By

GARY RAY BRANSCOME

"They shall lay hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake. And It shall turn to you FOR A TESTIMONY"

Luke 21;12-13.

While studying in England, Mahatma Gandhi learned that the English people tend to side with the underdog. This realization led him to conclude that the people of India could better win their freedom by non-violent protest, than by violent revolution. If they resorted to violence the English public would be outraged, and the people would demand that order be restored. However, if they carried out non-violent protests, allowing the English police to beat them and jail them, the English people would sympathize with them and would demand an end to violence on the part of the police. At the time, his approach was unprecedented. However, through his success the left has learned how to control and manipulate public sentiment.

Since public sentiment favors the underdog, "liberals" promote immorality by portraying those who condemn immorality as oppressors. Thus, in the case of abortion, all who oppose it are portrayed as tyrants who would "force" a woman to have a child she does not want. In keeping with that strategy, the media denies that the fetus is a person, and calls those who oppose abortion "mean-spirited," while portraying those who butcher babies as compassionate people who simply want to plan parenthood. No mention is ever made of the rights of the unborn, and cutting up the baby is never portrayed as violent or cruel.

Once we understand the strategy "liberals" are using, we can see that calling abortion cruel, would do more to sway public opinion than calling it murder. In fact, when Ronald Reagan commented on the pain that an aborted baby suffers, the media went wild. At the time, the press was full of articles denying that a fetus could even feel pain. The "liberals" seemed to realize almost instinctively that they had to shout Ronald Reagan down in order to keep their myth of "liberal" compassion from being exposed, while conservatives generally failed to take advantage of the situation.

HOW "LIBERALS" JUSTIFY TYRANNY

Since "liberals" realize that laws, which affect large segments of the population, will generate opposition, they pass laws that are designed so that each oppresses only a small segment of the population. At the same time, the laws are worded in a way that allows them to oppress whomever they choose. The cumulative effect of such laws is to restrict and limit everyone's freedom without giving the public any one law that they can unite in opposing. This trick effectively divides the opposition, and those who are oppressed by one law often wind up supporting other oppressive laws that may not affect them.

Since big corporations are always seeking legislation that will give them some advantage over their competitors, "liberals" appeal to class envy, demonize "big-business," and then pass off regulations that hinder free competition as anti-corporate. For example: Before the second world war, any resident of New York City that wanted a business of his own, could simply paint the word "Taxi" on the side of his car. However, in the name of regulating "big-business," that freedom was taken away, and the law now requires every cab owner to pay sixty thousand dollars to the city for a license. As you would expect, the big cab companies grab up the licenses while the "little guy" cannot afford one.

Another way that "liberals" justify tyranny is by claiming that it is being done for the public good. In fact, if a modern "liberal" had wanted to take Naboth's vineyard, he would have simply claimed that the government could get more taxes if someone else was allowed to build on the land. A California farmer had his land stolen by "liberals" who claimed that his tractor ran over the nest of an endangered kangaroo rat. Evidently, they had more compassion for the rat than for the farmer. Many people in Tennessee had their land taken by force, so that the government could damn up the rivers to build power plants. Yet Henry Ford offered to do the same thing without taking anyone's land by force, and congress would not allow it. Like Nazis, "Liberals" prefer force to freedom.

HOW "LIBERALS" JUSTIFY LIES

I have see many "liberal" claims or statistics exposed as false. Yet, to their bizarre way of thinking, if a cause (such as concern for the environment) is "true," then any lie they speak that advances that cause is, in their opinion, "true," while every fact quoted in refutation is false. Of course, that way of thinking is nothing more than the old "end justifies the means" philosophy in modern dress. They like that way of thinking because it lets them excuse their immoral lifestyle by claiming that "love" makes what we call evil, good.

THE WAY TO VICTORY

In order to deal effectively with "liberalism" we must expose them for the mean-spirited bigots they are. And that can best be done if we portray them as the victimizers, instead of railing at them like outraged moralists. If you have any doubts about what I say, you need to reflect on the strategy followed by the Jews, and consider how they have swayed public opinion in their favor by presenting themselves as victims of oppression.

It would not be hard to expose liberals, for they have been persecuting Christians for decades. The problem is that Christians see persecution as a sign of weakness, and destroy their own testimony by trying to cover it up (Luke 21:13). When towns are forced to take down manger scenes, what is that but persecution? When schools are not allowed to display the Ten Commandments, what is that but persecution? When teachers, who are on the public payroll, are allowed to attack and ridicule the religious beliefs of their students [i.e. creation], what is that but persecution? When taxpayer supported colleges offer courses denying the truth of God's Word, what is that but persecution? Some Christians have lost their jobs because they believe in creation, others because they believe that homosexuality is a sin. What is that but persecution? Some years ago, the Nebraska police stormed into a church, handcuffed the pastor, drove out the people, and chained shut the doors all because the church refused to register its school with the state. What was that but persecution? I have personally talked to a man and wife, who were arrested for homeschooling their children. One Wednesday night, they returned from church only to find the police waiting for them. They were then jailed because they would not submit their children to the state for atheist religious indoctrination in the public school system. What was that but persecution? Christians ought to rally behind such people, and honor them for their willingness to stand up for what they believe in.

The story of Ed and Sharon Pangelinan (another couple who spent time in jail because the wanted to teach their own children) is documented in the book "Guilty Of Love." Their story, and others like it, ought to be shouted from the rooftops, yet such incidents are usually ignored and forgotten, and you can be certain that is exactly what Satan wants.

Because the opponents of homeschooling came across to the public as oppressors, in most states parents now have the freedom to teach their own children. During the struggle for homeschooling, the left tried hard to portray the parents as victimizers, but the public did not buy it. However, the fight is not over. In many states, they still harass homeschoolers, try to intimidate them, and work for legislation that would take away their freedom.

A FINAL WORD

While "liberals" talk of compassion, the fruit of their ideology is tyranny. They rob the working man with high taxes, and to get his vote offer him a few handouts. They work to rob women of the protection afforded them by the traditional family, and call it liberation. Ask yourself, how many women could have survived on the American frontier without a man to cut down trees, dig wells, build cabins and fences, or fight off Indians? It is ridiculous to claim that the traditional roles of men and women oppress women, when men wound up getting the hardest and dirtiest jobs.

CONCLUSION

We need to realize that "liberalism" is a godless religion that is hostile to the Christian faith. And, in order to prevail in the face of such hostility, we must be willing to suffer discrimination, slander, or legal action for Christ's sake, while holding that persecution up to the entire world as a testimony.