Truth and Deception

Recent events indicate there is something seriously amiss in today’s culture. Society has lost its sense of direction without a solid point of reference.  Societal values have become flashpoints of dissent as subjective morality and opposing worldviews vie for validation on social media, in the news, in schools and universities, and in the streets. God has given many people over to the desires of their hearts and they have exchanged the truth of God for a lie (Romans 1:24-25).

Truth is publicly ridiculed and cultural norms no longer reflect Christian values. What has emerged is a worldview full of contradiction and confusion, that has left many people searching for an identity and grasping to define what identity is. The spiritual darkness that secular society refuses to believe even exists has descended upon a culture that denies Jesus Christ. This deception has left much of the population naïve to the spiritual battles being fought.

Ephesians 6:12 reveals, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Satan is the god of this world and his spiritual influence is manifested in the world systems that oppress people and suppress the truth. What people mistakenly believe is freedom – is actually bondage to sin.

TRUTH IS NO LONGER A VALUED COMPONENT OF SOCIETY

As a result, civilization has succumbed to confusion and truth is no longer a valued component of society. Postmodern thinking has removed any solid ground from under our feet so there is no absolute, tangible baseline from which to measure ourselves and this discourse continues today as we debate who decides right and wrong and the very premise of morality itself. 

The absurdity of the transgender movement, the acceptance of LGBTQ and abortion rights as health choices, the climate change conspiracy, Darwinism and relativism have left today’s culture with no foundation or balance. Diversity and inclusivity have resulted in division and exclusivity as opposing views are silenced and erased from history by today’s cancel culture. The tragic reality is that the notion of diversity excludes the diversity of thought.

What happened at Utah Valley University this week is not only a tragedy of epic proportions because of Charlie Kirk’s death and the devastating loss to his family and close friends, who were robbed of his future testimony, but the attempted assassination of truth itself. Regardless of his political views no person had the right to snuff out the life of Charlie. His Christian conviction, the perseverance of his faith and his enthusiasm for evangelism exemplify the exuberance every believer ought to possess. May we all display that same courage when our hour of testing arrives. The Lord does not desire a lukewarm church (Revelation 3:16).

The fact that his words struck a nerve with his opponents that elicited a response of rage is a culmination of a progressive moral degradation in society, and do not reflect the true nature of his message. “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19). Charlie spoke against sin and the culture that loves their sinful ways took offense. It is a culture that refuses to confront sin for what it is, chooses to label killing as “un-aliving” someone and cannot even define the term woman.

THE PROFOUND ABSENCE OF SYMPATHY

What is particularly disturbing is the ignorant reactions of many and the profound absence of sympathy in the wake of Charlie’s assassination. The celebration of such a heinous act is despicable and reflects an extreme lack of empathy for the loss of a human life. We have entire generations that have been taught that humans are simply homo sapiens, descended from primates and nothing more than animals. Jesus indicated that prior to His return compassion would become problematic. “Because of the increase in wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.” (Matthew 24:12).

Just 20 days prior to Kirk’s murder, the cold-blooded slaying of Iryna Zarutska on a train in Charlotte, North Carolina exemplified the depravity of humans and the ineffectiveness of an impotent judicial system. The murderer had 14 prior convictions and served over five years for robbery with a dangerous weapon but was still on the streets.

On September 4, 2025, a Manitoba man murdered his sister and stabbed seven others in two different homes northeast of Winnipeg. He had been charged with assault with a weapon on June 8^th and was also facing charges of sexual assault and sexual interference among others and was released on bail on June 12^th. After the murder he fled in a stolen vehicle and subsequently was killed in a highway crash with an RCMP cruiser. The catch and release legal system failed to protect law abiding citizens and allows criminals free range.

Minneapolis, Minnesota has been rocked by recent murders including the mass shooting at a Catholic school on August 27 when a transgender assailant opened fire through the windows of the church during mass. Ten children were killed and 21 other people were injured. A day earlier a Jesuit high school in Minneapolis was the scene of another school shooting where six people were injured and one died. Two months before, Minnesota was also the scene of the assassination of state representative Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark. The same gunman had also shot state senator John Hoffman and his wife earlier that night.

A Lindsay Ontario man was charged with aggravated assault and assault with a weapon after he awoke to find an armed intruder in his home the night of August 18, 2025, and in the ensuing altercation the intruder was stabbed and later taken to hospital. The perpetrator was already wanted by police at the time of the incident. It seems the laws are designed to protect criminals and incriminate their victims.

The city of Hamilton recently ordered a downtown resident to remove 10 security cameras on the exterior of his home (reported September 5, 2025). The former provincial Privacy Commissioner of Ontario defended the order on the grounds that criminals are entitled to privacy on public property. This will only embolden illegal activity when lawbreakers recognize their freedom to engage in suspicious activity and remain anonymous.

A British Columbia nurse was recently suspended and fined nearly $94,000 for making “discriminatory and derogatory statements” about transgender people. Her crime? “Defending the right of women to access female-only spaces.” (Justice Center for Constitutional Freedoms). She has appealed, “because biological reality matters.” We don’t have a justice system – we have a legal system and there is no justice in it.

Gender ideology has pathologized the privacy of middle school girls in California by pressuring those who are uncomfortable sharing locker rooms and bathrooms with biological males who identify as girls to sign a declaration if they want normal privacy. The Temecula Valley School District has instituted a policy that affirms access to bathrooms and locker rooms “consistent with a student’s gender identity.” The girls can either file a religious-belief accommodation or a mental-health accommodation (possibly listing anxiety, distress, etc.) if they would like to opt out. The desire for single-sex privacy is not a disorder. Girls should not need a psychiatric label or a religious declaration in order to declare that girls’ locker rooms are for girls.

IN THE MIDST OF ALL THIS CONFUSION THERE IS CONTRADICTION

In the midst of all this confusion there is contradiction.  And it doesn’t stop at gender, it follows through as subjective morality.  It extends to every deed and every thought and at its very essence, with no principle as its guide, it boils down to the self determination of right and wrong. However, can people who cannot define gender discern right from wrong?

These examples demonstrate how “normal” shifts when there is no absolute truth.  Without absolute truth there can be no absolute morality.  Without absolute morality, there can be no right or wrong.  With no right or wrong there is no meaning and no purpose.  And with no meaning and no purpose, sadly we become disillusioned.   And disillusioned, we eventually stand confused, face to face with reality.  Whether you like it or not, rather than being freed by the relative identity you have decided upon, you are held captive by it.  And the reality is, you are faced with an infinity of contradiction because of your worldview. And perhaps the greatest deception of all is the evolutionary concept that humans are nothing more than evolved animals and not created in the image of God.

The apostle Paul wrote that in the last days mankind will have lost their sense of direction and be seeking but never finding. “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God – having a form of godliness but denying its power…… always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (2 Timothy 3:1-7). Paul is describing a society without a moral compass. 

Philosophical secularism and subjective moral reasoning only serve to pacify minds that are in denial of reality and the truth that we are all guilty of sinning against God. The Bible says “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

In his second letter to the Thessalonian church, Paul wrote about the last days and the deception that will keep the truth hidden from the majority of the population. “The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance to how Satan works.  He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.” (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12).

The contrast between truth and deception is growing. Not because truth is changing – truth is an immovable standard. God’s word does not change. The fluidity of a culture that has lost its way has resulted in an ever-increasing chasm between absolute truth and the depth of societal deception. What the enemy meant for evil may God turn to good.