V RaptureChrist Newsletter
November 1, 2015

Have You Been Fooled?

Mark Twain said: "It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.”

Why is it so difficult for people who have accepted a lie, to realize they have been fooled?

Usually people start to gain knowledge at a very early age. A child's first encounter with the world that surrounds him comes from contact with his parents/caregivers. He learns to respond appropriately to his environment and therefore be able to survive.

Because of his lack of world experience, a child is more easily fooled. That is the reason that good parents try to protect little children from conniving adults.

As the child grows, he learns to trust the adults that form part of "his world" -- first his parents and immediate adult relatives, then his teachers and other authority figures such as church ministers, policemen, government officials, and news reporters.

By the time that the child reaches puberty "his mold is set." The information that he has gathered up to that point becomes the "truth."

When the person starts to attend a university, he might be exposed to some ideas that conflict with his accepted views. These times of questioning his own values and accepted truths will generate some psychological "anguish", and in those moments the person might do several of the following:

  1. Reject a new idea because it conflicts with what he has already accepted as truth.

  2. Accept a new idea without proper research.

  3. Research the topic to find out more about the subject before rejecting or agreeing with it.

Many will go with number 1 (reject the new idea). It is usually because of three main reasons:

     A. The new information does not fit with what he already believes; it does not make a coherent story with what he already "knows." 
     B. Friends or family members do not believe it and disapprove of it. This generates a problem for the person. It is very hard for someone to stand alone with his beliefs without the support of family and friends. To dissociate himself from the people who give him "moral support" is something very few attempt. It is very hard to change a person's mind once the mold is set. Often, on receiving new evidence, they will become very angry. This is because new truth will often shatter the beliefs they hold dear and near. Still, not everyone is a mindless automaton, so some people will find the truth after looking for it, but most prefer to reside in ignorance.
     C. The new information might not come from a credible source. For example, some people argue that we never went to the moon, and that the photos of men walking on the moon have been poorly falsified and therefore it is easy to show the fact that we never set foot on the moon. As this idea does not come from prestigious and credible sources, most people reject it without having a second thought. Unfortunately, many in authority lie just as often as other people, therefore their statements should always be scrutinized before coming to a conclusion.

Arthur Schopenhauer, the German philosopher (1788 - 1860) said: "All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident."

Notice that most people do not accept truth, but ridicule ideas that are new. People prefer to maintain the status quo. When you question them, they often prove to be evasive. Also, we find that they rarely even care. Finally, when they have no choice but accept a new truth, they will claim they always knew it all along rather than admit they were wrong. 

So, that is why Mark Twain said what he said.

Finding New Truth

Why does God hate lies?

Lies are a twisting of the truth into a poison. They are not good fruit, but a perversion. Although they may taste sweet, they will destroy you.

Christ says:

John 8:44-45
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.

Satan is a liar and the Lake of Fire is waiting for him. Also, it is waiting for his children who are liars like he is.

Proverbs 19:9
A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish.

Since this is Satan's world, expect a lot of lies from those in power; expect a lot of lies from the news media; expect authority figures to lie to you.

Those are the problems that a baby in Christ is up to when trying to find the truth. Because you are told falsehoods, the truth is getting drowned in a river of lies.

Misinformation may become entrenched as the young person grows up. New ideas will probably be rejected if they do not conform with pre-existing ones. Because of this, personal worldviews and religious beliefs (core beliefs) can be especially difficult hurdles to overcome.

Core beliefs are formed before puberty; it is hard to reject them because they form who you are as a person. For example, if you believe you should help other people, then you will help someone if he falls down, but if you believe in evolution, you will not care. Survival of the fittest means you only care about number one.

Matthew 17:16-17
"But no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results. Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out and the wineskins are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved."

People that are not flexible in accepting new truths are like old wine skins. The old wine skins are rigid and will not stretch. Christians who are set in their beliefs will find it difficult to accept anything that is new. Old cloth is the same way. It cannot resist a patch of fabric that is new because the hole becomes bigger.

In the same way, if a Christian rejects new truth, his situation becomes worse, and his punishment is more severe. That is why Christ says:

Luke 12:47-48
And that slave who knew his master's will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes, but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few.

Please do not reject truth God gives you. Pray to God that He will open your eyes.

John 8:31-32
Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

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