Satan's Attack on Free Speech - Deception of the Last Days - Part 1

Blessings to Israel presents Discerning the Times, a program committed to encouraging you to view current events through the lens of the Bible.

Now, in honor of the one and only true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, please join us for today's program. Free speech is meaningless unless you allow people you don't like to say things you don't like, otherwise it's irrelevant. And if at the point where you lose free speech, it doesn't come back. Welcome to Discerning the Times.

My name is Brian Thomas alongside my cohost, Dr. Bruce Logan, who I will bring in shortly. And today we're going to look at the attack on free speech that we see going on throughout our nation. And really what it boils down to is it is an attack from Satan.

And so we are going to look at the deception that Satan is trying to bring upon our society. But before we do that, as I always do, I want to remind you that your eternal state is far more important than your current state. If you have never received Jesus Christ as Lord and savior, I encourage you to do so today because otherwise your eternity will be spent in the lake of fire separated from almighty God.

So if you've never received him, will you accept the free gift of Jesus Christ and come to him on today? All right. So I'm going to bring in now my cohost, Dr. Bruce Logan and doc, there's a lot of things going on today. We always talk about in this program as we discern the times and we know free speech is one of those things that is being attacked.

And that opening clip was from an interview of Elon Musk being interviewed by BBC reporter, James Clayton. And so we're going to, to listen to more of their conversation throughout today's program to compliment our discussion and, uh, to get us started. But how are you, how are you doing today?

Doing good. And, uh, really looking forward to today's show. And again, it's always a blessing to be able to be on with you and to be able to share with our listening audience. So looking forward to today's program.

Yeah. It's always good for us to, to get out, get together and open up these mics and talk about these truths that, that God has presented us with. I want to share before we dive deeper into the discussion in the book of Matthew chapter 24, the apostles, when they were talking with Jesus and they, they asked him questions about the end of the age and his second coming. And here's the response that Jesus gave in verses one through four, he stated, then Jesus went out and departed from the temple and his disciples came up to show him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, do you not see all these things?

Assuredly I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down. Now, as he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately saying, tell us when will these things be and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age. And Jesus answered and said to them, take heed that no one deceives you. So doc, that's what we want to really focus on today is taking heed that no one deceives you, because that is what Jesus gave in talking about what would be the signs of his coming in the end of the age. The first thing out of his mouth was deception. So, so we're going to talk about that today. And we both know there's no shortage of deception that is going on in our society right now.

Well, that is a hundred percent true. Um, as a matter of fact, it's interesting because I actually just finished up a course in a local Bible college. And once I was doing a New Testament survey and one of the things that I pointed out about the we're discussing in the book of Acts, for example, we're discussing the first century plight of the first century church and what the believers in the first century had to deal with. And one of the things that I pointed out, which is apparent in this first clip, is that the early church had two primary obstacles that they had to deal with or two primary trials that was confronted by them. And one was, of course, the threat of physical persecution and the other was the threat of false teaching and false doctrine. And it's interesting because we're all familiar with a lot of the persecution physically that the early church had to deal with. But in reality, Jesus and the apostles warned more about false teaching and false teachers and false doctrine than they warned about physical persecution. And I thought that was interesting, especially in light of the time that we're currently living in, because we can clearly see the proliferation of false doctrine and false teaching that's being prominent in our world and in our culture today. And so this should be a very pertinent conversation. Yeah, you're exactly right. No shortage of that type of thing going on is all throughout the secular world and unfortunately is infiltrating the church like we've talked about in previous episodes. So let's continue. We're going to listen more to again, this is Twitter CEO Elon Musk.

He's being interviewed by BBC reporter James Clayton. I think the issue some people have is that a lot of people were brought back. I mean, some people were brought back who were previously banned for spreading things like QAnon conspiracies.

You have people like Andrew Tate who were brought back who were previously banned for things like hate speech. Do you think you prioritise freedom of speech over misinformation and hate speech? Well, you know, who's to say that something is misinformation? Who is the arbiter of that? Is it the BBC? You're literally asking me?

Yes. Well, no, you are the arbiter on Twitter, because you own Twitter. Yes, I'm saying who is to say that one person's misinformation is another person's information? The point at which you say that this is misinformation, like who is going to decide that? You accept that misinformation can be dangerous, that it can cause real world harms, that it can potentially cause them. Yeah, so the point I'm trying to make is the BBC itself has at times published things that are false. Do you agree that has occurred? I'm quite sure the BBC have said things before that turn out to not be true in its whatever it is hundred year history, I'm quite sure. Yes. Even if you aspire to be accurate, there are times when you will not be.

All right. So you heard Elon Musk state there in that clip that he asked the question, well, who is the arbiter of misinformation? And, you know, Doc, what came to mind for me as a believer, we always talk on this program, our intro, we say, well, we are here to discern the times by viewing life through the lens of the Bible. So we filter everything through God's word.

That should be the way of the conversation. And for all of us, we know that the truth of the matter is the ultimate arbiter of truth is Jesus Christ. John 14, six says, Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me. So our great Lord and savior Jesus Christ, he's the ultimate arbiter of truth.

Absolutely. At the end of the day, the word of God is the ultimate arbiter of what is and what is true. However, unfortunately, I should say in the culture that we're currently living in now, truth is being masked or false information is being masked as truth and truth is being labeled as hate speech or false information. And I once heard somebody say, and I don't know exactly who to attribute the exact quote to, but I remember this quote and it really stood out with me. And it's a very simple quote, but very succinct. And the quote goes like this. He who controls the narrative has the power.

I want to just say that again. He who controls the narrative has the power. And in our particular culture or in our current culture, the narrative is being controlled almost exclusively by the left or by the left side of the political spectrum in the West. The narrative or the leftist narrative, or we often use a term, the woke narrative is almost completely dominant amongst the most public and the most influential sources of information that we have in our culture. For an example, the public school system has become completely given over to the left. Academia has been almost completely given over to the left.

Pop culture, Hollywood, professional sports, the court system, the media especially has been given almost completely over to the left. And so they have now taken it upon themselves to be the arbiter of what is and what is true, even though we as believers realize and know that Jesus Christ and the word of God is the ultimate arbiter of what is and what isn't true. But sadly, this particular BBC reporter, James Clayton, epitomizes exactly what I'm talking about. You can just tell from his questioning, you can tell from his inability to respond and to answer Elon Musk that he has been trained by a woke, probably a woke journalism school. And he epitomizes exactly what was referred to as journalism. And I use the term loosely, very loosely.

He epitomizes what journalism has become because he has been sold a bill of goods that the leftist worldview is ultimately what truth really is. So let me just give you a couple quick examples. So for example, if you say things like marriage is between one man and one woman, that's considered hate speech in his worldview. If you say things like there are only two genders in his worldview in the way he's been trained, that's hate speech. If you say that, you know, or if you argue that critical race theory should not be taught at public school, you're a racist.

I mean, it's automatic. You're defined because they are in control of the narrative. If you challenge the veracity of the COVID-19 mandates, you know, over the past few years, you were spreading misinformation and you were getting banned on social media.

I myself got banned on Facebook because I posted an interview by a Dr. Peter McCullough on the efficacy of COVID-19 treatments like ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, and other treatments that had been used by several doctors, but the media covered it up or they would label it as, quote, horse pace. And I don't know if you remember those arguments that were being made by the media. And so they were in control of the narrative. And so they got to determine, they got to rewrite the Western lexicon, so to speak, and be able to define what words is. And we've got this thing going on now where now you have to be able to be trained in the use of proper pronouns because the left in America or the left in the West has redefined what is and what is a woman, what is and what isn't a man, what is and what isn't a family. And they got a chance, they were able to rewrite. And now this is being taught in the public schools.

Teachers that I know of personally are being retrained in addressing students with their proper pronouns. And so this is all being done by the left in America. And they're totally in control of the narrative. That's the reason why, as believers, we have to be discerning, as we talk about all the time, discerning the times. And we have to be able to make sure our minds are renewed so that we can discern and so that we could stand up for what is ultimately true, which is, as you stated, the word of God. Yeah, there is definitely a major push by, as you say, the leftist, the secular worldview to go against truth. And what it really tells us that is showing the rebellion against God, because the world is saying, we don't care, God, what you say, we don't care what your word says we want to do. We're going to do what we want to do. And that is what they're trying to push. And they're trying to demand everyone to accept that as well. And like you said, if you disagree, if you point to the Bible, then they say that's hate speech, but they are in direct contradiction to the word of God. So let's continue listening.

This is actually a long clip, but I want to play the back and forth that you're going to hear between Elon Musk and this reporter. And you're going to see exactly what you're talking about on full display, the left secular woke agenda that's being pushed in the way this this interview is conducted. We've spoken to people very recently who were involved in moderation, and they just say they just there's not enough people to police this stuff, particularly around particularly around hate speech in the company. What hate speech are you talking about? I mean, you use Twitter, right? Do you see a rise in hate speech? I mean, just a personal anecdote, like what do you I don't personally my for you, I would see I get I get more of that kind of content.

Yeah, personally, but I'm not going to talk to talk to the rest of for the rest of Twitter. You see more hate speech personally, I would say I would see more hateful content in that, in that content you don't like or hateful. What do you mean to describe a hateful thing? Yeah, I mean, you know, just content that will solicit a reaction, something that may include something that is slightly racist or slightly sexist, those kinds of those kinds of things. So you think if something is slightly sexist, it should be banned? No, I'm not saying anything.

I'm just curious. I'm trying to say what you mean by hateful content. And I'm asking for specific examples. And if and you just said that if something is slightly sexist, that's hateful content. Does that mean that it should be banned?

Well, you've asked me, you've asked me whether my feed, whether it's got less or more, I'd say it's got slightly more. That's what I'm asking for examples. Right? Can you name one example? I honestly don't you?

Honestly, I can't name a single example. I'll tell you why. Because I don't actually use that for your feed anymore.

Because I just don't particularly like it. Actually, a lot of people a lot of people are quite similar. I only look at my followers.

Hang on a second. You said you've seen more hateful content, but you can't name a single example, not even one. I'm not sure I've used that feed for the last three or four weeks. Well then how did you see that hateful content? Because I've been I've been using it.

I've been using Twister since you've taken over for the last six months. Okay, so then you must have at some point seen that you for your hateful content. I'm asking for one example. Right. You can't give a single one. And I'm saying I then I say so that you don't know what you're talking about.

Really? Yes, because you can't be a single example of hateful content, not even one tweet. And yet you claimed that the hateful content was high. Well, that's a false. No, what I could slide what no, no, what I claim was, there are many organizations that say that that kind of information is on the rise. Now, whether whether it has a one example, I mean, right, literally something like this, the Strategic Dialogue Institute in the in the UK, they will say that.

So look, it's people will say all sorts of nonsense. I'm literally asking for a single example. And you can't name one. Right. And as I've already said, I don't use that feed. But then how would you know that? I don't think this is getting any literally said you experienced more hateful content, and then couldn't name a single example.

Right. And as I said, that's absurd. I haven't I haven't actually looked at that feed. But how would you know this hateful content? Because I'm saying that's what I saw a few weeks ago. I can't give you an exact example. Let's move on.

We have we only have a certain amount. I'll tell you, Doc, I mean, this stuff is just hilarious. This guy is obviously lying is so obvious. And Elon Musk is exposing that because he's claiming that there's this rise in hate speech. But yet he can't give an example. And what he really knows deep inside is is not hate speech is simply people that have a different opinion than than what he has his leftist worldview.

And I just think about like you were saying before that clip, that there are truths that the Bible speaks of, but the world tries to redefine them and call God's truth hate speech. Because people today they just disregard facts. We've seen it time and time again, when there is a an incident between a white police officer and a black man.

What do people do? They rush to judgment in the media. They are quick to put it on the headlines. White police officer shoots unarmed black man.

And they fail to report well in most of these cases, you come to find out, well, the black person was committing a crime and resisting arrest. But they don't they don't put the facts in there. And that's what Satan does. Satan is one who is against the truth. When we look at what the scripture says, as you talked about genders, the Bible is very clear about that. The Bible is very clear about marriage. The Bible is clear about things like abortion, but Satan twists the truth and causes people to say that it's hate speech.

And that is how he's deceiving so many. And I want to share a scripture, John eight 44. It says you are of your father, the devil and the desires of your father.

You want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources for he is a liar in the father of it. And doc, that is exactly what we see taking place in the world. This text says, uh, you are the, your father, the devil and the desires of your father.

You want to do. And that is what people, they are wanting to do the things that are sinful. And if you go against it, they call it hate speech. Exactly.

They call it hate speech. But what, what, what we need to realize is that this is nothing new for Satan. This has been his tactic from the very beginning when he originally deceived Eve in the garden. And if you recall that narrative in Genesis chapter three, basically in a nutshell, there was this back and forth that went on between the serpent and Eve in which the Satan, uh, would say, well, God did not say what Eve said, but God said, and this was a back and forth and eventually it came down to Eve having to make a decision. Do I believe what God said? Or do I believe what the serpent said? And unfortunately for the human race, Eve chose to believe what the serpent said and chose to eat of the forbidden fruit.

Um, and of course we now it's, uh, it's from every fifth have been dealing with the consequences of that, um, decision that Eve made. But that tactic from the enemy has been his ongoing tactic from that point until now, because he actually saw how successful that was. And this fast forwarding to today's time, that tactic basically of saying what God said versus what man or what the serpent is saying is, is the number one tactic that the enemy is using even today. But it's more impactful today I feel, uh, than it has previously, simply because the world has not been given what God actually has said. So the world has been giving, even when they're beginning, giving the God or receiving the gospel, much of what has is taught or being all the gospel is really not what God or what Jesus preached or what the gospel really is. The gospel did not come or Jesus did not come in order to make sure everybody got a Cadillac or everybody was wealthy and had a million dollars. That's not the reason why he came.

Okay. And, but that is the prominent, um, uh, methodology or, or gospel that's being portrayed as the gospel in today's time. And that has no impact on combating the wiles of Satan in this particular culture that in fact, that actually accentuates because it distracts from what the enemy is really doing in the culture. That's the reason why it's such a, there's just a low amount of discernment among believers to things that are just so blatantly obvious to people like you and I. And so, yes, um, it is that that tactic of deception is prominent.

And let me just say this real quick. Um, cause we, I recall in a previous, uh, episode that you and I did regarding worldview. And I just want to just mention a couple of things, uh, uh, just to reiterate is that all of us have a worldview and we will all basically have been conditioned or programmed from the time we were born. We were, we were conditioned to believe and think a certain way. You know, it goes all the way back to, you know, over time from our, you know, the, the, the programming we received growing up from our parents, from our teachers, from our friends, from the media, from the books we read, from the music we listen to, from the, the movies and TV shows that we watch and so on. And slowly over time we are subtly, uh, uh, those, those that input over time, I should say, has contributed to our worldview to programming our mental hard drive, so to speak.

And oftentimes our programming is so profound has been so, so set that when we hear something that contrary to that programming, we tend to just reject it just by default. And that was what we saw with this British BBC reporter, that he has been so indoctrinated into the worldview of, of, of wokeness that when somebody comes along and challenged him to his face, he had no response. He had no answer. I mean, he could not even name one single solitary example of something that was a hateful tweet. And that was, that was, that was amazing to me to listen to, but, but it, but it demonstrates just how he was been so programmed in wokeness that it just, it just overtook him. He just doesn't even know how to respond. He, I, I'm, I would be willing to guess that he's actually never had an interviewee who actually challenged him to that point to, to make him think to the point where he had to like come up with an example of hate speech.

And that was probably the first time he ever experienced that. And I would say that, you know, it really showed. And as I said earlier, this guy epitomizes what has what has become, or what has been identified as quote, the media in our particular culture and the media compared to what it was when I was growing up is completely dead right now. I mean, it's almost non-existent or at the very least it's on life support. Yeah.

I pretty much watched the local news only for the sake of the weather report, because I know the rest of it is, is all propaganda is not just a reporting of facts. And to the point that you made about what's going on in churches today, churches should be standing up speaking the truth. We should be the salt and light of the world. That's what Jesus called the church to be. And I do believe there is a remnant that is the true church that is doing that. But the majority of the church out there today is not, they're staying silent or just going along with these matters.

And I was listening to radio hosts, Eric Metaxas, talking about this recently. And he pointed out that churches that are speaking the truth right now, the ones that are really making a stand, those churches are thriving, you know, they are doing well and they're actually growing and they're making an impact. But they said the others for the most part is there are a few exceptions, but for the most part, those who are not standing for truth, those churches are struggling to stay afloat. And um, and it just shows that you stay, if you stand for truth, if you stand for Jesus, then he is going to cause you to succeed.

You know, he said that he's going to establish the church and the gates of Haiti shall not prevail against it. And, and that is very clear. So let's look, you mentioned earlier about COVID. So they're going to wrap up this discussion in talking about the COVID misinformation of time. Um, COVID misinformation. You changed the COVID misinformation. Has BBC changes COVID misinformation?

The BBC does not set the rules on Twitter. So I'm asking you, no, I'm talking about the BBC's misinformation about COVID. I'm literally asking you about, you changed the labels, the COVID misinformation labels. There used to be a policy and then it then disappeared.

Why do that? Okay. COVID is no longer an issue. Does the BBC hold itself at all responsible for misinformation regarding masking and side effects of vaccinations and not reporting on that at all? And what about the fact that the BBC was put under pressure by the British government to change the editorial policy? Are you aware of that? And this is, this is not an interview about the BBC. Oh, you thought it wasn't.

I see now why you've done Twitter spaces. I am not a representative of the BBC's editorial policy. I want to make that clear. Let's talk about something else. All right, let's, let's, let's talk about, let's talk about something else.

You weren't expecting that. We are out of time, so we have to press the pause button, but we'll continue this discussion next week. So please come back and join us as we discern the times by viewing life through the window of the Bible. Until then, remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Bless God's great nation of Israel until the only wise God be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen. Thank you for tuning into Discerning the Times. Please come back and join us next week as we continue to encourage you to view current events through the lens of the Bible. Until next time, remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, bless God's great nation of Israel and seek first the kingdom of God. Discerning the Times is presented by Blessings to Israel.