Satan is described as “the father of lies” in John 8:44 of the New Testament.

Whether we think of Old Scratch or not, most of us would agree we live in an age of deceit. Many citizens have abandoned common sense and reason for theory and wishful concoction, contending that black is white or that two plus two equals five, and then demanding the rest of us march in lockstep with them.

Some, for example, argue that biological men should be allowed to compete in sports against biological women. Protest that claim on social, media or in any public forum, and you will be declared a bigot.

Some would have us believe that the presidential election involved little or no fraud, and we should just move along. Those who claim to possess proof of that fraud are ignored by the mainstream media and our courts, or are dismissed outright as liars and sore losers.

Tens of thousands of Americans from across the country gathered in Washington D.C. on Jan. 6 to protest electoral fraud. The media and some of our politicians are now labeling them an insurrectionist mob incited to violence by President Donald Trump. Those of us who heard the president’s speech know this is a lie.

Some apparently believe a $27 trillion national debt won’t cause our economy and our country to collapse in the future. The current population of the United States is roughly 328 million people, which means every American living today, from great-grandpa to this morning’s newborn, owes approximately $82,000. Yet on we go, printing dollars with the same wanton disregard as the proverbial drunken sailor, with the difference being the sailor wakes in the morning with a hangover and a good case of remorse.

Experts tell us lockdowns and masks will prevent the spread of COVID-19. If that’s the case, then why is California, with some of the most stringent anti-virus measures in the country, leading the way in terms of new infections?

Our governors and mayors allowed our big-box stores to remain open during the pandemic, but closed fabric stores, beauty salons, restaurants, and countless other smaller businesses. No existing data proves the environments of small stores are more likely to spread the virus, so why are they continually ordered to shutter their doors?

Then there is our twisted language. We are hounded by words and phrases like equity, inclusion, whiteness, systemic racism, white fragility, patriarchy, and diversity. These may sound impressive, but they are hollow as a drum, meaningless tags employed to signal one’s virtue or to attack an opponent.

Some believe women are oppressed, America is a land rife with racial hatred, males are toxic, and the police routinely and indiscriminately shoot people of color. Ask for proof, and you will again be smeared as a bigot, a misogynist, or a fascist.

The “de-incarceration” and “defund the police” movements should be laughed off by anyone with a brain in their head, but instead they are gaining traction as ways to fight America’s alleged racism and classism.

Such deceptions come with a price. In the case of the United States, that price is a broken and divided country. In the aftermath of the mayhem at the Capitol, this chasm has only widened, abetted in large part by a biased mainstream media.

These fabrications and foolish ideas have already damaged our democracy. If they continue unchecked, they may well destroy it.

In “Darkness at Noon and the Progressive Mindset,” Nicholas Kaster sharesseveral thoughts from physician and writer Theodore Darlymple. Most startlingly, Dalrymple concluded that “[p]olitical correctness is communist propaganda writ small.” He continued:

I came to the conclusion that the purpose of communist propaganda was not to persuade or convince, nor to inform, but to humiliate; and therefore, the less it corresponded to reality the better. When people are forced to remain silent when they are being told the most obvious lies, or even worse when they are forced to repeat the lies themselves, they lose once and for all their sense of probity. To assent to obvious lies is to co-operate with evil, and in some small way to become evil oneself. One’s standing to resist anything is thus eroded, and even destroyed.

Perhaps most applicable to our own society, Dalrymple concluded, “A society of emasculated liars is easy to control. I think if you examine political correctness, it has the same effect and is intended to.”

Whatever our political views, if we wish to remain healthy both as individuals and as a society, we must embrace reality and truth rather than blindly accepting the tenets of political correctness, the critical theory agenda, betrayal by spineless politicians, and the mendacity of our mainstream media. It’s long past time to stand for truth and facts rather than being sucker-punched by conjecture, deceit, and deliberate obfuscation.

Truth can hurt, but lies masquerading as truth can kill.