as well as the Right. But until recently, they existed on the political fringes and their influence was limited. But now, many of their extremists’ views have made their way to the mainstream, and leaders of neither major political party seem willing to condemn the fabrications on which these views are based.
It is not lost on me that many on the Left will likely criticize this blog as a homophobic condemnation of the LGBTQ community. I also realize that there is probably little I can say to convince them otherwise simply because the application of the homophobic label to people like me has become standard protocol for those who would like to cancel anyone who does not agree with the homosexual lifestyle. But my problem with political leaders on the Left has nothing to do with their advocacy for Gay rights afforded by the Constitution. Of course, rights provided by the Constitution must be protected for all Americans. I along with many people on the Right unabashedly support that principle. However, the relevant question is “What are the rights afforded by the Constitution?” Is same sex marriage one of those rights? And if you think it is, do others have the right to disagree with you without being attacked? What would the framers of the Constitution have to say about this question? Is it appropriate for us to assume that the Constitution gives us the right to do anything that our laws allow? Is there a place for morality in our society? And if so, who determines what is moral? Is it one size fits all as defined by one’s politics or can it be personal?
The fact is these are complex questions, and the enemy of our souls has been skillfully exploiting their complexity to continuously weaken democracy in our country by very strategically dividing the electorate. He has influenced people on the Right to eagerly support would-be demagogic authoritarians in an effort to stop those on the Left who are perceived to be trying to impose their inferior values on the entire country. Meanwhile, many on the Left excoriate the blatant intolerance by many on the Right while harboring the same kind of intolerance for anyone who does not embrace their liberal views. This results in a vicious circle that creates an environment wherein political leaders no longer have to be people of ostensibly good character, integrity, or even believe in democracy. The only thing that matters now is to go one up on the opposing side. With that in mind, instead of trying to “fit” on one side or the other, the people of God should become comfortable with being uncomfortable.