History is full of examples of widely held falsehoods and mass delusions that have led to disastrous consequences.
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| Too many of us would rather not be confused with facts, having already made up our minds. |
1. Christians were falsely blamed by Nero for the burning of Rome in 64 AD, setting off a wave of brutal persecutions carried out over a period of 250 years.
2. In the Middle Ages and following, Muslims were seen as a threat that could only be eradicated by force, resulting in organized military Crusades that have forever stained the reputation of the Christian movement and contributed to perpetual hostility between Christians and Muslims, and even to the rise of groups like Al-Qaeda and ISIS today.
3. Jews throughout Europe and elsewhere have been portrayed by Protestants and Catholics alike as evil Christ-killers and as a danger to Christian civilizations and institutions. The resulting plague of anti-semitism has led to inquisitions, banishments and eventually the unimaginable horror of the Holocaust.
4. Thousands of sixteenth-century Anabaptists were tortured, exiled, drowned and burned at the stake for advocating the kind of religious freedom we take for granted today, the right to choose as adults what faith, if any, one chooses. State church officials, Protestant and Catholic alike, believed free-church advocates to be "damnable heretics" and a threat to Christian institutions and governments.
5. Many early American ministers perpetuated the belief that African slaves were part of an inferior race, the descendants of Hamites destined to live in subjection. This belief contributed to untold suffering by African-American slaves, a horrific civil war, and years of Jim Crow-era segregation, oppression, lynchings and the kind of racism that persists today.
6. Anti-Catholic intolerance was rampant in the 19th and 20th century, with many sermons and published books warning of a plot by the papacy to take over US democracy, beliefs that were widely circulated during the candidacy of John F. Kennedy for the presidency. Christian leaders like Billy Graham and Norman Vincent Peale even had a secret meeting in Switzerland working at ways of preventing Kennedy's election (an effort Graham later publicly regretted). regret. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/12/america-history-of-hating-catholics
7. The Joe McCarthy hearings of the 1950's perpetrated the belief that Communists bent on destroying America were infiltrating every US institution, including the Congress and the State Department, and that entire education and entertainment establishments were a part of a dark plot to turn the country into a communist regime.
8. More recently, Central American immigrants and refugees from other nations have been demonized as criminal drug dealers, gang members and worse, and as threatening our very existence and identity as a nation.
9. Barak Obama was believed by millions to have been born in Kenya rather than Hawaii and thus not being eligible to be president, and as being a Muslim who hated this country and was secretly plotting to bring about its demise.
10. Many today believe hospitals everywhere are routinely over-reporting COVID-19 deaths for profit, and embrace widespread rumors like Dr. Fauci conspiring with Bill Gates to deliberately spread the coronavirus infection for nefarious reasons.
11. The majority of supporters of the President today believe that the entire voting system this year has been corrupted by a dark conspiracy of bad actors, in spite of it having served the republic well for over 200 years, and in spite of the process being closely monitored and verified by poll workers and secretaries of state of both parties, in blue and red states alike.
12. Millions of Americans have bought into a "QAnon" deep state conspiracy theory that claims the Trump administration is waging a secret war against Satan worshipping pedophiles that include high ranking Hollywood actors and Democratic politicians.
Consider these words from the apostle Paul, a first century Christian missionary: "For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths." II Timothy 4:3-4 (NLT)
Oh boy, I knew that we were is mess at the moment, but to think of all the history that supports it is amazing. In the morning I'll take a walk in nature to cleanse my mind. Happy Thanksgiving.
ReplyDeleteAnd a happy Thanksgiving to you, friend!
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