The Truth Sets Free!

Since March 2020, two phenomena have gone hand in hand in our Western world. First, the deprivation of freedom, and second, censorship. And the two have everything to do with each other. In large parts of the world, such as in China, people were already unfamiliar with freedom, so the (corona) measures taken there fit entirely within the customary state control. The Western world, on the other hand, was consistently referred to as “the free West.” But since 2020, that designation is officially no longer applicable. Not that there is now a war situation. But since 2020, freedom has become negotiable for governments. Like hostage-takers: taking away freedom and giving it back under their conditions. That is criminal behavior, which the government was supposed to protect us from.

freedoms suspended

Who could have imagined before 2020 that in a free country, the government would declare our gatherings illegal? Or that we couldn’t even receive whomever we wanted in our own private home? Or that we’d be fined for shaking someone’s hand? And that we’d get a ticket for not wearing a mask, despite the official acknowledgment that they have no significant effect. And so on. And soon we will experience that the unvaccinated will be treated as second-class citizens.

totalitarian

In an atheistic China, a totalitarian state is, in a sense, a logical consequence. God is not acknowledged, and “the state” fills that void. The state is expected to provide for everything (‘father state’). And to fulfill that role to the fullest, it must be all-knowing, omnipresent, and omnipotent. Data collection and internet technology (such as 5G) easily bring this goal of ‘knowing everything’ within reach. Every movement and action and transaction is tracked. But the state not only knows nearly everything about its subjects; it also claims to know what is best for them. And so, it steers their behavior in detail through a social credit system. Reward for (by them) desired behavior and punishment for (by them) undesired behavior. And with that, the state has become ‘almighty’: it gets everyone where it wants them. A scary and dystopian idea: Big Brother is watching you!

censorship

Hand in hand with this totalitarian control is far-reaching censorship. The two cannot exist without each other. Opinions that undermine the government’s ‘narrative’ are dangerous to the state. Dissenting insights and opinions are silenced. In China, this is done with a heavy hand; people there haven’t known any better for a hundred years. But since 2020, censorship has also become commonplace in the Western world. Experts who raise a contrary voice or warn of developments are ridiculed. Or their platform is taken away. Accounts or posts on social media (YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.) are removed. Athletes, doctors, caregivers, etc., who speak out, can not only count on scorn but also risk their professional position. Examples of this pile up daily.

the truth suppressed

Paul already wrote in Romans 1:18 about a world in which the truth is suppressed in unrighteousness. So that’s not new. What is new in the (formerly) free West is that, from one day to the next, basic civil freedoms were shamelessly discarded, and fundamental countervoices are not tolerated. What was always normal is no longer normal. Think also of the intolerant LGBT+ ideology and the compulsive climate ideology that claims to ‘save the planet.’ The Western world has become completely detached from God.

the lie is always afraid

Truth is never afraid of being contradicted. On the contrary, it even invites it! It is precisely the lie that is always afraid. Afraid of evidence because it brings the truth to light. Book burning and censorship are by definition signs of the lie reigning. It goes hand in hand with oppression and enslavement. Where truth is no longer allowed to be heard, unfreedom is the inevitable consequence. Only the truth sets free (John 8:32). That Bible verse, even after 2020 (thank God!), is still fully valid. And thus true and liberating!

Delen: