The Fog of Deception

A well-known journalist with one of the fastest growing news podcasts in America was recently asked why left-leaning corporations like Comcast and Disney support socialism.

He admitted they knew that tearing down the capitalist system in America would hurt their profits. But they were still committed to doing so.

A viewer asked, “Why would they do that?”

He replied: “I don’t know.”

I think I do.

It’s the insidious fog of deception.

The Fog of Deception

You may know the pundit–Bill O’Reilly–whose “No Spin News” has skyrocketed to the top of most watched Internet-based news shows.

Bill calls himself a “simple man” known for seeking the facts on issues (not speculating). He is firmly opposed to political partisanship and possesses an unusually keen eye for what’s happening in America.

His No-Spin News is worth the $50 annual fee. I recently purchased a lifetime membership for $270 because I value his views on national and world events. Besides, the lifetime deal came with nine free hardback books–his “Killing Series”–which has sold 17 million copies making it the number one non-fiction books series in history.

I can do simple math. The nine books made my lifetime subscription free.

You can sign up for the No Spin News here.

One reason for O’Reilly’s prescience comes from his Judeo-Christian worldview (he’s a practicing Catholic). He sees most things through a biblical/traditional lens.

But he has a blind spot. He never talks about Satan as a person nor mentions the reality of demonic activity (voices) in this world.

They are the reason many people and corporations do things that do not make sense.

Deception is the primary activity of the demonic realm. It began in the Garden of Eden and has exploded 6,000 years later because of population growth (7.8 billion people), a wired world, 24/7 news and growing tyranny.

Deception always misrepresents reality and is comprised of two parts: dissimulation (covert, hiding what is real) and simulation (overt, showing the false).

Deception will make you crazy–blinded to the truth in front of you.

I discuss it in depth in River of God: Where Religion Began and Why Grace and Love Will Triumph. In Chapter Four I note there are three moral entities in the universe that can speak to us (put ideas in our mind):

• A loving God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) and righteous angels e.g. Michael, Gabriel etc.
• Human beings, made in God’s image, who share thoughts with each other, and
• The demonic world (fallen angels) who attempt to lead us astray.

We need to discern which voices we are following.

As to demonic influence, here is the relevant excerpt from the book:

“Does the evidence suggest that another group of moral beings also busy themselves by influencing human thought and behavior? Many of the world’s peoples think so. They call these entities fallen angels, spirits, demons, and even deceased ancestors. I call them the voices of deception.”

“Belief in a devil and his fallen angels stands as one of the most universally accepted truths in the world. The secular West plays down or rationalizes the concept, but the remainder of the world accepts it as a fact in their daily experience. Why do most people believe in a devil, demons or fallen spirits? The evidence shouts out everywhere that they exist.”

“Gregory Boyd in his books God at War and Satan and the Problem of Evil makes a compelling case for the reality of demonic beings and the spiritual warfare taking place between them and righteous angels who serve God’s Kingdom.

Boyd says:

“‘It was apparently evident to most ancient people, and still to primitive people today, that the world is not all physical, not even primarily physical, and certainly not right. It was, rather, a world that was populated by influential spiritual beings, some of whom were evil, and most of them were at war with one another…This world view centers on the conviction that the good and the evil, the fortunate and the unfortunate aspects of life are to be interpreted largely as a result of friendly or hostile spirits warring against each other and against us…The world is a spiritual battle zone, which is why it looks that way.'”

Boyd calls this perspective a warfare worldview. Dean Sherman shares this same concept in his popular book Spiritual Warfare for Every Christian. I agree with both that a spiritual war exists on planet earth.

The evil side is manned by demons trying to deceive human beings (1 Timothy 4:1 and ninety other references in the Bible).

I experienced deception some years ago in my life.

I was rationalizing a certain activity that I knew was unhealthy. Wanting to continue it, I abandoned some past principles and bluffed my way along. I knew my actions were not wise, but talked myself into doing them anyway (Romans 7:14-24).

Finally, God got through to me and I repented. His truth is the light.

In this circumstance, I had allowed myself to be deceived by very subtle voices. The thoughts came from both my own heart and were amplified by demonic temptations.

Once I faced the deception clearly, the fog cleared, and I came back to my senses (similar to  King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4:34). Thanking God for his deliverance, I vowed: “I will never do that again” while remembering a favorite quote from discipleship training:

“Even a dumb dog doesn’t touch a hot stove twice.”

Now think about your own life. Do you remember ever being deceived about a subject, issue, in a relationship or activity?

Yes. You too are human. It was crazy, wasn’t it?  Your eyes glazed over, and you just could not see the glaring truth right in front of you.

That is the power of deception–and our world is filled with it:

• We rationalize killing babies in the womb and call it the right to choose (someone else’s death?).
• We boast that open borders are compassionate when they deny the sovereignty and stability of a nation.
• We lie that there are more than two genders when “God made them male and female” (Matthew 19:4) and only boys have XY chromosomes in each cell and girls have XX.
• Many young people now believe that socialism and communism work better than freedom– when up to 200 million human beings were annihilated by these forms of government in the past century.
• We are led to believe it is okay to “defund the police” and our cities will be safe–while buildings burn, looting escalates, and people flee the cities.
• We are told we can rid our nation of fossil fuels (Green New Deal) and not destroy our present economy (which is insane).
• We surmise we should vote for a nearly-senile presidential candidate and his VP (the most liberal senator in Washington, D.C.) and not suffer great harm.
• Disney, Comcast and many others lead the parade toward socialism and tyranny which will destroy their companies.
• We think we can do anything we want and never give an account to God.

I could list one hundred more examples.

The fog of deception.

Our world is filled with it–and it reeks of impending danger.

Deception happens when pride clouds our vision (Obadiah 1:3). It hurts, imprisons and kills—while rendering us stupid.

The main antidote for deception is humility–including salvation (1 Peter 5:6). That does not mean we always “get everything right” in this complicated, multi-layered world. But it wipes away many “smudges” on our worldview glasses.

“Do not be deceived; God is not mocked” (Galatians 6:7).

Drop your pride. Turn to God’s light (Jesus and His Word)—before the fog of deception destroys you and our nation.