Discerning Deception

The increasing use of AI in out world will be used for great good in literature, economics, governing, solving problems, and the completion of the Great Commission. It’s an amazing knowledge accelerator.

It will also be used for evil–and could possibly be the force behind a future “Antichrist” to rule the world. The “World Ruler” may not be real– just a convincing counterfeit image run by AI programming. Call him/her the “Wizard of Oz on Steroids” during the End Times (“don’t look behind the curtain”).

But deception comes in all shapes and sizes.

We must learn to discern deception when we see it.

Discerning Deception

Two examples of recent public deception come to mind. 

First, Gary Randall reports New York’s new Muslim/communist mayor’s recent words:

At New York City’s Interfaith Breakfast, Mayor Zohran Mamdani did not merely criticize federal immigration enforcement — he reframed it as a religious and moral transgression. Invoking the Islamic doctrine of Hijra, he urged New Yorkers to “stand alongside the stranger” in permanent, unqualified solidarity, elevating prophetic example above constitutional sovereignty.

Translation: Open borders are good, ICE is evil.

Neither points are true. They are deception. 

The second example is President Trump’s supposed intentional meme depicting the Obamas as monkeys. That was deception. The “monkey” part was an obvious editing add-on. The people who did it should be fired.

Pastor Michael Clary uses the Trump meme example to help us spot deception [slightly edited].

Discerning Deception – (Christian, You Got Played Again)

So many Christians and pastors got bullied — once again — into engaging in a virtue-signaling denunciation ritual that communicates unquestioning allegiance to a misleading narrative pushed by the Left.

Let’s start with some scriptural reminders about how to assess “breaking news” and “shocking claims.” First, Proverbs 18:13 teaches us that, “If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame.” I’ve done that before. I’ve weighed in prematurely and ended up with egg on my face. Have you?

Exodus 23:2 is even more to the point: “You shall not fall in with the many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit, siding with the many, so as to pervert justice.” In other words, time and truth go hand in hand. Hot takes, not so much.

[The Trump meme] was a serious video about election integrity, a topic Trump has been talking about ever since 2020. It wasn’t a cartoon. It wasn’t a troll video to make fun of people. It was one minute long and the tone was serious. The most plausible explanation—by far—is that this was an editing or screen-recording error, not an intentional act of racism.

But the propaganda machine doesn’t care about that. Propaganda isn’t interested in truth; it is interested in provoking action, and that’s where this incident is relevant for Christians.

I’ve written a couple of pieces about propaganda recently. The first piece is “How Propaganda Works — And Why Christians are Easy Targets.” The second piece is “Christian–Stop Falling for Weaponized Empathy.” [Today] I’m trying to help you better discern how we’re being played by propaganda, weaponized empathy, and emotional manipulation.

As I argued in the “How Propaganda Works,” propaganda isn’t so much about spreading outright lies. It’s about provoking a particular action, which the individual later justifies with adjusted beliefs. I’ll say that again, because this is important: Propaganda aims to provoke action without reflection. This is the action-first engine of propaganda.

But every engine needs fuel. Propaganda doesn’t give us a new set of values. Propaganda takes our existing values and moral instincts and points them in a particular direction. Don’t miss that — propaganda doesn’t create moral instincts for you. Propaganda takes your existing moral instincts and tells you what you must do with them, always insisting that you ACT NOW!

In other words, propaganda is about compliance, and the moral urgency doesn’t give you time to think or reflect. Its goal is to “move you, hurry you, shame you, flatter you, or frighten you until the actions you take feel like Spirit-led instincts — which you then justify with changed beliefs after the fact.” There’s a three-move pattern: 

Step One: Highlight suffering. Propaganda doesn’t care about what’s true. It only cares to provoke the desired reaction.

Step Two: Create urgency. Urgency is an essential feature of propaganda because you need people to take action on what they perceive as an emergency. No time to think, pray, reflect, or discern, something must be done NOW. Why now? Because people are suffering, and human suffering makes everything an emergency. Refusing to be rushed is not indifference to sin or suffering; it’s obedience to the ninth commandment [not bearing false witness].

Step Three: Enforce compliance. Another feature of propaganda is that it isn’t centrally controlled. There doesn’t need to be a mastermind behind the curtain pulling the levers to make propaganda work. It’s largely an organic phenomenon that seems to operate on its own. So what do I mean by “enforce compliance?” Nobody sent you a memo telling you what to do, right? And yet, so many people did the very thing propaganda aimed at: they performed a denunciation ritual.

This is the power of propaganda. But truth doesn’t matter in this case. What matters is ensuring the whole world knows you denounce it. Why? Because propaganda has told you to.

Here’s what concerns me most. It’s not that Christians got this one incident wrong. It’s the pattern that keeps playing out every few weeks. Whenever a new outrage cycle begins, people get worked up and impulsively say and do things before the facts have a chance to come out.

Remember this: every time there’s a politically and emotionally charged news story, the initial reports are almost always wrong. But when we go online and perform a denunciation ritual before all the facts are known, we end up looking foolish. But rather than just admitting it and saying, “Hey, I got that one wrong, I’m sorry,” we double down. We don’t want to give our enemies ammunition to use against us, so we stand by our naive takes and foolish posts, even though we know they were wrong, until we start believing them. Eventually, we lie to ourselves so many times that it gets harder to discern the truth at all.

I’m writing because truth matters, and I’m worried that Christians are getting pulled deeper and deeper into the vortex of propaganda [deception], and it’s distorting their ability to see clearly, discern rightly, and obey God according to the truth.

The question is whether we’ll learn from it or keep doing it. I’ve made it a priority in my own life to follow the truth, difficult as it can be to discern, and follow it wherever it leads. Christians must learn to pause, verify, and refuse to be rushed, especially when outrage feels righteous.

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Giving into deception began with two people in the Garden of Eden. Today it can entrap 8.3 billion people with access to global high tech propaganda. 

To combat it, you must choose trustworthy news sources. Don’t believe what you hear on social media or worldly newsfeeds. Seek out the facts (truth). Reflect and think deeply based on biblical ideas and principles. Then be a “trumpet for truth” in your area of influence.

Antichrist will arise one day based on false empathy, a sense of urgency, and demand obedience. Jesus calls you in true love and justice, gives you time to reflect, and asks for your faith. 

Learn to discern the difference.