CreationStudies Institute
[Originally published as I Learned a New Word Today]
I learned a new word today, agitprop. It is an abbreviation from the old days of Soviet Russia and was a technique to employ propaganda as a key form of mind control. It is derived from the term agitatsiya propaganda (agitation propaganda).
According to a 1902 pamphlet, What Is to be Done, by Vladimir Lenin, the roles of propaganda and agitation both had important roles to play. The propagandist worked mainly in print and produced logical analyses of social problems like poverty. The agitator, for his part, operated on an emotional level, rousing people to take an interest in social ills.
Think of the Nazi propaganda campaign against European Jewry, and you will understand how these techniques can be used to demonize an entire minority population.
You may be thinking, Why is he highlighting this vocabulary lesson? It is due to the fact that Bible-believing people have become the target of the “woke” folks at Scientific American who are in alingment with a culture where being “woke” means to be morally and intellectually superior to anyone who disagrees with you.
The lofty ideals of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. have been replaced by a race-based social justice movement where an entire group of people is fair game because they were born into a certain racial designation considered by these propagandists to be privileged. We have jettisoned the truly just attitude that people should be judged by the content of their character rather than their skin color and have embraced something that is truly insidious in its place.
Why is this new emphasis on skin color so evil?
Because the Word of God tells us that our Creator is no respecter of persons. He is an equal opportunity Savior. In the letter to the believers in Galatia, they were told that all people become one in Christ (Gal.3:28). The Bible teaches that prejudice in any form is ungodly.
We already know that our Savior came to die for all people. All have sinned, so why are we adopting views that exalt tribalism over unity as Americans?
America, at its essence, is supposed to be a melting pot. A place where all people, regardless of economic status or racial differences, are to be considered created equal and endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights. Rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Above all countries and ethnicities, we have a righteous Savior who abhors injustice and is always on the side of the persecuted against the persecutors.
It is our multiculturalism that makes our country so wonderful. It is something that should be celebrated and shared. All, at one time or another, came from somewhere else. All are connected by one blood; we are one race, the human race. We should promote and enjoy our cultures while remembering that this country is such a wonderful place to live that people risk their lives to come here every day.
It is the gospel that restores men and women to their right status in God’s creation. Do not be swayed by the current crop of agitprops. They will always be selling you a ticket to go on a guilt trip. Take God at His Word and please support us. We covet your prayerful support as we reach the world with the gospel and the truths of Creation.
Pastor Steve Rowitt, Ph.D.
