There’s not a day that passes when I don’t pray for peace. It’s because of two reasons: first, the hair on my head is greyer now, and next, it’s because my friends and family could fall victims in this battle for minds, and for truth.

I therefore outline below: how emotions are used to weaponize communities within populations; the insignificant distinction between anger and murder¹; and, the bigger battle for our souls that continues in the unseen spirit world.

Yet, in this gloom, we also have frameworks and standards that will help us to keep on the right side of history.

Advertisements for Cadbury chocolates are good examples of a positive emotional bait to buy their product. Baiting is used extensively in our Internet age. Examples include cybersecurity breaches that are caused by social engineering – ‘You have won a 100 million dollars! Lucky you!!! Click here for a hassle-free claim 😊’.

Examples of ‘Click-bate’ are when sensational headlines compel us to click through to the content. Advertisers pay these website owners on a pay-per-click (PPC) basis.

‘Rage bait’, as its name suggests, gets you angry. Angry enough to respond with a comment or an emoticon, which then drives traffic to the post, along with underlying advertising streams.

Some politicians and leaders display narcissist and psychopathic behaviour². When politicians weaponize population groups against each other, we come to understand the term, ‘rage farming’.

‘Rage farming’ works when we respond to an inflammatory post, or when we quote the original post in our post. Algorithms on social media platforms such as, You Tube, Instagram, TikTok, Meta – then direct traffic to the post. Increased traffic, directly translates to profit.

Emotions of anger however don’t stop at profit. Rage farming spreads division, hatred, and conspiracy theories leading to communal violence and murder. In 2021, a multi-billion-dollar class action suit³ was filed against Meta (Facebook) because it failed to enforce its own policies on hate speech. In 2022, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled⁴ to proceed with a case of genocide against the Myanmar government.

Main stream media is equally manipulative. Vested interests and lobby groups control headlines, content, and air-time. Reporters Without Borders (RWB), 2024 report⁵ notes that political authorities are the biggest threat to press freedom.

In Australia however, due to its relatively higher world press freedom ranking – #39 of 180 countries, political authorities acted on the half a million signatures, petitioning parliament to end media monopoly⁶. As a result, in June 2023, the Greens party introduced a bill to establish a Royal Commission inquiry into the Murdoch media⁷ empire.

The unashamed pursuit of profit through greed⁸, ensures the disenfranchisement and dispossession of marginalised population groups. This, however, is only symptomatic of a larger, unseen, battle being fought for the truth, and for your soul.

We have knowledge of this bigger battle raging in the spirit world^{9, 10} when Daniel’s earnest prayer for understanding is delayed by 21 days. Jesus was personally drawn into this battle, when he was tempted¹¹ to abuse his power.

We can easily succumb and loose in this bigger battle for our souls unless we know the truth. To know the truth, we need a reference point, a standard, or an enduring and robust framework.

One lady displays a remarkable understanding of the truth. Her name was Ruth, a Moabite, whose descendants could well be found in present day Jordon. Ruth’s husband had died. Her mother-in-law, Noami, a Hebrew, advised Ruth to return to her parent’s home.

At this point, Ruth tells her mother-in-law¹², “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.”

In this dialogue with Naomi, Ruth considers all people (Moabites and Hebrews) as one human race. Ruth also reveals for us that there is only one impartial God¹³ who is available for all human kind – your God, she said, will be my God.

Let us consider the actions and words of Jesus in Matthew 8. Can this person, a many times great grandson to Ruth, be our reference point for the truth?

A Roman commander requests Jesus to pronounce healing on his paralysed servant remotely, i.e. without having to enter the commander’s unworthy house! This, he said to Jesus, would be sufficient to restore his sick servant.

Amazed at the faith this Roman displayed, Jesus said¹⁴ to those around him, words to this effect – “many non-Hebrews will inherit the (coming) kingdom of heaven – in his reference to people like the commander – while many Hebrews, the ‘chosen ones’, will not”.

• Can we, like the Jordanian lady, Ruth, understand that there is just one human race? And, just one God?
• Can we, like the Roman commander, recognize the truth¹⁵?
• Can we, like the Hebrew teacher, Jesus Christ, call out the untruths¹⁶?

Main stream media is constrained in that it is not omni-present, unlike Jo Blog with his / her ubiquitous smart phone.

The Internet, for all its downsides, remains egalitarian. For the tons of misinformation and disinformation that it churns, there exists truth for those who are discerning amongst us. Resources include articles, blogs, white papers, analyses, discussions, interviews, phone videos, podcasts, and historical accounts as perceived from the survivors of genocide.

The battle for your mind is only a subset of the battle for your soul. The winner in this battle is the one who will search for, and validate the truth. To understand the truth, you will need a reference point, an absolute.

 References:

1. The difference between anger and murder: <<https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew+5%3A+21-22&version=NLT>&gt;
2. Stopping psychopaths: <<https://www.themandarin.com.au/153217-how-to-stop-psychopaths-and-narcissists-from-winning-positions-of-power/>&gt;
3. Examples of rage farming – Facebook class action suit: <<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rage-baiting#Examples_of_rage_farming>&gt;
4. Myanmar: FB’s Systems Promoted Violence Against Rohingya; Meta Owes Reparations <<https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/09/myanmar-facebooks-systems-promoted-violence-against-rohingya-meta-owes-reparations-new-report/#:~:text=The%20company%20now%20has%20responsibility,consequences%20of%20their%20reckless%20actions.&text=%E2%80%9CWhile%20the%20Myanmar%20military%20was,by%20its%20hate%2Dspiralling%20algorithms.>&gt;
5. Reporters Without Borders <<https://rsf.org/en/2024-world-press-freedom-index-journalism-under-political-pressure?year=2024&data_type=general>&gt;
6. Media diversity in Australia Inquiry: <<https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/committees/reportsen/024602/toc_pdf/MediadiversityinAustralia.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf>>
7. Greens bill – Judicial Inquiry into Murdoch empire: << https://greens.org.au/news/media-release/greens-introduce-bill-murdoch-media-royal-commission>>
8. The tenth commandment – on greed <<https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+20%3A17&version=NLT>&gt;
9. What does Daniel want to know?: <<https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/28959/what-is-daniel-mourning-about-in-daniel-102>&gt;
10. Battles in the spirit world: << https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Daniel%2010%3A12-14&version=NLT>>
11. Jesus is tempted to abuse his power <<https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zvxtgwx/revision/8#:~:text=This%20shows%20that%20when%20Jesus,only%20for%20people’s%20material%20needs>&gt;
12. Ruth recognises one God: <<https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=ruth+1%3A+16&version=NLT>&gt;
13. An impartial God <<https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=acts+10%3A34-35&version=NLT>&gt;
14. Jesus – on faith:  <<https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew+8%3A+11-12&version=NLT>>
15. To recognize the truth << https://www.stjohnsla.org/post/the-problem-with-the-centurion>>
16. Jesus – on hypocrisy << https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+23%3A25&version=NLT>&gt;

Presley Peter