"Christianity is About Mind Control!"

Image Credit: Media from Wix

It's true what they say: if you're a writer, just live your life normally, and you'll find inspiration. Shortly before beginning to write this article, I came across a Facebook comment bashing the Christian college I attended. Even though I've seen enough anti-Christian comments online that I shouldn't be surprised by what these people say, it's still a doozy hearing them because of how everyone would recognize it as prejudice if any other group was talked about in the same way. You hear people talk about how "[fill-in-the-blank] is the last acceptable bigotry," and, while I wouldn't say anti-Christianity is THE last acceptable bigotry, I definitely think it's ONE of the last acceptable ones. Anyway, the commenter definitely used the term "mind control," and, while I'm somewhat unsure if the commenter was referring to Christianity or my Christian school, I'm 90% sure the commenter was referring to my Christian school. But regardless, the commenter wasn't just opposed to my school's distinctive views but Christianity itself, as evidenced by him or her railing against "religion" and plagiarizing an anti-religion joke from a late anti-Christian comedian. There are various propagandistic buzzwords and buzzideas from that comment that can be deconstructed, but, in this article, I want to focus on the commenter's allegation that my school, and, by implication, Christianity, is guilty of "mind control."

Now, as with all terms that have a primarily emotional meaning, we need to put away all that we associate with the terms and focus solely on the word[s] that make up a term and the concepts that the words refer to in order to grasp the actual meaning of "mind control." "Mind," like "heart," means the "inner person," as opposed to the "outer person," or the body. "Control" refers to the ability to make something, or someone, do what you want. So, mind control is the ability to make someone, in his or her inner person, do what you want. So, when we talk about mind control, we're talking about having rule over a person in the literal heart of his or her being.

So, since we now know what we're talking about when we talk about mind control, we can try to answer the question "Is Christianity guilty of mind control?" Well, let's ask: does Christ teach that anyone should rule the hearts and minds of others? The greatest commandment, according to Him, is loving God with everything you are and have, including your mind (Matthew 22:34-40). God created all things (Genesis chs. 1-2; John 1:1-3) and, therefore, owns all things (Genesis 14:19). So, He owns man, whom He made in His image (Genesis 1:26-28, 5:1-2), and, therefore, the minds of all men, women, and children. So, every single person, without a single exception, is objectively obligated to submit their minds to God's rule.

Now, those who care about the truth will recognize the moral legitimacy of God having a claim on human minds. For those who argue that God having this right is unjust, their complaint is with literal objective and ultimate reality. But, when we get to the question of whether Christianity teaches that man has any right to exercise mind control over his fellow man, we see entirely valid concerns! And this is where, ironically, God's sovereignty proves itself to be the foundation of liberty! In the first of the Ten Commandments, God says to have no other gods before Him (Exodus 20:3). And what does it mean to have a god other than God? The aforementioned greatest commandment contains one answer that question: to love, with all you are and all you have, anyone or anything other than God. So, since God commands you to love Him with all your mind, what does that mean for anyone else who makes the same demand on you? It's illegitimate, and you have an ultimate and objective basis for thinking so and acting accordingly! Literal ultimate truth backs you up! "But what about those use Christianity to exercise mind control over their followers?" Are they God, as He reveals Himself in the Bible? Since the answer is obvious, the terrified people under their spell have nothing to fear from God for rejecting their self-proclaimed authority! As a matter of fact, they are not only permitted to reject such predators, but they are OBLIGATED to do so! And will these self-declared spokesmen of God argue with Divine commands?! "Yeah, but the religious leaders I'm thinking of claim to be God Himself! They claim to be Christ Himself!" Well, Jesus, shortly before He died, rose again, and ascended into Heaven, told His disciples (and, by extension, Christians throughout the ages, all the way up to right now) that, before His Second Coming, which will be publicly visible to literally the whole world, people falsely claiming to be Him would come (Matthew 24:4-5, 23-27), so you have it on the Word of Christ Himself that these religious leaders are not Christ! Furthermore, because Christ is the One by which God has spoken in these last days (i.e. the final era of this current world), you may rest assured, with absolute certainty, that any other self-proclaimed revelation from God is false, and, therefore, that any man you see on this earth claiming to be God is a liar, deceiver, and predator*!

This is the freedom that's found only in Jesus Christ! This is the liberty that only those who put their trust only in Him experience! Their minds align with God's and become like God's, all the while rejecting the false and illegitimate rule of any created thing over their inner beings! If you've put your trust in anyone or anything else, completely withdraw your trust from them and place it in the Lord Jesus Christ, as He is revealed in the 66 Books of the Bible, alone!

*I mean "predator" here simply as someone who seeks to prey on others to control them.