Flying a False Flag

The Bible provides the insight in order to discern what is true and what is false, and our actions
should be governed by the truth of the Scriptures. 2nd Peter 2 states:
1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.
2 And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.

The enemy's time is short, and the Bible tells us that he is roaming the earth, seeking out whom he may devour.  In order to accomplish his purpose, he will disguise himself, making himself and his ways appear good; perhaps sometimes even godly.  He cloaks sin in an appealing manner, he calls into question the authority of God, and he uses deception in order to keep believers from living a fulfilling Christian life.  Clothed in the armor of God, we can learn how to resist him and walk in Christ's victory.

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Paul was a passionate, relentless defender of Biblical truth, and we see how he stakes out his position
against false teaching in 2nd Corinthians 11:
12 But what I do, I will also continue to do, that I may cut off the opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things of which they boast.
13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ.
14 And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.

The irresponsible use of social media, combined with the dedication of social media to manipulate messages, makes for a combustible mix.  While Alabama just went through the peaceful transition of constitutional officers yesterday, there is still plenty of lingering ill will about an election that occurred over a year ago in the state.

Never mind that Doug Jones has gone to Washington and in essence, acted in accordance with positions that he related in the campaign, putting him in alignment with other Democrat senators, which is odd because of the overwhelmingly Republican bent of the electorate.

But, there was no doubt highly-motivated and well-organized opposition to former Chief Justice Roy Moore winning the election.  Besides the daily drumbeat about still-unproven allegations of misconduct, there were those who could not fathom what Roy Moore, an outspoken Christian conservative, would bring to the U.S. Senate.

And, there is still a lawsuit and countersuit filed by a lady who accused Moore of sexual misconduct - she has filed the suit on the basis of his campaign team saying that she is lying about the allegations.  Moore is certainly out to tell his side of the story.  The "Stand with Judge Roy Moore" Facebook page stated yesterday:

“Judge Roy Moore Defense Team releases polygraph. To this day no one but Judge Moore has sworn under oath multiple times as to the false allegations. This polygraph extends to include questions about not only Corfman but also Nelson and Johnson as these three are the ONLY ones who have accused him of any sexual misconduct. Judge Moore has also sat for deposition. To this day Corfman and her attorneys refuse to answer questions about Judge Moore’s residence or vehicle and have not agreed for us to take her deposition. Judge Moore passed the polygraph.”

Now, in addition to allegations by the Moore team about highly questionable practices were carried out by his opponents, there have been more recent revelations, and that's the information that is driving today's commentary.  After all, I'm not sure how many Alabamians want to relive the 2017 special election, because it was certainly an unpleasant chapter in our state's history for many.  The Alabama Political Reporter states that:

Former Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore responded to reports that Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall was looking into media reports that a group used potentially illegal social media tactics to influence the 2017 special election, in which former Democratic candidate Doug Jones defeated Moore to win the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Jeff Sessions.

Moore, not unexpectedly, did not mince words, saying:

“It’s about time that state and federal authorities, as well as the general public, are becoming aware of the false and deceptive tactics used by the Democrat party and political operatives to influence the Alabama Senate election in 2017,” former Chief Justice Moore said in a statement. “It is curious that my former opponent Doug Jones, “Now” pretends to be ‘Outraged’ and calls for an investigation after the election, and Facebook suspends 5 accounts for ‘bad behavior.'”

So what was done?  The story links to a New York Times article, and shares this summary:

A group of elite Democratic tech experts set up a fake conservative website that encouraged write-in votes instead of votes for Republican nominee Roy Moore. It also highlighted thousands of Russian-based bots beginning to follow the Moore social media pages.

The Alabama Political Reporter article related:

The project’s operators created a Facebook page on which they posed as conservative Alabamians, using it to try to divide Republicans and even to encourage write-in votes to draw votes from GOP nominee Roy Moore.

“We orchestrated an elaborate ‘false flag’ operation that planted the idea that the Moore campaign was amplified on social media by a Russian botnet,” the report says.

Wikipedia defines a "false flag" operation as: "...a covert operation designed to deceive; the deception creates the appearance of a particular party, group, or nation being responsible for some activity, disguising the actual source of responsibility."

Some examples include, according to Andrew Roberts of the Hoover Institution:

Yet there have been such things as False Flag operations undertaken by agents provocateurs in history, and probably still are today. The burning of Rome by Nero, which he blamed on the Christians; the forging of the Zinoviev Letter in 1924 by elements connected to MI5 in order to discredit the Labour party during the 1924 British general election; the Mukden Incident in which Japanese saboteurs created a pretext for the invasion of China in 1931, and the Gleiwitz incident in which the SS faked an attack on Germany by Poland in September 1939.

Roberts was attempting to debunk a fake "false flag" rumor about a Daily Mail report that British agents may have bombed a pavilion at the 1940 World's Fair as a ploy to get the U.S. to join World War II.  Some even suspected that a series of fake bombs sent to high-profile Democrat leaders last fall may have been a "false flag" in order to help Republican candidates; that rumor went down when an arrest was made.

A Boston Globe article reported on suspicions that Syrian leader Assad may have undertaken a "false flag" operation, bombing his own people in order that people might think Syrian rebels did it.  The article also states:

Throughout history, false flag operations have been used to provide casus belli — a justification for war. In 1788 a squad of Swedish soldiers dressed in Russian uniforms attacked a Swedish military outpost, giving King Gustav III grounds to attack Russia. Japan seized Manchuria in 1931 after its forces bombed its own rail line there and blamed the Chinese. In 1939 the Nazi leader Reinhard Heydrich dressed concentration camp inmates in Nazi uniforms, had them shot, and then, seeking to win sympathy for the Nazi occupation of Poland, claimed that Polish partisans had killed them. That same year, Soviet forces bombarded a Russian village near the border with Finland, blamed it on the Finns, and four days later invaded Finland.

I think you can safely say that you might be better off not believing everything you see or read.  If it's reported by media, it's important that you are discerning and do your due diligence.  I speak often about discernment, and we have to make sure that the sources to which we expose ourselves are reliable and truthful.

I do think there are spiritual "false flags" out there, too.  There are times when the work of the enemy is attributed to God.  The Bible tells us that Satan disguises himself as an "angel of light."  We can develop a warped sense of the nature of God if we are not careful.  We see instance after instance in which sinful behavior is actually deemed to be OK, even though Scripture explicitly forbids it.  Good old-fashioned greed can be disguised as an expression of the "prosperity gospel." People will say that "God told me" to do this or that, but the activity doesn't line up.  We have to make sure that if we are claiming to be led of the Lord, that what we think we're being led to do actually conforms to Scripture.  Otherwise, we run the risk of being participants in the enemy's deception.  And, his deception can lead to destruction.

So, don't believe everything you see - there may be evidence of the enemy at work.  Beware of those who claim to be doing the work of God, but who are manipulating others by placing a God-stamp on what they're doing in order to make people do what they want them to do.