Has anybody ever accused you of viewing the world through rose colored glasses? Or has anybody ever accused you of viewing the world through dark colored lenses? I think that we all have been guilty of distorting our view of reality from time to time. I certainly don’t think that is an issue to be concerned about. However, there are some problems associated with other distortions of reality. One is when “who’s right” is more important than “what’s right!” i.e., when we let our emotions define our reality rather than an academic unbiased view without a hidden agenda. Another concern is when we have diametrically opposite views of reality! When our cultural and political worldviews are diametrically opposite from biblical principles, there virtually has to be an assignable cause. i.e. It doesn’t result from random chance!

With two diametrically opposite beliefs, one way to tell which is true and which is false is to carry both of them to an extreme and see which one would be a disaster. For example, let’s take the “Black Lives Matter” organization. If all of us would do the same thing that they are doing, how would that work out? If we all burned, looted and injured and killed those that didn’t agree with us what kind of a world would that be. It would be a disaster. On that basis alone, their mission and their Modus Operandi support a false narrative. As opposed to destroying things like BLM, if we all create things including wealth, that is something all of us could do and the result would be, the opposite of evil; a great blessing to society! Consequently, the opposing view against BLM is the true narrative!

Additionally, the Black Lives Matter euphemism completely misrepresents their mission. They only care about black criminals that get hurt or killed by the police. 700 times more blacks get killed in the streets of Chicago than those that get killed by cops; they don’t give a “hoot” about them. If BLM stood for Burn, Loot and Murder that would actually represent their mission and they would not get the sympathy they are unjustifiably getting. It is painful to see BLM get support because of their deceptive, euphemistic name rather than their true, destructive Marxist mission.

Another simple way to identify if their mission is good and beneficial is to look at the effects of the behaviors. What is the effect of destroying property? What is the effect of looting? What is the effect of injuring and killing people? What is the effect of not having police available to protect people from criminals? These are not difficult questions to answer.

So what possibilities could we expect with a diametrically opposite worldview? One could be wanting the best for our country on the whole vs wanting what is best for oneself at the expense of others. These selfish desires could include wanting sexual freedom and/or freedom to partake in addictive habits or even crime. Another could be wanting national Sovereignty vs global government. Another could be  desiring individualism vs collectivism. It could be wanting Socialism vs Capitalism. However, a more viable, fundamental, assignable cause is a belief in the Creator God vs a denial of the existence of God or believing in a false god. The diametric opposition is perfectly explained by a Godly worldview vs a rebellion against God and a Godly worldview. That case will be made in the next “Viewing our World Through a Biblical Lens” page.

Another issue that facilitates the diametric opposition we see is where groups like a political party, group of media conglomerates, academics etc., only listen to like-minded people and censor other opinions. That scenario has been referred to as an echo chamber. I believe this is prevalent in Democratic, left wing circles. When they all mindlessly use the same talking points over and over again, it certainly can be described as an echo chamber. They never seem to get out of their echo chamber and face actual reality. In Chapter 8 of my book, “Rights vs. Responsibility,” the Chapter title is “Denying Truth by Inverting Reality;” I describe the echo chamber with an analogy of a camera. That description is quoted below:

The relationship between a real image (reality) and the image on a photographic negative in a camera is a perfect analogy that describes the difference between the real world of facts and truth and the false cultural, political and religious images being promoted in America and around the world today. An actual image is the embodiment of truth and reality whereas the image produced on a photographic film in a camera is the opposite in every respect. The right side of the actual image is transposed to the left side on the film negative and the top of the actual image is transposed to the bottom on the film negative and vice versa. That is not all that has been inverted. The brightest sources of light on the actual image are transposed to be the darkest part on the negative of the image and vice versa.

It is possible and actually likely that you may not relate this concept to anything in the cultural, political and religious realm. However, some of the categorical areas where this concept would apply are as follows:

1. Political Correctness – Cultural Marxism – Diametrically opposed to biblical principles
2. The New Tolerance – Censor dialogue and demonize the messenger – Diametrically opposed to biblical principles – Coined by Josh McDowell
3. Outrage Based Coerced Conscience – Forcing people to condone beliefs and lifestyles – Diametrically opposed to biblical principles – Coined by Bill Nitardy
4. Euphemisms – ANTIFA, Black Lives Matter, Planned Parenthood etc. all diametrically opposite from their mission – Deception is diametrically opposed to biblical principles –
5. Negative labeling – Racist, Homophobe, Xenophobe, Deplorables etc. Diametrically opposite from the truth – Diametrically opposed to biblical principles
6. False religions – Secular Humanism, Islam, New Age etc. – Diametric opposites to biblical Christianity

More specific false beliefs and false narratives will be covered in the next page about “Viewing our World Through a Biblical Lens.”