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You will be brainwashed, it’s a given, it’s life. You simply are what you eat. Garbage in, garbage out. You will be brainwashed because you are human, not because you are bad.
The bible speaks this truth to us many times. Guard your heart. Think critically. “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right,whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
First, what does “brainwashed” even mean? “Indoctrination that forces people to abandon their beliefs in favor of another set of beliefs.” Or “persuasion by propaganda or salesmanship.”
No one is an island, so we are easily influenced by the people we hang out with, the music we listen to, the movies we watch, the websites we visit, the things we chose to focus on and think about. The modern world is absolutely epic, so sophisticated in it’s numerous ways of brainwashing us, really unprecedented in all of human history. We have subliminal programming, words, images, outright psy/ops and social engineering going on 24/7, all designed to bypass your ability to reason.
I get a bit frustrated sometimes trying to discuss this with others, Christians mostly, because I feel like we should all understand this already. It is not that I think anyone is bad because of the choices we make. I make multiple questionable choices myself.
It is not that someone is “bad” to be a huge fan of the Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, etc, it is that we are celebrating the undead, viewing a whole lot of violence and graphic sexuality and that will all impact our attitudes, thoughts, feelings. 99% of preventing harm involves simply becoming aware of what you are consuming, why, and how it is impacting you. If you aren’t even willing to even ask the questions, you’re pretty much powerless.
I’m not suggesting banning anything or withdrawing from the world or never engaging with culture. I just want us admit, become aware of, acknowledge that what we ingest actually impacts us.
There’s often a huge gender difference going on here, too. I’d say the vast majority of women, especially moms, will understand what I have just said. They will get it. Perhaps it is because women are more likely to be aware of our emotions and some 80% of advertising, cultural messaging, is generally targeted towards us? Perhaps men are at a disadvantage in this situation because they tend to be far more visual and they often like to perceive themselves as more rational, reason based?
Porn is one obvious example. I’ve lost track of all the conversations I’ve had with Christian men, Christian men mind you, advocating and arguing in favor of porn. There are some who actually believe that violent sexual imagery is not addictive, does no harm, and is actually beneficial. Besides, they don’t actually view the “really bad stuff.”
Not all mind you, a whole lot of men get it, the majority even. It is just that the same arguments I often hear used to validate, justify, make porn okay, I also hear used to validate, justify, our consumption of outright bigotry and even political hyperbole. We’re having a culture war here, the rules are now different, the left/right does it, so it’s all okay.
That is pretty much the response Pastor Wilson gave me and he is only one of many I have tried to talk to over the years.
Personally I don’t care if you’re indulging in this left leaning dystopian facebook fantasy about the coming fascist apocalypse or hanging out on the far right celebrating your status as a victorious deplorable, neither of these things have anything to do with having the mind of Jesus Christ or spreading the good news.
In fact, these things can be really dangerous because they play off our biology, our tribalistic tendencies, and they cause us to start labeling good, evil, and evil good. They kill our natural affection for one another.
This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. -2 Timothy 3
Daria Kill said:
Reblogged this on Let me give YOU the Moe-down and commented:
Thought provoking stuff.
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Brandon Adams said:
“Personally I don’t care if you’re indulging in this left leaning dystopian facebook fantasy about the coming fascist apocalypse or hanging out on the far right celebrating your status as a victorious deplorable, neither of these things have anything to do with having the mind of Jesus Christ or spreading the good news.”
I laughed.
This reminds me…with True Love Waits season coming up, I need to get back to that post about how some Christians are also advocating ditching abstinence because they think it’s responsible for all the disappointing married Christian sex lives we’re hearing about.
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insanitybytes22 said:
“….some Christians are also advocating ditching abstinence because they think it’s responsible for all the disappointing married Christian sex lives we’re hearing about”
LOL! That’s the post I’ve been trying to write for some time now. I haven’t yet figured out how to dispel the myth of the disappointing married sex life in a tactful and modest way. 🙂
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Brandon Adams said:
There’s a lot to it. 1. Satan is opposed to that part of married life (and every other part), so that explains a lot. 2. Obedience is still the likeliest way to get anything from God; taking matters into our own hands only gives Satan more ammunition. 3. In the end, if obedience means we never experience a blessing at all, then so be it. God simply must come first – period.
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insanitybytes22 said:
All true. I’ve often joked about how we should actually get married in suits of armor as if we are going into battle. Our weddings should look more like sending warriors off to war. LOL, not a battle against one another I hope, but allies together in a war against the enemy. Those who fight together stay together. 🙂
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Tricia said:
“They kill our natural affection for one another.” This is so very true. Our culture is at the point where not just thoughts are labeled right and wrong but what you MIGHT be thinking based on your political identity, sex, race, etc…So much hate is geared towards strangers, how sad and what a waste.
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insanitybytes22 said:
Really good point, Tricia. I often think we’ve actually made stereotyping and dismissal of people so much worse with our compulsive identity politics.
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Debbie L said:
This post reminds me of a another sad angle, lack of respect for the elderly. I’m visiting a retired pastor and his wife. They have 5 adult children and 10 grandchildren. One family went through a tragedy but they didn’t want their parents involved in any aspect – they had their siblings and all their friends. It’s just been hurtful. These are Christians who are falling into the worldly trap of going out after work for drinks (with small children) and other things they were taught were not God’s ways….time and space limit me….but I’m seeing a theme. I love how it’s addressed as “Expired Goods.” https://awethentiq.wordpress.com/2017/01/15/expired-goods/
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insanitybytes22 said:
You make a really good point. We often think of being disobedient to parents as something defiant teen agers do, when in fact our entire culture as created this mentality where we just tuck our parents away in retirement homes. We’ve become a very youth worshiping culture, so rather than consulting with our elders where all the wisdom lives, we often turn to young Hollywood celebrities. For the most part, parents are not only wise, they are more invested in your well being than say, Justin Bieber.
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Debbie L said:
Amen!
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Julie (aka Cookie) said:
I use to tell my kids (students) that Satan loves the backdoor.
Meaning, he loves creeping in the unlocked back screen door when no one is looking or paying much attention..as he’s a back door kind of individual rather then one who goes to the front door and announces his presence… let alone his intentions.
That the things that we ingest…from the things that we watch and listen to…those seemingly harmless things, are basically all the backdoors. They seem harmless enough while at the same time, it is in that ill perceived assumption, that we allow trouble to come right on in, making itself right at home…
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insanitybytes22 said:
Ahhh, satan uses a back door. I like that analogy and it reminds of something Jesus said about being sin free, so satan had no authority over him, because there were no back doors for him to slip into and take up residence. Those are not the exact words at all, just a concept I got from reading those words. We as people, unlike Christ, all have weaknesses and vulnerabilities, so don’t leave your back door open, or things within your spirit unresolved. Much like, “don’t let the sun go down on your anger” because that’s like forgetting to lock the back door.
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Julie (aka Cookie) said:
taking it and running…you go girl 🙂
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patrickhawthorne01 said:
I quit watching horror movies many moon ago for the fact that I was training my brain to be driven by fear. The same with movies dealing with sex and extreme violence. I figure that if I’m going to be brainwashed, I might as well watch fixer-upper shows. Maybe I will learn to love carpentry…just saying.
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insanitybytes22 said:
Ha! I too watched far too many horror movies and have since needed to untangle them from my psyche.
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Mel Wild said:
Excellent post. Amen.
“You will be brainwashed, it’s a given, it’s life.” This made me think of slightly modifying Romans 12:2 (Hope God doesn’t send me to hell for doing so…LOL!)
“And do not be [brainwashed] to this world, but be [brainwashed] by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Rom. 12:2)
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MJThompson said:
I fully agree with and support the further propagation of your expressed thoughts. Relating specifically to your statement: “neither of these things have anything to do with having the mind of Jesus Christ or spreading the good news” – while I agree, I’d like to clarify my reasons.
An intriguing concept that has been revealed, yet seems to be ever-so-slowly evolving, is that the ‘mind of Christ’ is static rather than ever fluid. Now I’m NOT inferring by that any belief that God changes – scripture declares quite the opposite. But to the extent that He is in the perpetual ever-present NOW (Omnipresent) while we perceive the SAME ‘now’ merely as some place between past and future (a mere quickly passing moment in time), the mind of Christ ‘adjusts’ to the changes in a human experience. He is ALWAYS the SAME – yesterday, today, and forever [Hebrews 13:8] – but He in me (and you, hopefully) is the active agent that initiates and sustains our transformation from mortality to immortality – our lifetime ‘evolution’.
All that theological rhetoric to simply say in other words – the acceptance and cooperation with the ‘mind of Christ’ in us determines where on the ever expanding plane of opposing extremes we stand. Ideally, it may be thought that God desires somewhere in the middle, or a neutral place is preferable. But we are Christians , NOT Swiss! We all, as such (and unless this ‘mind’ be in you, you are NONE of His) [Ro. 8:9] share a common enemy and are called to preach a common message.
“I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the SAME thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same MIND and in the same judgment” – 1Cor. 1:10.
So, while the statement may be quite correct as we compare temporal with spiritual realities, unless and until the spiritual is rightly perceived as governing the temporal, and thereby of utmost preeminence – temporal views will continue to seem
as mundane products of human endeavor, not to be redeemed, but ignored. Rather than setting them apart from our appreciation for the superior mind of Christ, reconciliation of OUR personal place on the ever expanding plane of extremes with Christ’s must be prayerfully considered – and THEN preached.
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insanitybytes22 said:
Oh, I like that! Indeed, “the mind of Christ” is always flowing, fluid. The same yesterday,today,and always, but not stagnant like water trapped in a pool.
1Cor. 1:10 is really wonderful especially, “…in the same MIND and in the same judgment.” That can be complicated, but I have seen people of different backgrounds, different politics, different races, all come together in relative harmony because we are all of the “same mind and judgment,” Jesus Christ’s mind and judgment.
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MJThompson said:
Far from stagnation, the Spirit within us ALWAYS is gushing forth! Jesus said it – “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” – Jn. 7:38.
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bskministries said:
I love this post times 100. I might even print it (somehow) and hang it for when my enemy tries to dissuade me otherwise….thank you!
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Tamara Yancosky said:
Excellent!!
Tamara
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