Apologetics Courses

Apologetics Free Course 14, Lesson 4
Analyzing/Countering Propaganda

All contrived propaganda is war — a battle to control and manipulate minds. One comes under its attack whether or not one wants to participate. This means that every person living in the modern society must necessarily take precautionary steps if he has to win his share of the imposed battle.

A mere awareness about the existence or circulation of propaganda is not enough preparation to come out as a winner in this war of wits. Rather, for achieving an unambiguous victory one should be in a position to analyze propaganda. One a person analyzes it, he knows what is what and can escape from falling into the verbal/emotional trap.

The best thing to do in such a case is to ask appropriate leading questions. A leading question is one that leads the discussion in a definite direction in an unambiguous way. The purpose is to distill the exact meaning of what has been said by the propagandist or, for that matter, by anyone.

The following are some important leading questions. With time and experience you will be able to develop more such questions so as to meet the needs that might arise in future.

1. Who is the propagandist ?

2. Whom is he serving ? Or, in other words, to whom is his loyalty ? To you, to himself, or to his bread-givers ?

3. What’s his aim for indulging in this propaganda. Is it to benefit you or someone else ?

4. To what human interests, desires emotions, or fears is he appealing ?

5. What techniques of propaganda does he use,

6. Are these techniques ethical or unethical. If unethical, is he a person of integrity ?

7. Is the propagandist objective, and does he present the whole truth ? If not, why is he subjective and what motivates him to hide or suppress part of the truth ?

8. Are you, or are you not, going to permit yourself to be influenced, manipulated, and exploited by the tactics of the propagandist.

As you consciously apply these questions to propaganda, minor and major,  a frame of reference will be created in your conscious and it will gradually imprint itself into your subconscious and unconscious mind. This will then automatically come into play whenever your are voluntarily or involuntarily exposed to propaganda. The more you do this analysis consciously, the more will it imprint itself on your unconscious mind, helping you to protect from propaganda even without being consciously aware of it.

Antidotes To Mind Manipulation
Through Repeated Exposure To Propaganda

Unfortunately most people do not realize the awesome power of repeated exposure either for good or for bad. This is one reason why many parents ignore family prayers and related home-based instruction in scriptural truths. This then works as a vicious circle. The lack of instruction makes them prone to indulge in evil, and this indulgence creates an aversion towards all spiritual instruction. Clearly, the most important parented activity in this field is to give repeated exposure to spiritual matters from the earliest possible age. This will definitely serve to build a wall of resistance in their souls that will not crumble easily or quickly under exposure to evil. But at the same time you should take preventive steps also.

Your children should know the difference between good and evil, and also where to place the boundaries. They should also be taught the necessity to feel even from the appearance of evil.

Television, Video and Cinema are powerful tools for inducing people to sin. So is a good amount of modern music that glorifies immorality and violence. Repeated exposure to these first desensitizes people towards perversion and the way sin is glamorized creates a strong attraction towards it.

Everyone should develop a set of leading questions to analyze this kind of conditioning. These questions should constantly be refined so as to make the analysis accurate and penetrating.

Here are a few leading, questions to help you, but do not restrict yourself to these alone. Try to develop more questions of your own that are more suited for your situation.

1–Do the TV or video programs I watch, the music I hear, and the books/magazines that I read contain passages that can not be narrated when I sit with my family?

2–What kind of a passage is that? Description of sex, sexual passions, or any kind of perverted activity?

3–Books on medicine contain some intimate details of human body, while books dealing with law and crime contain description of crime. Neither of these can be read in front of a family, but still they are not wrong because their purpose is education.  Do the passages under scrutiny in question to have a similar justification, or are they there just to arouse passions?

4–What kind of passions come up in your hear when you are exposed to these audio/video/printed stories and descriptions.

5–Do they help you to become a better, cleaner, and more mature person.

The above guidelines are for those people who have not yet come under the influence of manipulation by repeated exposure. If a person is already under such an influence, a different strategy has to be adopted.

A blind and harsh negation from indulgence may not work on that person now that he has already tasted the forbidden fruit. More so if the indulgent person is a rebellious young person.

Since the forbidden fruit is very tasty (stolen waters are tasty according to proverbs), a blind and harsh negation might even provide the "thrill" that is necessary to continue his/her indulgence in the abnormal.

The best prevention would be loving negation before a person gets involved in these things. But should you be called to handle the situation too late, even in that situation the best course will be an informed or admonition-based negation.

Conclusion !!

The way in which propaganda techniques influence humans is summarized in the outline below:

Human Desires And Aspirations –>  Desire For Joy, Fear Of Pain –>  Desire For Security, Fear Due To Insecurity –>  Propaganda That Promises Joy And Security  –>  Promise Of  Alleviation Of Pain And Insecurity –>  Falling Into The Trap Of The Propagandist !!

All humans have certain common desires and aspirations. They all desire joy and security while they all fear pain and insecurity. There is nothing unusual in these things till the propagandist enters.

The propagandist exaggerates the possible joys and securities, and at the same time he highlights probable pain and insecurity. Once the audience is captivated, they promise joy and security coupled with alleviation of pain and insecurity.

The web of deception is so powerful that most people fall easily into the trap. Worse, the techniques are used liberally by motivated people to attack the Bible and the Christian faith.

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