commentary: A Government to Fear (Part Five)


John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)
Given 24-May-14; Sermon #1214c; 14 minutes

Description: (show)

Unscrupulous operatives in the Federal Government have declared a parcel of land (500,000 square acres) a Federal Monument through eminent domain, solidifying federal authority, superciliously defying all local concerns. The current administration, taking cues from Communist ideology and the ideology of the French revolution, seizing control in the name of 'equality,' have commenced on a program of bullying and intimidating its citizenry, on a scale not seen since Nazi Germany, which initiated a series of five sinister steps to deal with the 'opposition,' including the use of unflattering caricature, marginalization, vilification, criminalization, and ultimately elimination. So far, the current administration has succeeded in accomplishing three of the five steps, turning Christians into buffoons or truculent bad guys, looking for excuses to jail them. The government officials don't realize that they are merely pawns in a conspiracy masterminded by Satan, the current ruler of this earth.




This is another commentary touching on the subject of a government to fear. In fact, it's actually the fifth one. Last week I mentioned that a second Nevada-type incident arose in New Mexico, in which the public confronted the government. The immediate issue was averted because the government did not show up to fight. But I also mentioned to you that you can be sure that the Bureau of Land Management did not really take things sitting down in regard to either incident. I was implying that they were planning a counterattack, because that's been the history with that particular bureau of government for 150 years. It is this bureau of government that is largely responsible for the sometimes shameful ways that they dealt with the Indians in America's past history.

Sure enough, early this past week, the administration struck back in New Mexico. They did so by laying claim to 500,000 square acres of New Mexico land bordering on the Rio Grande River by unilaterally declaring it to be a monument. A monument is something that commemorates an event or a series of events. It serves as a reminder, but otherwise serves no useful purpose. Now, by doing so, the land became subject to federal laws that remove much of it from local public use, and thus, the land merely becomes something to look at.

The Bureau of Land Management claimed that the timing of this designation had nothing to do with what the New Mexicans did a week earlier in tearing down the fences to allow their thirsty cattle to get a drink of water. But I believe that not too many New Mexicans believe what they are saying.

This action marks another example in which the federal government, like a huge octopus corporation, is constantly plotting and moving to solidify its position in defiance of what local citizens desire. What it is doing, in most cases, is not permitted by the Constitution. The 10th Amendment of the Constitution allows the federal government to do only what is specifically designated by the Constitution, and all other governing responsibilities, not specifically stated, are the responsibility of the states. What this present administration is doing (to a far greater extent than any other administration in the history of this nation) is constantly moving to centralize its power over the states. Many of these actions are being explained away by the government in the name of "equality."

This justification reminds anyone with a fairly knowledgeable understanding of 20th century history of Russian communism and even older French revolutionary history. "Equality" was the rallying cry of those organizations. It's unspoken justification to themselves (that is, the Communists and the French) proves to them their superiority. That is, that they simply know better than other people. But at the same time, the actions being taken are more and more looking like Nazi Germany during the 1930s. In other words, the present administration is simply using its power and bullying its way to take authority, as they did with the I. R. S. in the 2012 national elections. I think you've heard of that and what they did now.

Last week, I reminded you that the Bible alerts us to the fact that prior to Christ's coming, a massive, worldwide conspiracy involving many nations and their leadership will be in operation, challenging Jesus Christ. It is led by Satan and his demons, but they are working through unwitting men to challenge the great sovereign God who gives them every breath of air that they breathe. These men perceive great personal gains in power and prestige for themselves, and are thus lured into serving Satan's purpose.

I am sure that you aware that Satan's ultimate purpose is the overthrow of God. But along the way, he also desires to overthrow any vestige of those people who, in truth and sincerity, believe God and bear His name. In other words, the Christian Church.

Politically and religiously, the media consider the West Democratic and Christian. However, it is this man's opinion that true Christianity and the bulk of what remains is in the United States and the United Kingdom, almost—not quite, but on the way to—exclusively. Thus, the conspiracy's strongest pressures to destroy the Christian Church will be applied in those two nations.

Now, I've been aware of the conspiracy for about 50 years, watching things slowly develop, but never has it been so openly flaunted as it is now. I think they are either feeling their power or they are frightened. It is one or the other. Because things are being pushed by unseen forces to move more swiftly to consolidate whatever they have gained, there is a fairly well-understood historical pattern of attitudes expressed by political, academic, and media leadership to isolate unwanted groups of citizens. I want you to apply this to Christianity because you are living through this right now.

In some cultures, as in Islamic nations, you get rid of those you do not want violently. You just kill them. But in the Western world, we have our own style of suppression. I am unsure about what's been done in the UK, but this pattern has been fairly closely followed in the United States.

The first stage of this movement is to characterize Christians to make them appear comical, grotesque, primitive, angry, narrow, unsophisticated and uneducated buffoons. This begins the path to marginalize Christians, in which Christians find it more difficult to truly participate in jobs and community projects. Those of you whose memory goes back a few years, you will begin to remember in the '70s and '80s, it became harder and harder for a Christian to get a job that involved any Sabbath work at all. The Christians were being marginalized.

Following marginalization comes vilification, during which Christians are defamed and lied about and sued in courts. This is where we are at the present time, in which Christians are slanderously and publicly accused of doing hateful things to innocent people, like the gays. The purpose behind the vilification is to create in the public mind fear of Christians, and then villainification is right on the doorstep. It becomes acceptable to the public mind because Christians are perceived as the bad boys in the community and officially labeled as evil people.

This is being done in the United States through the courts. Christian people—those who practice Christianity—are ruled against almost exclusively. They almost never win a case, and thus they are the bad guys.

Two stages remain, but that is the manner in which Christians become labeled as criminals and pursuit by government and their official representatives to jail them begins in this stage. So, stage five is criminalization. This is what Hitler did to the Jews. He began arresting them simply because they were Jews. This began on what they call, "the night of broken glass," where they broke the doors, the glasses, the windows of Jewish shops and whatever throughout Germany. Why? What was their excuse? They were criminals. That was their excuse.

Following criminalization is elimination, and this is what Hitler did in the Holocaust. The offenders must be removed for the "greater good" of the nation. We haven't reached this place in America yet, but that is the direction in which things are headed.

But we have gotten to the place where individuals are publicly vilified, as in the Chick-fil-A incident, or the duck dynasty firing. Perhaps the most egregious so far has been the firing of Brendan Eich, whose name you may not be familiar with. But he is the man who came up with the JavaScript program that allows you to work so smoothly on your computers. He was fired by the board of directors of his own company (that he founded) because he made a $1000 donation to the "Defense of traditional marriage" proposition in California.

Characterization, marginalisation, vilification, villainize, criminalize and eliminate. Right now, we seem to be beginning to move from stage three to stage four.

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