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Word Gems
exploring self-realization, sacred personhood, and full humanity
Deception & Propaganda
Editor's Essay:
the conspiratorial effort on the part of
totalitarians to denigrate the term “conspiracy”
return to "Deception" main-page
Somewhere, among the thousands of Word Gems quotations, there is a statement, to the effect, You will be able to tell what someone fears most by what he goes out of his way to ridicule, mock, and condemn.
Father Benson, Ruth, and Edwin conduct a missionary trip to the lowest reaches of the Dark Realms
From Life In the World Unseen, volume one:
After we had journeyed downwards for what seemed to be a great distance—I should imagine it to have been of one mile of Earthly measurement, at least—we found ourselves in a gigantic crater, many miles in circumference, whose sides, treacherous and menacing, towered above us…
Dimly, we could see through this miasma what might have been human beings, crawling like some foul beasts over the surface of the upper rocks. We could not think, Ruth and I, that they were human, but Edwin assured us that once they had walked upon the Earth-plane as men, that they had eaten and slept, and breathed the Earthly air, had mixed with other men on Earth. But they lived a life of spiritual foulness. And in their death of the physical body they had gone to their true abode and their true estate in the spirit world…
We walked closer to one of the sub-human forms that lay sprawled upon the rocks. What remnant of clothing it wore might easily have been dispensed with, since it consisted of nothing but the filthiest rags, which hung together in some inconceivable way, leaving visible great gaps of lifeless-looking flesh. The limbs were so thinly covered with skin that one fully expected to see bare bones showing forth. The hands were shaped like the talons of some bird of prey, with the finger nails so grown as to have become veritable claws. The face upon this monster was barely human, so distorted was it, and malformed. The eyes were small and penetrating, but the mouth was huge and repulsive, with thick protruding lips set upon a prognostic jaw, and scarcely concealing the veriest fangs of teeth.
We gazed earnestly and long at this sorry wreck of what was once a human form, and I wondered what Earthly misdeeds had reduced it to this awful state of degeneration…
Edwin, who was experienced in these sights, told us that in time we should gain certain knowledge in our work, which would enable us to read from the faces and forms of these creatures what it was that had reduced them to their present state. There would be no need to accost them to find out at least some of their life’s story, for there it was written for the experienced to read. Their very appearance, too, would be a safe guide as to whether they needed help, or whether they were still content to abide in their sunken state…
[The pitiable, now veritably sub-human, creature] was still steeped in his iniquity, and was obviously showing not the least sign of regret for his loathsome Earthly life. He was dazed at his loss of physical energy, and puzzled in his mind to know what had befallen him. His face showed that, given the opportunity, he would continue his base practices with every ounce of power that remained to him.
That he had been several hundred years in the spirit world could be seen by the few tattered remnants of his garb, which bespoke a former age, and he had spent the greater part of his Earth life inflicting mental and physical tortures upon those who had the misfortune to come into his evil clutches…
When he was upon Earth, he had acted under a false pretence of administering justice.
Editor's note: Sounds like the familiar political saviors of our own world - with their faux compassion, disingenuously biting the lower lip.
In very truth, his justice had been nothing but a travesty… And his condition was aggravated by the anger of feeling like a trapped animal…
We turned away, and Edwin led us down through an opening in the rocks on to more or less level ground. We could see at once that this part of the crater was more thickly peopled—if one can use the term ‘people’ of such as we saw there.
conspiring together
The inhabitants were variously occupied: some were seated upon small boulders, and gave every appearance of conspiring together, but upon what devilish schemes it was impossible to say…
We witnessed all manner of bestialities and grossness, and barbarities and cruelties as the mind can scarcely contemplate. It is not my purpose nor my wish to give you a detailed account of what we beheld. We had, by no means, reached the bottom of this foul pit, but I have given you quite sufficient details of what is to be found in the realms of darkness.
There is no need to be concerned or frightened by Benson's report.
There is no such thing as punishment in the next worlds; only education. If one finds oneself in a dark place upon crossing over, one can leave the “rat cellar” the very first day. You’ll want to apprise yourself of the details concerning such release on the page devoted to “Hell: the mandated introspection.”
One question, especially, might easily be raised. If people can leave the Dark Realms the very first day, why do some remain for hundreds and even thousands of years, churning in their sub-human misery?
The answer is complicated, and you may be interested in investigating this question elsewhere on the Word Gems site; however, to briefly address: We’re talking about hard-core cases here, those exhibiting "not the least sign of regret," the kinds of dark-spirited people who lived their lives to constantly oppress, deceive, and defraud others. It's all they did.
But, notice one telling characteristic.
Father Benson explains that he could say much more but doesn’t want to turn our stomachs too much, and so he offers an abbreviated view of what his team witnessed that day.
However, granting his desire for condensed review, notice what he cannot help but point out to us:
The pitiable creatures were sitting on rocks engaged in conspiratorial efforts to multiply their crimes against humanity!
Is this not incredible! Here we have sub-human beast-like creatures, bearing a similitude of fangs and talons, like some “bird of prey” -- and what is important to them at this sordid state of their disheveled lives? They want to form alliances, they want to gang up on their weaker brethren, they want to enter into conspiratorial pacts to further their oppressions of “how can we fool’em and cheat’em today?”
Is this not one of the most pathetic scenes imaginable? It's as if they can't help themselves. Even in their most diminished condition, all they can think of is to band together to commit more atrocity!
This is what the dysfunctional Ego does when fully released to its unvarnished glory. The Ego has no friends, only co-conspirators.
Think of this as a lab experiment. You have nothing. Rags on your emaciated frame. You look like a refugee from Madame Tussaud’s house of horrors – and how do you want to spend your afternoon? You want to double-down on your filthy and rapacious thoughts. It's all you know - if led by the insane Ego.
My purpose in writing this short article.
Personal freedoms, all over the world, are being dismantled at an astonishing rate. The totalitarians taste blood in the water, have entered the feeding-frenzy stage; they feel they’re so close now to real despotic control, they’ve become very brash and outwardly arrogant.
Those who stand in their way are branded as kooks, a menace to civil society, unfit to be with polite company, as they tar-and-feather those who resist the coup. They accuse others of what they themselves are doing. It's the perfect cover.
But one of the charges against these would-be dictators that they hate the most is that of “conspiracy.” It just makes them purple-wild with apoplexy. If you accuse them of “conspiracy,” it's too unmasking, too revealing for them, makes them very nervous, it strikes too close to home for them, as – this is all they do.
They live and breathe to hatch new plots, with their bought-and-paid-for accomplices, to separate you from the rule of law and basic human rights.
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Western civilization at a crossroads; weapons of censorship now forbid discussing or questioning, reducing all dialogue to puritanical conformance versus non-conformance
Professor Mark Crispin Miller
Professor Mark Crispin Miller of New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development has taught classes on mass persuasion and propaganda for the last two decades.
He has been accused of “hate speech” in the course of explaining to his students the workings of deception and propaganda.
Dr. Joseph Mercola, on his site, reviewed the case of Professor Miller:
“Miller recently sued 19 of his department colleagues for libel after they signed a letter to the school dean demanding a review of Miller’s conduct. He points out that his course on propaganda is not focused on historical examples of mass persuasion but, rather, teaches his students to recognize and resist propaganda in real or recent times.
‘This can be quite challenging,’ he says. It’s rather easy to identify examples of propaganda that you do not agree with. It’s much more difficult when it’s something you care about, agree with or believe in; when it pushes your buttons. It requires you to detach, to take a bird’s-eye view and develop impartiality. You have to ‘make an attempt to think about it, critically,’ Miller explains, and to look at both sides of the issue.
Unfortunately, as noted by Miller, getting the other side of the story is now becoming increasingly difficult, thanks to Big Tech censorship, which oftentimes filters out or blocks all but one viewpoint… If this scenario strikes you as typical of the kind of intellectual and scientific censorship we’ve seen all around the world over the past year, you’re not alone.
Miller recognized it too, and created an academic freedom petition, which at the time of this writing has been signed by nearly 36,000 people. ‘All it asks is that NYU respect my academic freedom and set a good example for other schools,’ Miller says. ‘But I did it in the name of all professors, all journalists, all scientists, all doctors, activists and whistleblowers who have been gagged or punished for their dissidence, not just last year, but really, for decades.’ He goes on to list 'the censorship trifecta' — repressive tactics — that he was hit with:
1. ‘Assailing my students with non-evidence-based arguments.’ Basically, they accused him of being a ‘conspiracy theorist,’ which is ‘the oldest and most effective means of silencing inconvenient opinion,’ Miller says.
Indeed, the CIA weaponized this catchphrase in 1967 to discredit writers who questioned the veracity of the Warren Report about the Kennedy assassination. To learn more about how conspiracy theory became ‘a thing,’ read Conspiracy Theory in America by Lance deHaven-Smith.
Editor’s note: Today, 60 years after the JFK assassination, classified documents have still not been released – even though Congress mandated this to be done. For “national security”? All those involved at the time are now dead! Who or what are we protecting by the secreting of documents? Or are we protecting institutions and, as JFK called them, “secret societies” of power and corruption? After all this time there can be no “national security” reason for secrecy – there never was – but only a protecting of rogue institutions, and those controlling them, who safeguard their abilities to do the same thing all over again.
2. ‘Hate speech and microagression,’ which are a form of ‘social justice puritanism’ that forbids discussing or questioning certain ideologies. Doing so means you’re mocking or ridiculing certain groups of people. This too is simply a way to shut people up and dissuade honest discussion that might reveal problems or chinks in whatever one-sided argument you’re told to blindly accept.
3. Spreading ‘dangerous misinformation.’ Presently, and since the beginning of the COVID pandemic, questioning any part of the official narrative, no matter how incongruent, scientifically baseless or socially destructive it may be, means you are putting people in danger. Of course, at any other time, ‘dangerous misinformation’ could refer to any narrative that the ruling class wants to maintain.
Part and parcel of all three of these tactics is the labeling of any science that deflates or disproves the propaganda narrative as ‘alternative science’ or ‘fringe science.’
Editor's note: This is why Dr. Sheldrake is often introduced as a "controversial biologist," and Wikipedia says that Dr. Mercola practices "alternative medicine." These are pejorative labels. It's a form of "poisoning the well," a subtle smear tactic.
It doesn’t matter if it’s published in prestigious peer-reviewed journals. It’s still dismissed as unreliable at best and misinformation at worst, incapable of standing up to the wisdom of the Dr. Fauci’s of the world.
The Deeper Significance of This Case
The problem with normalizing these weapons of censorship is that it makes education impossible, it makes science impossible, it makes democracy impossible. Everything is reduced to compliance versus noncompliance.
As noted by Corbett, Miller’s case goes beyond mere freedom of speech, which everyone ought to have, it goes into the issue of freedom of inquiry itself — the freedom to ask questions and ponder an issue or problem from multiple angles. Without the ability to think freely and express those thoughts, life itself becomes more or less meaningless.
You Can’t Resist Propaganda if You Can’t Recognize It
‘I can’t imagine a more important moment for the study of propaganda than the present,’ Miller says, because we are bombarded with it every moment of every day now. Once you learn to recognize it, you’ll find there’s hardly anything else. ‘I used to think it was vulgar to compare the contemporary American media with Dr. [Joseph] Goebble’s practices [editor’s note: a German Nazi politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to 1945],’ Miller says. ‘I no longer think so. I don’t think that’s a stretch at all. The daily dissemination of absolute 100% falsehoods by The New York Times on every single page, and by CNN and the rest of them — it’s breathtaking to me.’
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30 tv monitors, all selling the same lie, and with the same phrases
Editor’s note: On his Twitter/X feed, Elon Musk featured a startling and disturbing example of conspiratorial fake-news.
There was an image of an entire wall of tv monitors, something like 30 or more. Each featured a tv news station from around the country. And as one focused on individual monitors, one discovered that all of these news anchors were telling the same lie-of-the-day! But, even worse, each of them, like some soul-less robotic drone, was essentially mouthing the same words, the same phrases, to broadcast the lie!
Clearly, they were all reading from the same script, obviously handed down from some hidden despotic Elite who’d decided what they needed to spew today. How disgusting, but – there’s no such thing as conspiracies; or is it that there’s little else?
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To learn more about the journalistic failures and staggering fabrications published by The New York Times, read The Gray Lady Winked by Ashley Rindsberg. Miller wrote the foreword to this book.
‘We have to talk back,’ Miller says. ‘We have to take the bull by the horns and say, ‘Yes, we’re conspiracy theorists if the alternative is swallowing this preposterous narrative you’re trying to push. That’s a badge of honor as far as I’m concerned. It’s people like us, who insist on telling the truth, who are really essential to the survival of not just democracy but humanity itself. I know that sounds a bit grandiose, but I sincerely believe that now, because we are at a very dire crossroads in the history of Western civilization and have got to fight back for our children’s sake and the sake of everything we hold dear.’”
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Editor's last word:
I am reminded of something in the book of Proverbs, from my studies therein 50 years ago. It's a description of the evil person, fancying himself so clever, who can't fall asleep at night with so many schemes jostling in his head:
4:14 Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.
4:15 Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.
4:16 For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.
4:17 For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.
Notice the metaphor in verse 17, the "bread" and "wine." These represent basic food staples in the ancient world. In other words, the wicked hatch their plots of malfeasance as easily and readily as eating their Cherrios in the morning.
Do not envy nor think highly of them when they fill the tv screen with their big sloppy grins of “Look at me, benefactor of the world.” There’s a sewer-pit with their name on it, waiting for them, in the lowest levels of the rat cellar.
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