5. "There Are (Only) Two Sides To Every Question"

"For those with eyes to see, coincidences are clad in shining light."

Louis Pauwels

This chapter is a postulation on the part of the author of what may have occurred in the past. Consider the position of the Conspiracy Insiders in the nineteenth century, faced with the need to neutralize Christianity as a potential threat to their further advancement. They had made and set into motion their plans for subverting the large religious organizations from the top, and they felt confident that their apparatus could accomplish this in about a century. But they still had a problem.

In every field of activity in which the conspirators begin to make inroads they expect to encounter, and usually do encounter, opposition to their foul deeds. They term this opposition "reaction", and those who put up the opposition are called "reactionaries." Inevitably, in the field of religion, they knew they would encounter "reactionaries," those who, possessing strong faith combined with alertness, intelligence, and backbone, would not only be able to recognize rottenness when they saw it, but would have the courage and the ability to oppose it effectively. The problem of the Insiders was how to neutralize or control this opposition.

Having made a thorough study of their arch-enemy, Christianity, the Insiders were aware that the Bible states clearly that Christ will return. They knew also that throughout Christian history Christians have become obsessed from time to time with the idea that His return was imminent. One of the early cases of this is recorded by the Apostle Paul in his second letter to the Thessalonians, written about A.D. 52. The conspirators reasoned that, if conservative Christians could be induced to become obsessed again with this idea, their potential opposition to the Conspiracy could be largely neutralized. After all, it is a basic weakness of human nature to take the easy way out of our problems. If Christians, seeing their government being subverted, seeing their children being subjected to pornography, sex "education," drugs and permissiveness, seeing the institution of marriage being attacked by phony "women's liberation" and "gay liberation" movements, seeing a host of other evils all being promoted by one evil conspiracy — if these Christians could be led to believe that all these problems were the inevitable pattern of the "last days" and were to be solved for them at any moment by the Second Coming of Christ, then many of them would feel relieved of any responsibility to oppose these evils themselves. Indeed, some would feel that such opposition would be tantamount to opposing God's will.

Having conceived this strategy, the Insiders cast about for means to put it into operation. The means selected was a psychological weapon used by them in many other fields, one which depends for its success upon the generally-accepted idea that "there are two sides to every question." To control the thinking of any group of people with regard to any particular question, usually it is necessary only to control which "two sides" are put forward for consideration.* Let us illustrate.

All informed patriots are well aware of the catastrophic effects of mammoth deficit spending by the Federal Government. Even relatively uninformed good Americans are aware of this. Why, then, does deficit spending continually worsen? Consider the alternatives presented in recent years for consideration by Congress and the American people. For Fiscal 1976, for example, the Democrat Congressional leadership favored a budget deficit of around 70 billion dollars, while the "penny pinching" Republican Ford Administration held out for a deficit of "only" 52 billion dollars. By constant repetition in the "news" media these were presented as the two alternatives, while the only sane alternative, a balanced budget with no deficit, was carefully ignored. This performance regarding federal spending is repeated year after year.

During the Vietnam War, the two alternatives presented to the American people concerning conduct of the war were: (a) surrender to the Communists, otherwise known as "peace with honor," the course advocated by the "doves"; (b) continuation of a no-win war, the alternative offered by the so-called "hawks." Winning the war, the only sane, pro-American alternative, was studiously ignored.

On the state and local levels the same technique is used repeatedly. For instance, the city fathers arrange for a referendum on whether or not to increase the local sales tax. The voters are told that they have a choice of (a) approving an increase in the sales tax or (b) having their property taxes increased. The sane, Americanist choice, cutting spending to operate within current revenues, never is mentioned in the propaganda accompanying the referendum. As a result, the increase in the sales tax usually is approved as the "lesser of the two evils."

Regarding the Conspiracy, the two choices offered to Americans are: (a) the concept of a Conspiracy to rule the world is ridiculous, and no "respectable" person will entertain such a thought; and (b) the Conspiracy to rule the world is so powerful and so deeply entrenched that all resistance to it is completely futile. This author has seen more than one American evade his responsibility by flip-flopping from (a), "no problem" to (b), "no hope", overnight.

This same ploy, with infinite variations, has been used over and over again on the American people for so long a time that it has become almost second nature for most Americans to accept one of the "two choices" offered them in any situation, without ever considering that there are almost always other and saner alternatives. The American people have been conditioned to accept, almost automatically, the proposition that there are two, and only two, sides to every question.

Control over what "two sides" are presented on any question is achieved by seizing control of the applicable "tone-setting" positions, whether it be on the national level by the Insiders of the Conspiracy or on the local level by a few venal individuals hungry for money or power. On the national level the "tone setters" include the leading politicians in Congress and the Administration, leading members of the federal bureaucracy, bellwether newspapers such as the New York "Times" and the Washington "Post", the news organizations of the three major networks, those who control what goes out over the wires of the Associated Press and United Press International, and the most prestigious nationally-syndicated columnists and commentators. On the local level the "tone setters" may be only a few politicians, a few leading members of the Chamber of Commerce, the editor of the local newspaper, and the preacher of the largest church in town. Whatever the case in a given situation, once the tone has been set, most people in the target population will hasten to fall into line with whatever has been established as "intellectually respectable" or "socially acceptable," shunning like the plague whatever thoughts have been placed, very subtly, "beyond the pale" or "out of bounds."

Now let us return to the Insiders setting up their strategy during the nineteenth century. To implement their plan, we postulate, they decided to establish the following "two choices" concerning the Bible: (a) the Bible is filled with errors, myths, and contradictions, and is not to be taken seriously by any intelligent, "modern" person; and (b) the Bible is the inspired Word of God and clearly teaches that the Second Coming of Christ is imminent. To be ignored and smothered to as great an extent as possible was (c) the Bible is the inspired Word of God and teaches, regarding the Second Coming of Christ, that no-one except God Himself knows when this is to occur.

Choice (a), having been promoted already by the Conspiracy for many years through the "higher criticism" movement and by other means, would be used in the twentieth century as one of the means of destroying from within the large Protestant denominations. Choice (b) would be used to neutralize conservative Christians.

The "tone setters" who promoted choice (a) included Harry F. Ward and his disciples and spiritual descendants, as described in Chapter 3. The identities of the few "tone setters" necessary to establish choice (b) are unknown to this author, since the very nature of their undertaking provided them with camouflage next to impossible to penetrate, in most cases. Where any risk of exposure might exist, they could always fall back on Voltaire's dictum: "Speak your mind boldly, but when you strike, conceal your hand. You may be known; I am willing to believe there are people sufficiently keen-scented, but they will not be able to convict you."¹

At many times throughout history there have been Christians who believed sincerely that they were living near the appointed time for the Second Coming of Christ. Many such groups and instances can be cited during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries as, for example, the group known as the Millerites who in 1844 donned white clothes and climbed into trees and onto rooftops on the appointed day, confident that the Lord was to return on that day.² Another group went through a similar experience in 1914, and again in 1918.³ In 1922, the sect known as British Israel were expecting that the Second Advent would occur about 1935.⁴ In 1975 a group in Arkansas quit their jobs, severed all connections with the outside world, and assembled in one house to await the Second Coming.⁵ From at least as early as A.D. 52 there have been, many times, Christians who were obsessed with this wishful thinking.

Therefore, the task of the agents assigned to pervert, widen, and popularize this belief, and to obtain for it a seeming near-monopoly among conservative Christians, was not difficult. They had merely to find ways to encourage and twist a belief which some already accepted and which many more were eager to accept, since it promised instant relief from all their earthly problems and responsibilities.

The technique for accomplishing this probably was identical to that used in many instances by the Conspiracy. No doubt it involved the placing of a few skilled agents in highly strategic positions where they could influence the thinking and guide the actions of thousands of innocent people, who had no conception that they were being used. These agents took no risk whatever of exposure, since they needed to pose only as ultra-sincere Christians promoting a particular point of view on what is, after all, a fringe question when considered in the context of Christian belief and doctrine as a whole. The point of view they espoused may not have originated with them. More than likely, they took an existing, relatively unknown, doctrine and guided its development along lines they considered most beneficial for their purposes. A few well-placed agents could have set the tone which has snowballed to become the overwhelmingly accepted belief among that segment of the population where it was most needed by the Conspiracy; i.e., among those with the highest moral and religious values, those who, in the absence of such an obsession, would be in the forefront of the fight against the atheistic Conspiracy.

In this chapter we have hypothesized, from a knowledge of the aims and methods of the Conspiracy and from observations of current facts of life, what may have been done in the past. But does any evidence exist to support the postulate that a religious doctrine may have been developed, perverted, and popularized by a hidden force behind the scenes? Let us investigate.

REFERENCES, CHAPTER 5

*  This is a variation of the tactic which uses the fallacy of limited reply, as in, "Answer yes or no, have you stopped beating your grandmother?"

1  Anonymous, Seventeen Eighty-Nine, An unfinished manuscript which explores the early history of The Communist Conspiracy, American Opinion, Belmont, Ma., San Marino, Calif. 1968, p. 23.

2  Festinger, Leon et al. — "When Prophecy Fails" — Harper & Row, New York, 1964, pp. 12-33. See also Ref. 3 below.

3  Wallace, Foy E., Jr. — "God's Prophetic Word" — Foy E. Wallace, Jr. Publications, Oklahoma City, 1946, Revised Edition, 1960, pp. 231-232.

4  Bennett, Arnold — "The Journal of Arnold Bennett, 1896-1928" — The Viking Press, New York, 1933, p. 743.

5  Chattanooga "News-Free Press" — May 3, 1976.

 

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