Commandeered Minds

I frequently listen to long-form podcasts, freely changing them up when a shift of pace is needed. I’ve noticed something. They all seem to be stuck in the same bunker, their perspective collectively trapped by the same vantage point, sitting there with their headphones on and scratching their heads in puzzlement at the extremist’s choices, histrionics, and jet-fueled emotionalism.

At this late date it astonishes me that smart people on popular podcasts expect the extremists to exercise reason, rationality, civility, and the plain good sense that would ensure their own opportunities to benefit in “good” ways.

Current example: the feigned outrage of the Democrats that Schumer “caved” on the government shutdown. Their reaction makes no sense. Of course not, because it’s a manipulation … theater for their indoctrinated and poorly educated constituents; the ones who will take the fight for “justice” to the streets without any effort to get the backstory. After all, if you’re taking it to the streets to get justice, you must be right, which makes the other side evil.

And, if the people on the Democrat side, the ones who have had their minds commandeered, were educated on what actually happened — that Affordable Care Act subsidies are set to expire at the end of 2025 in accordance with a plan implemented by the Democrats — they wouldn’t believe it. They prefer pointing the finger at the Republicans as callous and uncaring evil villains. Fear-mongering 101.

You get my point.

Rather than get bogged down in myriad examples of our own persistent state of puzzlement, I’m going to share my simple Christian framework for understanding our world. This is just my view.

Our battle is not against flesh and blood. It is against the enemies in the spiritual realm who’ve been working against goodness and love for decades upon decades (well, actually, since the fall). And those enemies have a boss who goes by the name of Satan. Satan is no dummy. He can spin a lie like nobody else, and he’s lately been working overtime, audaciously changing things up on the fly as necessary to be contrary and combative … like words … beliefs about things that are self-evidently true … and the goodness of order. It doesn’t matter that the behavior doesn’t make sense. There are enough people walking around without an informed mind who show no hesitation about climbing on board the chaos train “for justice.” I hear the hourly wage is pretty good.

The cause? Oh, don’t worry about that. And if people want to engage in discussion? Just walk away; don’t engage.

Look back on the antics of the campus protestors. Their indoctrinators told them not to engage with conservatives or raise questions amongst themselves because they knew two things: first, that those kids wouldn’t be able to hold their own in a debate with a truly educated person, and second, they didn’t want the kids to stray from the woke talking points. Compliance and conformity are paramount, and disloyalty to the cause is not tolerated, a terrifying prospect for a young person likely away from home for the first time in their life.

Satan’s strategy is pretty clear. Commandeer their minds, impeach all they thought they knew, and pour distortions and lies into their minds as a replacement for those old beliefs and facts that they now view as pesky social constructs established by the patriarchy. This foments anger, creates division, tempts with power and riches, etc. … all the things that dis-integrate a person and push them further into a dark-mindedness that is more easily manipulated. Dallas Willard describes people like this as the walking dead.

It’s like a death cult.

Wait. It is a death cult.

You can see it all around. Remove the possibility of reproduction. Legalize and assist suicide. Fight for reproductive health care rights that murder millions of humans every year. Dismantle the family unit. Create babies using AI.

Satan has always wanted to take God’s place.

He lures the receptive (those who suffer from the same Achilles heel of pride) into the same mind. That way when technology, for example, begins to move to a capability of unholy dimensions, there will be no sense of priority about human indispensability. It won’t even be mentioned. And that’s the point. Diminish the worth of a human life so that it can be more readily taken – normalized murder.

I could go on.

Yes, the enemy is out in full regalia, dumbing down the children, selling gateway addictions to keep them dependent, promising them some kind of perverted justice … and fueling a murderous anger to be used in the service of destroying God’s beloved.

Not a cheery message. And certainly this is just one person’s perspective. Don’t take my word for it. Read the Bible. Believe. Invite the Holy Spirit to reveal what is true.

And don’t worry. We may be heading toward an extremely difficult time. Prepare, but don't lose your peace. Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you. He is faithful.

God is love.