Flattening the curve when it comes to the Covid 19 Pandemic has become the mantra of our politicians. And it is important to flatten the curve because when it is flattened the pandemic is controllable – as far as such things can be ‘controllable.’
Stopping the spread flattens the curve. How is this done? Social distancing, self-quarantine, restricting travel and shutting down the economy are some ways to flatten the curve. Unfortunately these measures have side effects and unintended consequences that time may show to be just as serious for people as a Covid 19 infection.
There is another way of flattening the curve and it is truly gruesome. This way is the dying out of those people who have the disease. A Washington Post article doesn’t mince any words about this method; “. . . highly lethal viruses like SARS and Ebola tend to burn themselves out, leaving no one alive to spread them.” To my knowledge, Covid 19 isn’t as lethal as SARS and Ebola but it does kill people at a very serious rate. And it kills older people at a greater rate than younger people.
Quebec has suffered most from the pandemic, with close to 40,000 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases and over 3,100 deaths, the majority of those being among long-term-care home residents.
Flattening the curve on mortality definitely does occur with action. How long you can sustain a lockdown is a separate question. But there’s no doubt it has bought time for some settings.
Prof. Prabhat Jha, a University of Toronto epidemiology professor.
We can see the curve is flattening in all areas of Canada:
Which factor has the greatest impact on Quebec’s flattened curve – 1) there are fewer ‘old people’ around to contract and die of Covid 19 so there are fewer and fewer new cases or 2) keeping younger people ‘locked down’ so they can’t spread the virus or go to school or make a living?
This begs two questions? How does a ‘lockdown’ of the general population protect the seniors closeted away in retirement and nursing homes? And what impact does the high death rate among seniors have on ‘burning out’ Covid 19 thereby flattening the curve when all the ‘old people’ who can die of Covid 19 have died of it?
Perhaps as this crisis dies down, front line health care workers can provide some insight.
We know what the politicians and their ‘experts’ are saying.
During the Covid 19 pandemic many have wondered why the church has not been listed as essential and allowed to stay open like grocery, liquor and cannabis stores. Although the Easter Bunny was declared essential for the kids. Dr. Julia Broeking, a clinical child psychologist explains the decision; “It can help to keep up with certain rituals and positive occurrences in the family, and I think the Easter Bunny story kind of falls under that,” (CTV News Apr 7, 2020)
As to liquor and cannabis stores, Ottawa Inner-City Health supervisor Anne Marie Hopkins points out; “There are people who need alcohol or cannabis to get through their everyday life,. . . When you cut someone off of alcohol who’s struggling with alcoholism you head into some very serious medical issues that can come up.” ((CTV News Mar 26, 2020)
Our leaders have made sure that kids have the Easter Bunny and parents have liquor and cannabis so everyone can cope. Why didn’t the need for Jesus even make the radar of our leaders and those that advise them?
Recently I posted a video giving my ‘take’ on this question, essentially suggesting that the church has changed from what it used to be and made itself ‘non-essential’;
This prompted some to wonder if any criticism of the church would negatively affect people and encourage non-believers to avoid church, deepening their belief that much of what we call ‘church’ is irrelevant. In my opinion, that’s trying to lock the barn door after the horse has escaped.
What follows is my explanation of why I’m not worried about possibly giving people a poor opinion of the church beyond just saying – they have it already, even our leaders and their advisors.
This is not a failing of our leaders and their advisors. This is a symptom of a greater malaise that has infected much of what we call the church today. It is an old spiritual disease that has caused untold pain and suffering in the world. It is idolatry.
Joel Kotkin, writing for The Tablet states;
. . . many religious movements—Reform Judaism, mainstream Protestantism, and increasingly the Catholic Church under Pope Francis—have sought to redefine themselves largely as instruments of social justice. Although doing good deeds, or mitzvot, long has constituted a strong element in most religions, the primary motivation of the faith community traditionally focused on heritage, spirituality, and family. . . . Yet rebranding themselves as progressive often brings religious activists into alliances with people who reject their core values.
The Master’s University puts the seduction of our corporate churches into focus;
As our culture changes, we sadly see many churches changing in step with the culture. Soon enough, there is little difference between the world’s attempts and the church’s efforts to solve social problems. Distinctions are intentionally blurred to accommodate social activist trends that tug at our emotions and sense of justice. Regrettably, we Christians can let our activism to right the wrongs in our society take priority over the gospel.
This is the idolatry I’m speaking of – when activism, social justice and tolerance are raised higher than the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Many churches have abandoned their first love to seek friendship with the world. The idolatry that fills the spiritual vacuum of abandoning Jesus and His Word renders the church non-essential. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only worthwhile thing the church has to say to the world (Ephesians 3:10.11)
The majority of churches and their clerics are silent about the spiritual disease of idolatry that has taken over not only society but many church denominations. This silence also is a symptom of idolatry manifest as ‘the fear of man’ which has cost conservative but cowardly churches and clerics dearly. It has cost them their relevance in society too. I have pointed out before;
And now atheists can proudly wear the uniform and vestments of clergy! Godly men and women who have been ordained wear the same collar and uniform of heretics and false prophets. People can’t tell the real deal from clergy impostors at least as far as their outer garb is concerned. The corporate head offices of many church denominations have been remarkably silent about this enemy infiltration into the leaders of Christendom often believing that silence is the Godly thing. Or perhaps, they believe silence is the only thing that will keep them from falling into disfavor with the world.
The Bible says; “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” (James 4:4) The apostle James wasn’t speaking to the world here – he was speaking to the church!
The words of the great prophet Hosea speaks to the non-essential church today; “And it shall be: like people, like priest. So I will punish them for their ways, And reward them for their deeds. For they shall eat, but not have enough; They shall commit harlotry, but not increase; Because they have ceased obeying the Lord.” (Hosea 4:9,10) Is this not what is happening today with our grey haired congregations and declining numbers.
Some say we should not criticize the church because people will turn away from it and lose the benefits of a good pro-social organization and maybe even a chance to be saved. Sadly it has been noted that a lot of corporate churches today put people to sleep and lull them with a false sense of security. What a shock that would be to think you are saved and then go to sleep for the last time and wake up in hell.
This is not a new problem it has just become more widespread. John Wesley nailed it in the 1700’s:
l was more convinced than ever that the preaching like an apostle, without joining together those that are awakened and training them up in the ways of God, is only begetting children for the murderer. How much preaching has there been for these twenty years all over Fembrokeshirel But no regular societies, no discipline, no order or connection; and the consequence is that nine in ten of the once-awakened are now faster asleep than ever.
I don’t want my unsaved friends and family to attend a fake corporate church because it could be hazardous to their spiritual health.
I want my unsaved friends and family to encounter Jesus and get to know Him.
When I was a child that’s what I heard from my parents every spring. We lived on a small farm in rural Ontario and every spring it was time to work up the garden. I would rather play in the sunshine and have fun.
I didn’t want to go through the potato bin in the cellar separating candidates for planting among the rotten shriveled survivors of the winter. It was dark, damp and ‘spidery’ down in the cellar – not a place for me. I came to hate potatoes.
Now I plant a few every year in my garden. There’s nothing like new potatoes with a nice steak and mushrooms. This year we all need to plant gardens – if we are fortunate enough to have a yard. And I’m going to plant more potatoes.
Global supply chains are not dependable in tough times. Like ‘fair weather friends’ they break off with you when you need them most. Our leaders – political and economic captains of industry have ‘played in the sun’ for several generations now. We have played alongside them enjoying the good times. And hating any advice (or direction) that would reign in our easy prosperity and happiness.
Smart people are now having second thoughts;
The disruption unleashed by the new coronavirus is different in that it has highlighted country risk at an unprecedented scale. Nobody could have foreseen what would happen when the world’s second-largest economy went offline and completely shut down external logistics connections. And because of supply chain tiering and the delays inherent in ocean container shipping, many companies are only now coming to grips with the depth of their dependencies.
What can little guys like me do? What the little people of the world have always done! Take steps to see to our own ‘food security.’ My mom and dad taught me a valuable lesson – if we don’t plant potatoes, we’ll go hungry in the winter. I’m going to plant my garden as I have done ever since I was a child. We’ll eat from it over the summer and harvest potatoes for the winter.
Growing up poor in rural Ontario was the best education for times like these. Thank you mom and dad!
I’ll conclude with a very sobering cautionary thought from another Old Book people don’t bother with anymore because much of it isn’t fashionable or fun today;
“The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved!” (Jeremiah 8:20)
A word to the wise – it’s springtime – plant your potatoes.
Many people seem to be ‘in like’ with me but there’s no love. What do I mean by that? Sadly, when I post about an article that I have written I do get some likes. Then I check the my blog’s analytics and find no one has accessed the article to read it. My article could be a load of baloney and they just liked my FB post about it! That’s kind of shallow but Facebook promotes empty gestures.
I’d be offended but its just not happening to me. Caitlin Dewey writing for the Washington Post highlights studies that show;
70% of Facebook users only read the headline of science stories before commenting
59 percent of links shared on social media have never actually been clicked
If you love me or if you really like me, please stop liking my posts where I share an article that I have written, if you haven’t read the article. Read it first – then if you think the article has some merit – like it or share it or both. If you don’t agree with it – post a reply in the blog’s comment form. It will go directly to me. If you’re respectful and insightful you’ll help me learn.
All too often virtue signalers are ignorant as well. But that doesn’t stop them from being self appointed censures of other people.
Here is an example from Facebook. Today I posted a meme that I agreed with:
It didn’t take long for someone to take up the cause of possible oppression on behalf of people on the other side of the world;
I think this person is telling me that I shouldn’t ‘print’ anything negative about Planned Parenthood because people are suffering else where. So I shouldn’t say anything about the abuse Planned Parenthood heaps on children here. This was my reply
The coronavirus is about to give us a harsh lesson in the plain meaning of words.
There may be one term that still holds its meaning of “a disaster beyond expectations”: catastrophe. What we’re seeing in Europe already passes this threshold.
Most of the western world, has been cocooned in a thick stifling gauze of consumerism and materialism. Generations of living in relative luxury and safety has made us stupid and lazy. Nobody likes to be called stupid and lazy but what words can you use to describe the behavior of the Queen’s students who chose to gather — cheek to jowl’- on St. Patrick’s Day . One reveler tells us what he was thinking:
I’m from Scotland. I’ve travelled [sic] 3,000 miles, and obviously, the fact that the virus is happening is not going to stop me from getting steaming [drunk], …
Is he is a typical specimen of those that enjoy ‘higher education’ today? If so the university system isn’t weeding out the stupid ones. Will we have to rely on nature and ‘selective evolution’ to do the job? Nature is intolerant and harsh – the very opposite of what these soft young people have become accustomed to. They have no idea that they are no longer in a ‘safe and affirming’ environment.
When I went to Queen’s back in the ice age, I was told in my freshmen year that one in three of us would be ‘weeded out’ by Christmas. Not a good motivational speech but I took it to heart and studied hard while staying away from parties. I made it to graduation.
My mother, who lived through a global depression and a world war where her country was invaded and occupied by a foreign army, always said if you won’t listen to good advice, you will have to experience the consequences.
Sadly, we can only pray for our reckless young people asking God to forgive their stupidity and have mercy on them so they will live long enough to grow up!
The new religion of Social Justice Activism is sowing seeds of divisiveness and animosity that will tear our society apart. Many embrace this new religion with all its virtue signaling but few see the impoverished destination it will take us down the road. What will happen when we arrive and live the bitter consequences?
Using ourselves up on identity politics, social justice (in this manifestation) and intersectionality is a waste of a life. We may certainly aim to live in a society in which nobody should be held back from what they can do because of some personal characteristic allotted to them by chance. If somebody has the competency to do something, and the desire to do something, then nothing about their race, sex or sexual orientation should hold them back. But minimizing difference is not the same as pretending difference does not exist. To assume that sex, sexuality and skin colour mean nothing would be ridiculous. But to assume that they mean everything will be fatal.
― Douglas Murray, The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity
What will the social justice warrior mom tell her adult transitioned child who deeply regrets the mutilating surgeries they went through when both know there’s no recovering what was cut away? What will the apostate churches that promoted the madness (and the cowardly churches that keep silent) say to the society they were called to serve with the truth of the Gospel when people ask; ‘Why didn’t you warn us that all would fall apart?’ What will the public school officials and the social justice warrior teachers say to parents and the causalities of their misbegotten Gender Ideology Theories when they realize they have been misled? What will the doctors who championed these mutilating surgeries and poisonous hormone regimes say? A bitter harvest is coming to maturity!
Elan Anthony, who is part of the early harvest of bitterness describes his experiences and regret;
I believed that I was female and that could never change. There were times I wondered if I’d got it wrong and should actually be a man. The idea of fluid gender is relatively new in terms of public awareness but it did actually exist in the 90s.
I started to realise that I could have dealt with my own issues so much better without changing my body because that has brought so many more difficulties. Detransitioning isn’t as unusual as you might expect, but it is underground, for a number of reasons, and the trans community isn’t happy discussing this.
Sadly, the seeds have been sown, the crop has been cultivated and fertilized and the harvest is ready. Who will reap the benefit? In this broken world the poor pay, the innocent pay and the children pay while the rich get richer. Here is an assessment from a doctor that does the actual cutting;
Dr. Curtis Crane, a plastic surgeon who performs transgender surgery in Austin, Texas, discussed with RT the cost of gender confirmation procedures. He revealed that a biological female undergoing an operation to ‘become male’ can cost between $150,000 to $200,000, while the cost for a male-to-female operation is between $80,000 and $100,000. However, these are just the prices of the initial operations.
After surgery, patients face a lifetime of purchasing estrogen or testosterone hormones, with all of the inherent risks mentioned above, while routine medical checkups are also a priority. These additional expenses can quickly add up to several hundred dollars per month, depending on each individual case.
When asked if the pharmaceutical industry stands to profit from the upsurge of interest in the transgender movement, Dr. Crane responded: “Yes, I believe so.”
Brave people are speaking out regarding this darkness our country has been seduced into. Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson is fighting for children on the west coast taking SOGI (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity – the equivalent sexualized teaching approach to sex, gender and family that we have in Ontario) to task.
Here in Ontario we have a brave mother – Pamela Buffone – rising up to defend her child against the radical gender ideology activism of teachers in our public school classrooms;
Ms. Buffone has decided enough is enough not only for her child but also all the other innocent children in our province. She has filed a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Commission and her organization along with three other groups have filed a complaint to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario about the McLean Clinic and two of its physicians: Dr Hugh McLean and Dr Giancarlo McEvenue;
We would like to bring your attention to a number of issues affecting children and youth who are experiencing gender dysphoria in Canada. We are a network of organizations working together to voice our concerns regarding the rapidly growing medicalization of such youth.
A prime example of this trend in identity medicine can be found at the McLean Clinic (Mississauga), where social media is used to promise new benefits of a trans-identity that can be achieved with medical treatments while denigrating natural physical characteristics such as breasts. Social media is attracting many teenagers to seek out irreversible medical treatments. At the same time, there are growing numbers of detransitioners in their early 20’s coming forward who are reporting regret.
What will you do? Nothing – because it doesn’t affect you? Nothing – because you don’t want to look ‘intolerant?’ Nothing – because you are afraid of what others will think of you? If you decide to do nothing you will be part of a group that history has already judged and found wanting; “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” (Edmund Burke)
As for me – I intend to continue to speak up and defend the innocent children in our public school system.
If you want to speak up then start by sharing this resource page with your friends – Protect School Children. Get together and look over the material and discuss it with one another. Talk to your school board trustee. If you would like a retired school principal to come and talk to your group – contact me.
Remember – to do nothing is to allow this evil to spread.
“The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved! For the hurt of the daughter of my people I am hurt. I am mourning; Astonishment has taken hold of me. Is there no balm in Gilead, Is there no physician there? Why then is there no recovery for the health of the daughter of my people?” (Jeremiah 8:20-22)
I just finished reading an editorial about the looming COVID-19 pandemic in the Globe and Mail. The author argues that our response to the challenges posed by this threat should be based on science and reason;
If the COVID-19 outbreaks bloom into a pandemic, this will be even more critical. Countries that put reason and science at the forefront of their responses will be the ones that come out the best at the other end.
That’s not us! Sadly our society has long departed from science and reason. Our children are taught that boys can be girls and girls can be boys and there’s no such thing as a fixed male and female – gender is fluid. They are taught this by a cadre of ideologues at all levels in our public school system who have abandoned science and reason. All in the name of social justice and political correctness.
The people that will be at the forefront of handling the COVID-19 pandemic aren’t any more (or any less) smarter than the teachers we put in front of our children. And this includes our political leaders. Consider our Prime Minister, who was once a teacher.
Salvation and faith are intimately connected. Sadly many Christians receive Jesus into their hearts as Lord and Saviour and so are saved but then they put their salvation in a box far back in a dusty closet only to be taken out at Christmas, Easter and other special church occasions. They live their lives in the hope of their salvation not in its certainty. And they put their faith in that same box. It’s time to teach the power of faith and how each and everyone of us can overcome by faith on a daily basis!
Salvation is a choice to receive and faith is a choice to live according to what you received. Faith is what gets you through the tough times. Faith transforms your life from the natural to the supernatural. Faith allows you to live your salvation on a daily basis. How sad to put faith away with your salvation and not to rely on it and live by it!
If I were to ask you; “Do you have faith?” – what would you say?
The Bible says faith is; “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) GotQuestions.org tells us; “This definition of faith contains two aspects: intellectual assent and trust. Intellectual assent is believing. . . . Trust is actually relying on the fact that the something is true. A chair is often used to help illustrate this. Intellectual assent is recognizing that a chair is a chair and agreeing that it is designed to support a person who sits on it. Trust is actually sitting in the chair.” You may believe in what the Bible says but how much trust do you have in its promises for your everyday life. Do you practice that trust daily?
Where does faith come from? The Bible tells us; “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8,9) Faith and grace are connected. Clearly grace is a gift but what about faith? Is it a gift as well? Where does faith come from? The Bible says; “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17) Obviously, the word of God doesn’t come from us – it comes from God, so faith is a gift too; “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.” (Romans 8:3) Scripture proves this.
Faith is trust. Trust is the capacity to act on what we hear in the Word of God. But just like sitting on a chair – we may believe that it will support us but we still may not choose to sit on it. And sadly, for some people we may not trust the chair because it looks too rickety, but still choose to sit on it, inwardly quaking with fear that it may collapse at any moment. Why do some to that? To be polite; they’re afraid to say no! Like the chair, if we haven’t taken in the Word of God deeply and regularity to know it in our hearts how will we have faith? If our ‘ears’ only listen to other people and Pastors (who are people too), and not His Holy Spirit how will we have faith to believe His promises? We go through life, professing Christian convictions but inwardly quake in fear only hoping we are saved. Yet the Bible tells us; “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.” (Romans 8:16,17)
Would your faith increase if you saw a person healed of a debilitating illness or if you saw a person delivered from a terrible crippling condition? What would that do to your faith? Would it increase?
I hope not – Why would I say such a thing? I’m not against signs and wonders – I live in a world full of them – answered prayer, revealed prophecy and healings. But the Bible tells us that faith comes before signs and wonders. Faith is necessary for signs and wonders to flourish (Matthew 13:58, Mark 6:5). Signs and wonders get the attention of the world. Signs and wonders indicate that something supernatural is happening. Signs and wonders can authenticate a person or be used to deceive others (2 Thessalonians 2:9). Signs and wonders have a purpose but not to increase faith – if you are Born Again you have faith – a mighty faith – do you chose to live by it?
Where does faith come from and why is it so necessary?
Faith doesn’t come from signs and wonders. If you’re looking for faith in signs and wonders you’re barking up the wrong tree! The Israelites wandered for 40 years surrounded by signs and wonders on a daily basis yet only two had the faith to believe God’s Word about the promised land – Joshua and Caleb. The Israelites saw signs and wonders and lived them daily but when it was time to enter the promised land they doubted God. They had no faith (Hebrews 4:2) . They never entered the promised land. Are we better than these Israelites? What good will signs and wonders do us if we don’t exercise our faith?
What does Jesus say about this? Jesus taught in His parable of Lazarus and the rich man that believing enough to change (which is trust and faith) doesn’t come from signs and wonders. He said; “If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.” (Luke 16:31) Jesus nailed the trouble looking for signs and wonders; “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed one greater than Jonah is here.” (Matthew 12:39-41) Faith based on signs and wonders doesn’t work. Jesus warns; “For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.” (Matthew 24:24) – signs and wonders can deceive!
It’s not seeing a miracle that creates faith or increases faith – it’s hearing the Word of God –really hearing it by taking it into your heart and trusting it. This is proved so well by Jesus’ interaction with the Samaritan woman at the well and her people. The Bible tells us that Jesus did demonstrate His supernatural knowledge of the woman’s life and past (a sign and wonder) but that didn’t make her believe. She already believed; “ ‘I know that Messiah is coming’ (who is called Christ). ‘When He comes, He will tell us all things.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I who speak to you am He.’ “(John 4:25,26) It was the woman’s testimony that got the rest of her people’s interest and Jesus’ Words that made them come to faith; “And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, ‘He told me all that I ever did.’ So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. And many more believed because of His own word. Then they said to the woman, ‘Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.’” (John 4:39-42) Signs and wonders don’t produce faith (God’s Word does ). Nor do they produce revival (repentance does). Signs and wonders are produced through faith (Matthew 17:20) and they are a part of our testimony and the testimony of those touched by Jesus.
The signs and wonders Jesus did are part of His testimony put in His Word; “And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” (John 20: 30,31) We have His Word but do we exercise the faith to believe. Without that faith His Words are of no benefit to us. The Bible tells us that even though the ancient Israelites lived on signs and wonders for 40 years in the desert only two of that generation got into the promised land; “For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.” (Hebrews 4:2) The Bible also tells us that those who chose to take God at His Word were righteous in God’s eyes; “Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6) and “What does Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’” (Romans 4:3)
We’d be wrong to look for signs and wonders hoping that they will give us faith or revival! Don’t let anyone convince you to put your hope in signs and wonders to ‘spark’ your faith. You have faith already! You have the God given capacity to say – I believe God’s Word over what I see and feel – over what the world says. Faith is the decision to stand on God’s promises and not be swayed by the absence or presence of signs and wonders. Faith is a choice and God gives us the power to make that choice! Remember – faith makes the Word profitable; “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6). Salvation is a choice to receive. Faith is a choice to trust what you have received. Signs and wonders come out of those choices which open up the supernatural world to us in the here and now.
Let us live as the Bible says in order to please God; “Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.” (Hebrews 10:38) Amen!
How can a falsehood gain traction and become commonly accepted? People will believe falsehoods if they hear them often enough. This is called the ‘illusory truth effect.’ Wikipedia states; “The illusory truth effect (also known as the validity effect, truth effect, or the reiteration effect) is the tendency to believe false information to be correct after repeated exposure. This phenomenon was first identified in a 1977 study at Villanova University and Temple University. When truth is assessed, people rely on whether the information is in line with their understanding or if it feels familiar.”
Joseph Goebbels, minister of propaganda for the Nazi German government of the Third Reich, understood the power of repeating falsehoods. “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it,” he asserted, “people will eventually come to believe it.” This phenomenon, pervasive in contemporary politics, advertising, and social media, is known in cognitive psychology as the “illusory truth effect.”
Now the ‘illusory truth effect’ is being used against Bible believing conservative Christians. Focus on the Family exposes the approach of Revisionist Gay Theology;
A key strategy in ushering in this uncritical acceptance and promotion of homosexuality into the wider culture has centered on churches and synagogues. Specifically, homosexual activists and their allies know that the Judeo-Christian sexual ethic found in the Bible is the last bastion of defense holding back the widespread embrace of homosexuality throughout the culture. . . .
It is in this context that a propaganda campaign aimed at biblically orthodox believers has been launched, with the goal of sowing seeds of doubt about God’s commands concerning homosexual behavior.
The issue of LGBTQ2 equality, the full acceptance of gay people, and the performing of same-sex marriages are perhaps the most divisive issues facing contemporary Christianity. Indeed for many conservative Christians, the litmus test for faith is less a belief in Jesus Christ than a rejection of homosexuality, which is bizarre in that the subject is hardly ever mentioned in the entirety of Scripture, and Jesus never refers to it at all!
Michael Coren, Jan 17, 2020
What is the falsehood? He says about homosexuality; ‘the subject is hardly ever mentioned in the entirety of Scripture, and Jesus never refers to it at all!‘ This is blatantly false. Even a cursory review of Scripture will show Michael Coren’s statement to be false. There are many passages in Bible that deal plainly with the sin of homosexual acts both in the Old Testament and the New Testament. This website at Bible Study Tools provides a sample of twenty five such passages and points out;
God’s timeless Word reveals His plan for humanity and His intentions for marriage and sexuality. While Scripture teaches that homosexual acts are sinful, these Bible verses aren’t about condemning homosexuals, gays, lesbians, or transgender people. Rather, read God’s loving warning and offer of grace for those who have strayed from His will for sex. We live in a fallen world with a fallen nature, but in Christ, we can be new creations.
A falsehood becomes a lie when it is uttered by a person who knows better. Is Michael Coren lying or simply ignorantly promoting this falsehood about homosexuality not being a big deal in the Bible? Whatever the case, Michael Coren is wrong when he says homosexuality is ‘hardly ever mentioned in the entirety of Scripture, and Jesus never refers to it at all!‘ Jesus referred to gender and marriage; “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?” (Matthew 19:4,5) How disingenuous to suggest that Jesus didn’t speak to marriage and gender.
As with all mass propaganda, it isn’t hard to get an ignorant mob marching over the rights of others holding sincerely held religious beliefs if you can marshal ‘experts’ to promote the falsehood. Michael Coren trots out a typical liberal academic and cleric, the Rev. Dr. Charles Fensham, and Dr. Fensham boldly proclaims;
Many people, still shaped by the biases described above, insist that the Bible condemns homosexuality. Yet, the statement that the Bible condemns homosexuality is simply wrong.
Actually the Bible says;
Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. (Romans 1:24-27)
I have to assume that the Rev. Dr. Fensham has read the Bible including this passage and many others like it. So, is he lying? Does he know better? And does he think people are so ignorant and so easily duped by his clever words, academic and ecclesiastical credentials? He is lying if he knows what the Bible says. If not, he is just ignorantly passing along a falsehood. Whatever the case may be, when falsehood become the new truth the quality of public discourse is degraded. Sadly we live in an age where technology allows the quantity of a message to override it’s quality. And all are harmed by it.
An ancient prophet of Israel saw this day and its many false teachers clearly:
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! (Isaiah 5:20)
The Washington Redskins are undergoing a "thorough review" of their name. The team said Friday it has been talking to the NFL for weeks about the subject. In a statement, the team said recent events around the U.S. and feedback from the community prompted the formal review.
I didn’t want to go through the potato bin in the cellar separating candidates for planting among the rotten shriveled survivors of the winter. It was dark, damp and ‘spidery’ down in the cellar – not a place for me. I came to hate potatoes.
What can little guys like me do? What the little people of the world have always done! Take steps to see to our own ‘food security.’ My mom and dad taught me a valuable lesson – if we don’t plant potatoes, we’ll go hungry in the winter. I’m going to plant my garden as I have done ever since I was a child. We’ll eat from it over the summer and harvest potatoes for the winter.
That’s not us! Sadly our society has long departed from science and reason. 
