Propaganda/Winning the Battle for Your Mind

YOU are under attack! And your chief enemy, Satan, is using a very dangerous weapon against you. What is it?  Propaganda!  A weapon specially designed to attack, not your body, but your mind.

The apostle Paul was alert to the danger that satanic propaganda posed, but not all his fellow Christians were. Some in Corinth, for example,  had apparently become overconfident-thinking that they were so strong in the truth that they could never fall.  (1 Corinthians 10:12)  That is why Paul gave this warning:  "I am afraid that somehow, as the serpent seduced Eve by its cunning, your minds might be corrupted  away from the sincerity and the chastity that are due the Christ." -2 Corinthians 11:3. 

Paul's deep concern shows that there is no room for complacency. If you are going to win the battle for your mind, you must recognize the danger that propaganda  poses and protect yourself from it. 

PROPAGANDA-HOW DANGEROUS IS IT?

What is propaganda?  In this context, it is the use of biased or misleading information to manipulate the way people think and act.  Some equate propaganda  with "lies, distortion, deceit, manipulation, mind control, [and] psychological warfare" and associate it with "unethical, harmful, and unfair tactics." -Propaganda and Persuasion.  

How dangerous is propaganda?  It is insidious-like invisible, odorless, poisonous gas-and it seeps into our consciousness.  Because we may not see propaganda for what it is, behavior specialist Vance Packard observed:  "Many of us are being influenced and manipulated-far more  than we realize."  Under its influence, says one scholar, men and women have been "quite easily led into the most preposterously dangerous behavior"-such as 'genocide, war, racist hysteria, religious intolerance and many other forms of irrational behavior.' -Easily Led-A History of Propaganda. 

Now if it mere men can fool us with their propaganda, what might Satan be able to do?  He has studied human behavior since man was created.  "The whole world" now lies in his power.  He can use any part of it to disseminated his lies.  (1 John 5:19; John 8:44) So effective has Satan been in 'blinding people's minds' that he  now 'misleads the entire inhabited earth.'  (2 Corinthians 4:4; Revelations 12:9)  How can you resist his propaganda?

Next time: Propaganda/Winning the Battle of Your Mind - BUILD UP YOUR DEFENSES

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