Does A Lie Told Long Enough Become The Truth?

Does A Lie Told Long Enough Become The Truth?

Do you like lies? Lies are all around us and come in many forms and sizes. There are white lies and then of course there must be black lies, the really big lies. Children lie to their parents, parents to their children, employees to bosses and husbands to wives. But what is the most powerful of lies? I would have to say it is the lie we perpetuate by retelling something untrue to each other. This happens when an idea or belief has migrated to the substructures of collective consciousness. We trap ourselves in the lie by retelling it over and over and failing to explore if that idea or belief is true or not. If we consider the power that comes from repeating a lie long enough so that it is believed as a truth, then perhaps some of what forms us as individuals might be lies. And when it comes to our beliefs, some of the most basic Christian teachings may really be lies. They sound good in casual conversation but when taken to task, some of these ideas could just be cleverly designed theology that has become equivalent to a mantra. By mantra, I mean a theological positions that has been taught and preached so regularly, that it is cemented in the mind of the believer. These mantras are firmly cemented not because of diligent searching on your part or the part of the hearer. They are now concrete beliefs for you and I because of the inexorable repetition with which they have been heard throughout life. They are brainwashing material simply due to the persistence with which the message has been repeated in your hearing. It is these untruths, lies in fact, that have been told long enough, that they are truth as far as most people can tell.

Oh So Subtle..

 In some areas, you and I have not chosen our beliefs with sound decision-making and critical scrutiny. Our beliefs have been programmed for us. We have been the victims of a grand and subtle programming scheme. More confusing than a skilled shell game, we are victims in a sense to a scheme that has gone unrecognized because our beliefs are so deeply a part of us that we don’t even question them. One such shell game is the recurring theme that claims there is a fallen angel called “Satan.” This lie has had the effect of programming the beliefs of many individuals. We see indicators that many people in Christianity today have accepted the concept without question. Many of the followers of Christianity make casual use of terms that pin the blame on “Satan” for so many things. Many Christians who think they understand who and what “Satan” is, readily make statements about people or situations that attribute activities or incidents to “Satan.” With seeming certainty, Satan is at the root of many issues, believers will candidly comment on how an activity or situation is guided by demonic forces. Satan or the devil is blamed where in fact, we should see the blame ought to fall on a person who has made choices that were not the best choices to make in a situation.

I once dealt with a family who was having trouble with their teenager. Typical teenager stuff really. Rebellion, odd behaviors, drinking, drugs, irrational outbursts. But this family felt their 15 year old’s experimental drug and alcohol use was a direct result of Satan influencing their child. No child of theirs would voluntarily pursue such atrocities on his own, so indeed the child must be influenced by a satanic force. Or at least that was their conclusion. The result of this belief was to take the responsibility for the child’s actions out of the hands of the child and parents and into the hands of an external source they believed to be Satan.

This belief takes form in yet another less than cavalier musing of many followers of the Catholic and Protestant versions of Christianity. A popular scapegoat character is often identified as a spirit of the anti-Christ. Although I won’t go into detail here, but this idea submits there exists a coercive, malevolent force, compelling a person to engage in sin or an evil act. A force that toils in the spirit realm to thwart the One good God and distort the truth in order to remove precious souls from God’s Kingdom. The ingrained acceptance of a cosmic “Satan” that has worked its way into the psyche of religious culture today has grown to epidemic proportions. A belief in Satan’s worldwide influence has become so prevalent, that according to the “faithful” there is a constant battle, seemingly an unwinnable one from today’s perspective, against the Satan who is responsible for all evil.  One example of this thinking was seen when the World Trade Towers collapsed from aircraft being crashed into them on September 11^th, 2001. Some who witnessed this catastrophe claimed they actually saw an image of “Satan” in the smoke of the burning structure. And who was responsible for such an atrocity? Well, to many it was obviously Satan.

The belief Muslim terrorists serving Satan had performed the vicious attacks was underneath the statement that “Satan” could be seen that day in the flames. But was it Satan? Did a supernatural evil entity have anything at all to do with these events? Is there a side of supposed satanic activities that we are not seeing? Who or what is this Satan and who is working for him anyway? To God-fearing people in North America it is clear that our enemies are in league with Satan. But that is up to debate if you talk to folks from other countries. If it were Muslims who orchestrated the attack then what is their view on whose side Satan is on. Let’s not forget, the gods of one religion have always become the demons of opposing religions. And that is the way it has always played out in history. So even though “we” believe Satan inspires radical Islam to acts of terror, radical Islam typically holds the belief it is “we” who are inspired by Satan. The contrasting view is that any government or military organization that opposes their culture, particularly America, is being led by “Satan” or is “The Great Satan.” If both the Americans and the Muslims claim Satan inspires the other side, then I guess Satan must be busy on both sides of the fence.

Whose Side Is Satan On Anyway?

Satan cannot be guiding both sides of a conflict. If Satan opposes what Satan is doing to annihilate the other side, his kingdom will fall. It is more likely both sides are operating out of their own collective heart of wickedness and are driven by their own desires for power and money. Nonetheless, all who seem to adhere to a Satan doctrine typically acquired their belief in a Satan through being told again and again that “Satan” is out there. Quite simply, the repeated false teachings we hear eventually become our reality and what we believe as truth is rarely, if ever, truly investigated to determine if it is the whole truth or not. The phenomenon of being sensitized, or perhaps you might say it is a process of being desensitized, to a specific thought, statement, or idea that is constantly at work in our lives, plays a huge part in being unable to accept anything that is different from the truth we already have accepted. Our beliefs have become part of us on so many levels. We are so entrenched in our behaviors and beliefs that the only way to combat the brainwashing we have undergone is to embark on a serious exploration of a belief. For some of us, in order to move away from a lifelong entrenched belief in Satan, it is almost to the point of submitting to a de-programming. Therefore, I would have to say the reader who quickly rejects my theories without questioning their own is brainwashed already. It seems what is likely to be accomplished by honestly exploring the idea of Satan and the Devil, is that you and I will eventually be de-programmed. In the healthiest sense, we are then free from the oppressive chains of our entrenched thoughts and beliefs that have been erroneously planted in our minds. We will find that in letting go of a belief in Satan and demons, we have effectively been exorcised. Not because the belief is from demons; rather the belief itself is the demon.