This is a new kind of war against civilians for control of their minds. Governments are relying increasingly on controlling public “narratives” and vilifying dissent. (Image source: iStock)

In a little fewer than 1,600 words Mr. J.B. Shurk hits many resonant and dissonant notes as to “The heavy perils we face today,” and there being a war for the minds of everyone on earth. Unlike any other time in world history. Contrary to the naysayers and those that deflect by using certain times in the past in their attempt to neutralize the truth of this time.

Regrettably, tragically, in Mr. Shurk’s spot on words covering many of today’s ills and reasons for them he missed the mark completely as to the why, the what, the Who and the who, and the how. Not very good journalism, but, hey, it’s also a sign of the times.

You’ve heard of hysterical blindness [now called conversion disorder as everything now must be renamed, altered, changed], usually caused by extreme stress? Well, the overwhelming majority of the 8,000,000,000 plus souls on earth presently suffer from spiritual blindness. Which leads to eternal death.

Oh, there’s a war taking place. No one ought to doubt that. But it is far greater and with longer lasting consequences than a war for the present and future minds of individuals. This war waged is over eternal souls and where each soul will spend eternity. Far more important than any temporal, worldly consideration.

The war taking place is not a cultural war or one of civilians versus their governments as Mr. Shurk and so many others cite.

No, let’s finally become clear on this matter, shall we? The war every person, all 8,000,000,000 plus now living on this earth are enjoined in and waging is the spiritual war. Period. Everything emanates from that root. Any other explanation is utter rubbish. Foolishness. Really, they are. Those highly educated and indoctrinated by the world thinking themselves so much better informed and intelligent than those lower slow-minded souls that still read, study, meditate deeply upon, and believe in and live their lives to the best of their ability with the help of the Holy Spirit on every word within the Word of God come up with every other possible reason for what is occurring than the spiritual war every person is part of.

There is no mention, not one word in Mr. Shurk’s otherwise fine commentary below regarding God, Jesus, the Bible, evil, Satan, or the spiritual war. Just as those specifics are rarely mentioned in more and more writing and speaking by professed Christians, pastors, preachers, and ministers!

It’s all become political. Of the world. Removing God. Removing Christ. Removing the Holy Spirit. Removing the Word of God. And the only spirituality mentioned, if ever, is also of self. Self-empowerment. Self-directed. About feeling good and the ability of each person to have the power to change the world. That the people are gods and there is no longer a need for God.

Those looking for answers, such as Mr. Shurk and many millions, billions like him are always looking in all the wrong places. Thinking themselves wise they became fools.

The Holy Bible is right there for one and all to open and discover the source, the root cause of everything that occurs on this earth. Within a nation, any government, any group, or any individual. Rebellion. Sin. Against God. Self-thinking runs amok. No need for God, no need for a Saviour, no need for that Book! As the overwhelming majority of the now over 8,000,000,000 would not have their next breath, their next heartbeat, their next morsel or feast of food, that do not have one dollar, euro, pound, ruble, yen, franc or peso, not one article of clothing, nor whatever shelter is over their head, or their being protected in the elements — without the doing, the knowing, the power, the Being of God!

He, Who knows how many hairs are on every head. He, Who knows every thought. He, Who is beyond and outside of time that knows the final outcome. Even before the world was formed by His saying, “Let there be…” He, Who thought enough, thinks enough loves enough and cares enough for us who are made in His image to tell us everything we need to know. So we could avoid the horrid, torturous, painful eternal damnation to come due to our sin, and that we would have His Word, the only Book of Absolute Truth, the only Book of Absolute History Past, Present, and Future to have, to read, to study, to deeply ponder, think on and to believe. So that any who faithfully, obediently, truly turns to Him and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ could be renewed of mind and spirit, committing their lives to serve the Lord. Be His disciple. To be a light unto the world. To be regenerated and made into a new person by the Supernatural power of the Spirit of God!

It may all be redundant but by the ways, words and goings on it appears the truths within the Bible cannot be spoken or written enough.

Then get suited up! In the full armour of God to wage daily battle as one in the minority, a remnant, on this earth against the vast and overwhelming number of those on the opposing side serving this world, thus serving the devil.

The opposition is not liberal ideologies, democrats, republicans, tory, the labour party, socialists, communists, homosexuals, prostitutes, the greedy, the liars, the deniers, the rich, the poor, or those of different skin color or nationality. No, dear ones, the opposition to a true believer, a true disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, a true child of God is anyone and everyone who is not. Everyone and anyone that is other than that.

Whilst the real opposition are those in bondage to their sin, in slavery to this world while deluded they are free, their own person, their own god. Those in opposition to the truth of God. They are the only real opposition to a God-fearing, God-believing, Bible-believing, disciple of Christ, renewed of mind, truly regenerated soul!

It’s all very simple, very clear, really. While now many professing to be Christians insist on making everything complicated, complex, confused, and removed from the root. The foundation. Appearing no different than any pagan person of the world as they write or speak about the solution being a political one, a human endeavor one, a self-directed one giving no acknowledgment to God, to Jesus, to the Holy Spirit [so rarely mentioned in these times], no acknowledgment to Scripture!

“Oh, it can’t be as clear and easy to understand as going to the Bible!”

Oh, really? Oh, professed Christian.

How are you to be distinguished from any unbeliever in this world?

Thus, in the fruit they bear, not giving evidence — being a light unto the world —  of truly being renewed of mind and spirit while making their priority that which occurs here on earth. While ignoring history, and ignoring the Scriptures. Prepare, then, for what the Lord has in store. As their love of the world dominates their hearts and minds.

We do not create the kingdom of God on earth. Not by political or any worldly means. Not of our doing. Not according to our will. Our laws. Whatever government you live in. Not according to your nation’s constitution or charter.

By God’s will. Alone.

Until and unless an individual comes to know and understand the root of everything begins in the spiritual war being waged around and within EVERY PERSON on earth — even the holiest, most righteous, devout, true Christian on earth has the spiritual war raging around them and taking place within them while still in the flesh. Every person on earth is enjoined in this most important of wars, of continual battle until the Lord Jesus Christ returns.

Until and unless an individual comes to see, know, and believe this no matter in what direction they go, no matter what ideology they believe in, no matter where they live under what government, no matter their age, gender, station in life that if they do not begin with God, with Jesus, with the Holy Spirit, with the Scriptures and build and base everything from that point onward they start off on their journey on the wrong foot.

And starting on the wrong foot takes one in the wrong direction. Though it may appear correct to them.

Making a wrong turn, missing the turn, veering to the left when the fork to the right was the way to go, or vice versa. Not realizing the error until well into the journey, if ever.

I pray that all those that look elsewhere — to men, to women, to governments, to wealth, to their jobs, to success, to their children, to their friends, to their pastors even, that those who look elsewhere than beginning with God, with Jesus, with the Holy Spirit, and with the inerrant infallible living and active Word of God stop. Realize the direction they’ve been going in. Look up rather into the screen of their GPS and humbly ask the Creator, God for direction. Begin to rely upon God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Word of God as much as relying upon their GPS and glowing screens in their hands. Rather having hearts aflame with and for the Lord!

While He blesses them with their next breath, their next heartbeat, their next morsel or feast of food. While He blesses them with everything they have whether they are evil and unrighteous or they are among His remnant.

It’s today my friends. Whether a professed believer that may have taken the wrong road and is off course and has been for some time, or whether the greatest of sinners still refusing the Truth, the Way, the Light, leading to Life.

It’s all the spiritual war. Within and around all 8,000,000,000 plus living on earth presently.

Come to see, know, and understand that and then take your next step, Lord willing He gives you the next step to take before He takes the breath and beating heart out of you. For none of us, no matter the level of our arrogance or ignorance knows the future — unless we go to the Word of God and believe it — but none of us knows if we will be blessed with one more day, one more year, one more hour.

Yet we assume and waste so much, do we not?

Turn to the Lord now while able. Allow true change within. Whether a backslidden professed believer, a pre-occupied in the world believer, or among the greatest of pagans and followers of the devil. And all those between. Turn to the Lord your God whilst you can!

For the days for all living things grows shorter.

Not due to internal combustion engines, plastic straws, oil, or cows — no, all and only due to the massive, escalating sin and evil men and women do at war with God, in denial of God. That is the sole reason the days grow eviler and much shorter before the Lord Jesus Christ returns a Second and Final Time.

Yes, a war for every mind. True. But most importantly a war waged for every eternal soul.

THAT is the reality we’re all facing here. Begin there and put that first foot forward on the correct path. Then keep walking. Upright. Face forward. Heart, mind, spirit, soul, and all on the Lord and His Word as the light on that path!

Ken Pullen, A CROOKED PATH, Friday, December 16th, 2022

The War for Eight Billion Minds

• This is a new kind of war against civilians for control of their minds.
• Governments are relying increasingly on controlling public “narratives” and vilifying dissent.
• [F]or all the harms their actions have caused, governments have issued no apologies for enforcing such life-altering policies while silencing critics. It is as if “narrative engineers” have adopted an official position that they are incapable of being wrong.
• The more nervous about the future policymakers are, the more committed they seem to enforcing a standard “narrative” they can control.
• In an age when information has never been more easily accessible, the world is awash in lies.
• A citizen either accepts Hunter Biden’s “laptop from hell” as “Russian disinformation,” or that person is labeled a “Russian sympathizer.” Daring to say otherwise could get one banned from social media, professionally sanctioned, or even fired from a job. Except none of these established “narratives” has proved true.
• In each case, the “narrative” proved to be either misleading propaganda or an outright lie. Yet they were created and sustained by online communication platforms that pushed the lies and excluded the truths.
• As global events increasingly threaten Western stability, governments have demonstrated no inclination to entertain a diversity of viewpoints or discussions along the way. Instead, the more serious the issue, the more committed to a single, overarching “narrative” they seem to become.
• This war for eight billion minds means that citizens must be more vigilant than ever in processing and evaluating what they see and read. Whether they like it or not, they are under attack at all times from those who seek to manipulate and control them. As in the last century, we are surrounded by totalitarian propaganda routinely disguised as “the truth.”

The heavy perils we face today include centralized governments micromanaging society, the growing prospect of global war, the growing prospect of forced surrender, and the replacement of reasoned debate and free speech with state-sanctioned “narratives” and censorship: totalitarian governance seems not far behind. This is a new kind of war against civilians for control of their minds.

The torrents engulfing us appear to be potentially catastrophic. In a few short years, the world has endured the COVID-19 pandemic, forced government lockdowns, extreme economic volatility, commodity shortages, and the World Economic Forum’s attempts to exploit this cascade of crises as an excuse to usher in a structural “Great Reset” in which global food and energy consumption can be strictly regulated according to the “climate change” goals of an unelected cabal. Governments are relying increasingly on controlling public “narratives” and vilifying dissent.

While health bureaucrats and politicians claimed to be “following the science,” mandatory compliance with unilateral rule-making precluded reasoned, good-faith debate. The predictable result: the lethal consequences of the Wuhan Virus were exacerbated by the lethal consequences of misguided public policies imposed to fight the virus. Students whose schools were shuttered now suffer the lifelong effects of learning loss. Patients whose timely diagnoses and preventative care were forestalled now suffer the debilitating outcomes of untreated disease. Small businesses unable to endure prolonged closures are gone for good. Middle class savings once reserved for unexpected “rainy day” funds or children’s future educations have dried up. Credit card debt is on the rise, while more and more people struggle to survive on less. The “safety nets” of government welfare programs have ballooned to leave nation states more indebted than ever but have also proved too perforated with leaky holes (often draining needed resources straight into the bank accounts of corporate campaign donors, interest group lobbyists, and foreign hackers) to keep society’s most vulnerable afloat. Governments’ justifications for reckless fiscal, monetary, and credit policies during short-term emergencies have weakened nations’ prospects for long-term solvency and the likelihood that they will be capable of preserving stable currencies. Still, for all the harm their actions have caused, governments have issued no apologies for enforcing such life-altering policies while silencing critics. It is as if “narrative engineers” have adopted an official position that they are incapable of being wrong.

Geopolitical conflict is wrenching the post-WWII international order apart. While America’s and the European Union’s “climate change” policies have already inflated the costs of energy, food and much else, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has only added to ordinary Europeans’ financial pain and jeopardizes the continent’s security more broadly. China’s territorial ambitions threaten peace in Taiwan, Japan, across Southeast Asia and beyond. The United States’ efforts to enlarge NATO’s European membership, while expanding its mission objectives into the Indo-Pacific, all but ensure that the U.S., China and Russia remain on a collision course.

Policymakers cannot help seeing parallels to the quickly falling geopolitical dominoes that ushered in WWI and WWII over the course of a few fateful weeks. They cannot help looking at the unsustainable accumulation of government debt around the world and the avalanche of investment derivatives balancing unsteadily upon fragile currencies unmoored from any real value in gold or silver and fearing the risks of a severe depression. They cannot help seeing Russian revanchism and Chinese territorial expansion as signs that the Great Powers have set course down a dangerous path. The more nervous about the future policymakers are, the more committed they seem to enforcing a standard “narrative” they can control.

It was the detonation of two nuclear warheads over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, of course, that brought combat in the Pacific Theater to a close and ended WWII with an exclamation point.

Now we stand on a new kind of battlefield. Just as with nuclear weapons, civilians have nowhere to hide from this war’s effects. Weapon systems are spread out across the Internet, deployed on mobile phones and active on every computer chip, tracking, sharing, and pushing digital information throughout the world. Instead of explosives and bullets, we have competing “narratives” whizzing past. The breadth of the campaign to control what information we see, how we process that information, and ultimately what we think and say makes even the most effective psychological operations of the past look antiquated and rudimentary. Whereas “mutually assured destruction” has so far succeeded as a deterrent against nuclear war, the tantalizing opportunities for governments to use programs of mass digital surveillance and communication to spread lies, manipulate opinion, and affect human behavior have created a kind of mutually assured dystopia, “where people lead dehumanized, fearful lives.”

In the 1930s, Adolf Hitler spoke with boisterous energy and theatrical gesticulation before tens of thousands of stormtroopers, Hitler Youth, and Nazi Party faithful. Today, the dictator’s raised stage has been replaced with Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, and anywhere else a pop-up online audience can be found. The visual stimuli that enthralled Hitler’s crowds are now reproduced with the release of pleasure-causing endorphins rushing to the brain after every “politically correct” online statement is “rewarded” with approval from strangers providing instant fame. Online “influencers” have become the goose-stepping middlemen for campaigns of mass propaganda that touch more humans in a day than a decade of Hitler’s speeches. In an age when information has never been more easily accessible, the world is awash in lies.

Instead of encouraging public debate and rational argument, governments push the constant drumbeat of the “narrative” above all else. A citizen either obediently accepts the government’s vast and intrusive COVID-19 rules, or that person is labeled a “COVID denier.” A citizen either obediently accepts the government’s vast and intrusive “climate change” rules, or that person is labeled a “climate denier.” A citizen either accepts Hunter Biden’s “laptop from hell” as “Russian disinformation“, or that person is labeled a “Russian sympathizer.” Daring to say otherwise could get one banned from social media, professionally sanctioned, or even fired from a job. Except none of these established “narratives” has proved true.

In hindsight, it is clear that lockdowns unleashed more health, educational and economic problems than they solved. As Europe faces an expanding energy crisis that leaves its populations vulnerable to the cold, it is clear that “climate change” policies can kill those they are purportedly meant to protect. And as Elon Musk’s recent release of internal Twitter communications proves, Hunter Biden’s laptop was not only real news censored from the public during a presidential election. Political speech was also censored through the collaborative efforts of the FBI and more than 50 intelligence community agents in violation of the First Amendment. In each case, the “narrative” proved to be either misleading propaganda or an outright lie. Yet they were created and sustained by online communication platforms that pushed the lies and excluded the truths.

As global events increasingly threaten Western stability, governments have demonstrated no inclination to entertain a diversity of viewpoints or discussions along the way. Instead, the more serious the issue, the more committed to a single, overarching “narrative” they seem to become. Dissent is despised. Reasoned argument is lampooned. A citizen is expected to blithely accept government-approved messaging disseminated online, or risk the wrath of the technocracy.

This war for eight billion minds means that citizens must be more vigilant than ever in processing and evaluating what they see and read. Whether they like it or not, they are under attack at all times from those who seek to manipulate and control them. As in the last century, we are surrounded by totalitarian propaganda routinely disguised as “the truth.” In this century, though, the reach and scale of mass indoctrination seems endlessly expanding.

J.B. Shurk writes about politics and society.