The "Mandate" S3 | Media
Silence is the enemy of Truth
The truth is, I wish I could come up with some brilliant quote that would wake people up to the manipulation and deceit they have been exposed to for over twelve years by these guys in the name of money: The Tech-Broligarchs and the PayPal Mafia. Realistically though, what can I say that hasn’t be said before by the many voices in the wilderness? People like Maria Ressa, CEO of Rappler and author of “How to Stand Up to a Dictator”
Chris Wylie, the Cambridge Analytica’s whistleblower explains how the Philippines was the testing ground [petri dish] of these tactics of manipulation…
the real target was the United States.
KING OF LIES | INAUGURATION OF THE TECH BROS
The manipulation of our mindset with propaganda and mis-information is nothing new in the United States. Forty-five years ago, Fundamental Evangelical Christians were the target of this well know tool of a “wanna be dictator.” The goal of this tool, according to Physiology Today, is to control “the free flow of information in order to plug any potential channels of criticism” and “create an ideology to justify their power”
What breaks my heart, as well as the many followers of Jesus Christ who are speaking out in opposition to this administration and their Dominionist movement, is that this manipulation tactic is being used by Christians to manipulate other Christians.
The administration is exploiting the main media source Christians trust as the ultimate source to find Truth - the Bible.
Tropicana, the King of Lies, loves to say “I am the chosen one. I alone can fix it”
The beginnings of the Dominionist movement I am referring to started in 1981, by a small group of five Christian zealots and elites who felt the their “religious freedom” was as risk and America was going to hell in an hand basket. The hippie counterculture of “peace, love and joy” was decried as “sex, drugs and rock n’ roll.”
“Dominionism” sounds creepy to me. Originating from the mis-interpretation of Genesis 1:28, this kind of Dominionist believes that Christians have a divine mandate rise to power, “take back” America for Christ and rule over it spiritually and physically. My point is not to go into a whole explanation of how this theology is a complete mis-representation of God’s promise, but rather how taking a little bit of truth out of context and applying to a perceived reality is something that this President, the “Great Manipulator” is masterful at.
The control of information does not just rely on spreading lies, half-truths and propaganda but also a lack of interest to get all the facts. So by having an ideology that wins over the hearts and minds of the followers, they will trust you… blindly.
What better tool can there be for blind trust other than FAITH?
So in 1981, Tim LaHaye, Paul Weyrich, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and other Christian Dominionists and oil baron elites formed a the Council of National Policy, and began a movement to make America not just a “Christian Nation,” but a Theocracy. Below are excerpts from a document written in 2006 that lays out Weyrich’s strategy that would become the ground work for Project 2025.
The Integration of Theory & Practice:
A Program for the New Traditionalist MovementThere will be three main stages in the unfolding of this movement.
- Stage 1 will be devoted to the development of a highly motivated elite able to coordinate future activities.
- Stage 2 will be devoted to the development of institutions designed to make an impact on the wider elite and a relatively small minority of the masses.
- Stage 3 will involve changing the overall character of American popular culture.It is a basic fact that an us-versus-them, insider-versus-outsider mentality is a very strong motivation in human life. For better or for worse, this has to be recognized and taken advantage of for the good of the movement. We will be results-oriented rather than good intentions-oriented.
Previously, I mentioned how Lance Wallnau plays a crucial role in promoting the myth of Trump as “the chosen one. Saved by God to make America great again.” Wallnau proclaims the false prophecy (which really just means fake news) that Christians are mandated to occupy the 7 sectors of society that influence they way we think and behave.
As Trump began to build his cabinet, we saw him assign influencers to each of these mountains. This is stage 1 of Paul Weyrich’s plan, develop “a highly motivated elite able to coordinate future activities.“
The Education Mountain is headed by “influencer” Linda McMahon as Secretary of Board of Education. What got her the job is not just that she was a billionaire and co-founder of WWE. She also led the America First Action Super PAC that help fund Trump’s campaign. The goal for this Administration is to dismantle the board of education, cutting off assistance for the poor and civil rights for the mis-represented, then privatize schools that will be unaccountable to discriminatory protections and rewrite history to fit the Christian Nationalist agenda.
The Business/Commerce Mountain - Russ Vought, director of the OMB is the influencer. Just like Paul Weyrich, Vought wants to destroy the government institutions. “Burn the government down” Elon Musk and DOGE are the implementers with their own agenda to replace the dollar with bitcoin and eventually privatize everything.
But atop this Media mountain I would venture to say the most impactful influencer is the AI of social media; algorithms.
THE MONEY MAKING MIS-INFORMATION MACHINE
Pryor to 2014 news organizations were both creating and disturbing journalism and news. They had editors, fact checkers and guard rails. We all had the same reality for the most part.
However in 2014, there was a pivotal breakthrough in AI technology Facebook’s major algorithmic update was aimed at prioritizing content that was more relevant and engaging. So the more likes, comments and shares, the more it would be exposed. So now we were getting our information from what seems like friends and family and the information was moving quickly.
“Seed a meta-narrative and then hit it opportunistically so it spreads.”
Russia became an expert of using this technology to spread the propaganda and disinformation, causing dissension and conflict in Europe. In 2014, The Russian Information Operation against Ukraine proved to be successful.
Russia has long wielded information operations as one of its key foreign policy instruments, but it wasn't until the annexation of Crimea in 2014 that the West began to truly grasp the extent of its efforts to mold public opinion.
• Russian Information Warfare
How was Russia so successful in destroying democracy simply by spreading lies?
In a podcast interview with Jon Stewart, Maria Ressa explains how MIT did a study in 2018 that found lies spread 6x faster than the truth. They noted by using fear, anger and hate the lies will spread virally. Making it a vital tool to consolidate power by manipulating the hearts and minds of the people.
By 2018 It became obvious. Using trolls and bots as well as targeted disinformation campaigns, Russian information operations began attacking liberal democracies with mis-information and propaganda specifically designed to discredit the institutions, stoke the fire of racism and fears about immigration.
By now most of us who pay attention, know this happened and how it influenced elections around the world, but what I didn’t know was how much it spread. According to Maria Ressa, 70% of the countries in the world today are either “closed” or illiberal “electoral” autocracies.
In the attached article, from November 2020, there is an overview of the different countries affected by the Russian disinformation warfare.
This is the same tactic used by New Right Christian Nationalists like Paul Weyrich and Lauce Wallnau.
First by targeting the fear and anger in a society to harness the power of hate. Then, create confusion with “alternative facts” so that people start to question the whole idea of what the truth really is. This has caused distrust in the traditional media outlets of journalism, since they could keep up with the instant gratification on social media.
If you don’t have facts you can’t have truth,
If you don’t have truth you can’t have trust.
Big Tech essentially hacked our biology because they went to the ‘thinking fast’ part of the way we operate. By changing the way we feel they changed how we see the world and the way we act.
Maria Ressa, Author of How to Stand Up to Dictator
The Christian twist? Say that you are a prophet and God has given you a Word. Tell your congregation or audience that this is spiritual warfare, the democrats are brainwashing your kids to “turn gay.” The “radical left lunatics” are baby killers and demons. The Republican party is the party of God and we are called to “take it by force” in order restore Christ’s rightful place as king.
By 2020 America was ripe for the taking. We are the ultimate target after all. Already exposed to years of relentless lies from Trump as twitter became our political forum, COVID hit. Then, an insurrection clearly orchestrated by various Christian Nationalist organizations and radicalized believers. The “Great Manipulator” gets banned from Facebook and Twitter for spreading false information, only after it was forced to by public outrage.
Social media and big tech corporations were making such a large profit they were not interested in being the gate keepers, they had no real interest in regulating this insidious manipulation.
Can I state the obvious here? In 2022, Truth Social was launched to be THE platform for the MAGA mis-information operation and it could not be more in our face. He literally warped reality by posting his “truth.” If you made fun of Trump on Truth Social, you were banned.
With Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter in 2022, MAGA and the New Right kept the Woke Mind Virus alive for their own exploitation. It’s been documented that Elon Musk has had conversations with Putin starting as early as 2021. I wonder what they were talking about?
“The death of democracy is a byproduct of letting tech remain the most unregulated industry globally”
“FREE SPEECH”
You might say the most basic definition of freedom means you are free to do whatever you want. However, the goodness of true freedom is being free to do what is right. God says we have choice before us, the choice of of life or death, blessings or curses… he implores us to choose life.
So when Elon Musk, …oh yeah and Trump, campaigned on “free speech” he was not referring to the First Amendment. He meant no regulation on technology. More specifically HIS (Musk’s) technology. With no guard rails, this gives big tech freedom from any responsibility to manipulate us.
Section 230 of the US 1996 Communications Decency Act
US legal legislation of Internet sites
Provides immunity for online computer services with respect to third-party content generated by its users.
By aligning with the Russians perhaps the goal is to weaken the EU which has stronger restrictions on algorithms and limitations on tech companies.
This was triggered by the public information ecosystem that we live
in which rewards corruption. It corrupts us. It rewards the worst in us.
If lies spread faster; if fear, anger and hate spread that's the way you are.
What kind of world do you want to create?
When the facts are twisted in front of you, what do you do as a citizen?
Maria Ressa, Author of How to Stand Up to Dictator
Remember that Peter Thiel’s goal is to replace politics with technology? How is that working out for us?
CONTROLLING THE NARRATIVE
Stage 2 of Weyrich’s plan begins here with “institutions designed to make an impact on the wider elite and a relatively small minority of the masses.”
When Trump assigned the Tech-Broligarchs a seat in the front row of his inauguration, it was a signal to his “wider elite” power players and his MAGA base foot soldiers that he was in control and the next step would be stage 3; “change the overall character of American popular culture.”
Social media, however, is not the only medium where this Dominionist ideology is being pushed to the masses. This rhetoric already infected the mostly white American Christian popular culture.
• The Evangelical Industrial Complex
Celebrity Pastors are nothing new, especially since the invention of radio and television. Now, I have nothing against spreading the good news of Jesus Christ to the world via mass media. There are many people that have such great charisma and their grasp on Biblical knowledge can be so inspiring. However, as Christians we are taught that there is something called the “human condition.”
Left to our own devises, we are exposed to the selfish desire to act in our own benefit at the expense of others. We easily deceive ourselves and spin illusions to redefine our bad decisions as good ones. We fail to be humans who fully love God and others. (The Bible Project)
Without accountability and Godly self-reflection many of these Christian celebrities who are seemingly sharing the good news of Jesus Christ are really focused on expanding their multi-million-dollar enterprises.
Starting in the 1960’s with CBN, the reach of this network of Christian elites has expanded to a wide web of mega churches like City of Destiny, Trinity Church and Pilgrim Hill, conferences like Turning Point USA and Amerifest, and tv stations and streaming networks like FlashPoint.
• Rewriting History | Redefining Jesus
The Dominionist movement, the MAGA movement, the Christian Nationalist -which ever name you want to give it - is intentionally demonizing and dehumanizing other human beings, and specifically altering the message of the Bible and Jesus Christ. This is what makes is so insidious. They know better! But they are more interested in maintaining their empire and achieving their political agenda.
I’ve tried, I can't find anywhere in the Bible where Jesus says,
Do this to the least among Me… unless it's political,
then you can do whatever you want as long as my side wins.
He could have led a revolution against Rome if he wanted to and he didn't.
What weighs on me the most is watching good Christians saying ‘well if everybody else is saying this, am I the one that's in the wrong?’
Adam Kinzinger
What was started by political strategists has morphed into this American Christian ideology over the decades. Tim Alberta calls is a "marriage of bad history and bad theology.“ It presents a completely false view of Jesus and His message; and therefore an obstacle to His teachings and His work here on earth.
Over the years it has made us a bad witness to the whole world … to the oppressed, the lost and the broken hearted. Trump is a proven conman, elitist, bully and sex offender and the way he treats people is so very anti-Christian. On top of that, he and his administration clearly abuse Christianity and Christian language to maintain their grip on a group of believers.
This false version of this “victorious Christianity” enables the acceptance of the truly evil government overreach with the language of peace and prosperity that has nothing to do with Christ. And yet many refuse acknowledge the dissonance.
Obvious propaganda like this of Kristi Noem in front of the El Salvadorian Terrorism Confinement Center, give us permission to sink deeper into the darkness, accepting more and more that there are “those who have and those who have not” as defined by race. Careful Christians, that you don’t get weakened by “toxic empathy.”
The attempt to eliminate the heroic stories of the black, latino and indigenous people that are ingrained in this country’s origins is the twisted nurturing of “the culture war” in order to keep us in a constant state of anxiety and anger.
I hope everyone realizes that scrubbing historical references from websites is no different than burning books. (Suzanne Crockett)
Deception. Division. Diversion. Discouragement.
• Silence the Opposition
At this point we are all aware that FOX news, now most watched cable news network, has allied themselves to operate for the appeasement of Trump. In 2025, we have seen how this administration has bullied corporations, universities, lawyers, and news stations into bending the knee and comply with keeping criticism of this administration at bay. Some simply obey in advance from fear of retribution. However, I found one of the more stunning signs of this administration’s fascistic desire to control the narrative was essentially shutting down Voice of America, especially after learning of its origins.
Voice of America was launched in 1942 during WWII, broadcasting in German for Germany and shedding light on the Nazi propaganda machine; countering the lies with facts. The VOA continued its mission in Communist regimes showing the power of a free democracy, unabashedly sharing American life - the good, the bad and the ugly. By 2025, VOA had a world wide audience of 360 million.
Trump bypassed Congress's authority and signed an executive order effectively quieting the taxpayer funded broadcaster for what he called radical propaganda.
The only president to disavow it’s purpose around the world. Republican Congresswoman Young Kim of CA stated on 60 Minutes, “Why are we seeding our soft power that helps us to stay as a free world leader? We're just playing right into Xiinping's hands.” Perhaps she answered her own question.
This clearly aligns with Russian and Chinese dictatorship goals to keep the truth stifled. All of this confusion, chaos and division is meant exhaust us to the point of
dis-engagement.
It’s not “progressive Christianity” to speak the truth about God’s Kingdom. This is why I implore the Jesus followers, no matter who you voted for or didn’t vote for, to start calling out this insidious distortion of what we believe. It is anti-Christian as it goes directly against the New Creation and new humanity that Jesus has died for…
- To love God and love others.
“The only way you fight back is with facts and law”
Maria Ressa, Author of How to Stand Up to Dictator
HOW TO FIGHT BACK AGAINST THE MANIPULATION ONLINE
Stop Surveillance Capitalism - the mining information for profit
Stop Code Bias “Colonialism didn’t die, it just moved online”
Journalism is the anti-dote to Tyranny
Very good piece. I discovered your Substack only through your comment on another, so I’m a bit late here to read yours. Sadly, it seems even our Supreme Court will not stand up for our Constitution. Keep writing, I look forward to what else you have to say.