ADVENT DAY 20 (I Have Hope in the Lord): Psyops, Misinformation, and the Pursuit of Truth

The message of Christmas is a message that brings hope to the world - a loving God, wanting to have a relationship with His created beings, sent His Son to die for sinful humanity so that in Him we might have salvation. 1st Peter 1 reminds us:
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

The absence of or cloaking of this living hope can have devastating consequences. Proverbs 13 says, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life."  The hope that comes from the Lord can provide encouragement, joy, and satisfaction to our souls - yes, we can be right with God.  We can know that Jesus loves us so much that He died for us. He wants to give us that hope to sustain us each and every day.

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We are within a week of Christmas Day, the culmination of our 25-day spiritual "Advent-ure" through the Faith Radio Advent Guide, which is available in the center section of our Faith Radio Ministry Magazine. The overall title is "Because of Jesus...," and we have been exploring what He has provided for us as believers in Christ. We have come to Day 20, and today's theme is "I Have Hope in the Lord." Our Scripture is found in Luke 1, and we can read these words of Mary as she reflected on the impending birth of her son, Jesus:
46 And Mary said: "My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
48 For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.
49 For He who is mighty has done great things for me, And holy is His name.

Here, Mary is related the truth of who the coming Messiah was to be, the One who resided within her. At Christmas, we have the chance to reflect on who Jesus is and who He is to us. We can commit ourselves to being grounded in the truth...because we see that there is a trend in which people who stand on Biblical principles are being accused of spreading "disinformation."  

I shared with you last week from a piece written by Gary Bauer on the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute website, which reported on "whistleblower" testimony before a U.S. House subcommittee; Bauer wrote:

A "whistleblower" has come forward with documents that reveal a secret initiative in 2019 by U.S. and U.K. military contractors to engage in a censorship campaign. The ruse that was used was the alleged need to stop "disinformation." We have learned over time that the charge of "disinformation" is often used to silence anyone who challenges big government socialists.

There was an entity established called the "Cyber Threat Intelligence League." Bauer states: 

The whistleblower's information details a coordinated effort of what some have called a "censorship industrial complex" that included dozens of government agencies and non-government organizations. The entities pushed for censorship on social media platforms, and shockingly also spread propaganda aimed at citizens of the United States. In other words, one of the goals was to influence public opinion here in the U.S. by controlling information dissemination.

This appears to be the same hearing referenced in an article on the National Religious Broadcasters website, which identifies the "whistleblower" as journalist Michael Shellenberger, also identified by Bauer in an American Values piece.  NRB linked to an article at the Washington Examiner website, which quoted Shellenberger as saying: "Two days ago, my colleagues and I published the first batch of internal files from 'The Cyber Threat Intelligence League,' which show U.S. and U.K. military contractors working in 2019 and 2020 to both censor and turn sophisticated psychological operations and disinformation tactics, developed abroad, against the American people..."

Psychological operations. "Psyop," for short. The Merrian-Webster Dictionary online defines "psyops" as, "military operations usually aimed at influencing the enemy's state of mind through noncombative means (such as distribution of leaflets)." Who's the enemy? Well, it certainly appears that the American people who disagree with certain narratives are. Shellenberger also testified: "The First Amendment prohibits the government from abridging freedom of speech," adding, "The Supreme Court has ruled that the government 'may not induce, encourage or promote private persons to accomplish what it is constitutionally forbidden to accomplish,' [but] there is now a large body of evidence proving that the government did precisely that."

Oh, some may say, well, that's just misinformation about disinformation. That would constitute a psyop against the psyops. 

The article closes out by saying:

State-sanctioned censorship of religious viewpoints directly violates the First Amendment, and overreach in agency rulemaking opens the door to these types of abuses. In 2023, NRB approved a board resolution titled “Opposing the Weaponization of the Federal Government,” which warned that “collusion between the federal government and social media platforms has been documented as significantly limiting the voices of Christian communicators and hindering their ability to reach their audiences, raise support, and conduct business” and “lawmakers have attempted to use their authority to pressure tech companies into silencing and suppressing Christian communicators.” NRB works to ensure a fair, open environment in which viewpoint diversity can thrive and broadcasters can openly exercise their right to religious free speech.

We have to be so careful and exercise discernment, recognizing that there are attempts every day to manipulate us into behaving and believing a certain way. These "psyops," if we're not careful can produce fear, paranoia, anxiety, and impulsiveness.  The availability of information can certainly be advantageous, but we need filters.  Our ability to discern truth is certainly helpful to us.

That concerns our intake of information. But, there are also concerns about what we communicate. Christians who buck certain narratives in the name of Biblical truth become especially vulnerable to being silenced and shut down in their freedom of expression.  But, we can depend on the Lord to give us the boldness to share what He has called us to communicate; we have been called and sent to exalt the hope of Christ in a world where you have so many who lack it.