Gaining power and influence over others can often be achieved
by using a media or public relations tool known as
"talking points".
Talking points are a form of doctrine, usually employed in an
authoritative manner and repeated over and over until they become
perceived as facts regardless of whether or not they actually are
factual.
Examples of this are readily apparent in politics, corporate
advertising, nationalism, and religion.
These enterprises thrive because they extract energy and
resources from others and use them to expand themselves in both
size and influence.
Political parties, corporations, countries, and institutionalized
religion all depend on a constant stream of attention, money, and
energy from others in order to realize their dream of perpetual
growth and domination of the particular market they seek to
influence and control.
In the case of fundamentalist Christianity, control over others
relies heavily on the use of talking points.
These talking points are claimed to be authoritative because
they're supposed to be directly connected to the Bible, which in
turn is the product of a supreme entity called "God".
Most people have been bombarded by these religious talking points
practically from birth, having constant exposure throughout
childhood and during their adult lives.
The doctrine is repeated over and over, pounding the message into
the minds of people until it becomes an automatic axiom, as if
people were naturally born with it.
The goal is to make the talking points absolute and factual, a
form of universal law that can be no more denied than gravity.
The goal is to create "reality" for others.
Perceptions and assertions are far more important than substance in the
fundamentalist Christian world because creating a perception
involves virtually no validation of facts.
Using the Bible to concoct a doctrine and foist it on others is
fairly easy because the Bible itself is automatically assumed to
be the very Word of God.
This theological system consists of layer upon layer of
assumptions, served up as divine truth.
Repetition takes the place of validation because the talking
points are equated to being directly from God.
To deny the talking points is to deny God and incur his wrath,
which results in damnation.
Fundamentalist Christianity is an amazingly successful use of
repetitive argument by assertion, employing circular logic, fear,
and reward to cajole and intimidate people into believing
whatever clerics want them to believe.
Ironically, the shallow nature of fundamentalist Christian
talking points can be revealed by looking at the Bible, which is
the very tool used to create the talking points in the first
place.
According to fundamentalist Christians, the Bible is to be taken
seriously as the authoritative word of a supreme, all powerful
being.
And yet, the Bible does not confirm the talking points as being
reliable or truthful.
One definition of a myth is as follows,
Myth:
A person or thing having only an imaginary or unverifiable
existence
The key word here is unverifiable.
It cannot be established as reality, factual, or binding on
others.
Some popular talking points are listed below, and all of them
have more holes in them than a Swiss cheese.
This is the doctrine of the "Trinity", which is one
of the most popular talking points and also one of the most
convoluted, unsubstantiated claims in the Christian stable of
theistic propaganda.
To be fully God and fully man at the same time is the theological
equivalent of a shirt that is made out of 100% wool and 100%
cotton.
A son by definition must also be younger than his father.
Christians parrot this "Trinity" canard constantly in
an attempt to turn it into reality and a universal fact.
It is nothing of the sort.
The Athanasian Creed, which assertively sets forth the doctrine
of the Trinity, also declares it to be incomprehensible.
Excerpts:
So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God;
And yet they are not three Gods, but one God.
…the whole three persons are coeternal, and coequal.
The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Spirit incomprehensible.
This doctrine is a monument to religious propaganda, a
testimony to the mind wrecking power of zealots in frocks that
will use any means to raise themselves up over others and control
them.
On the one hand, this man-made doctrine makes very specific
claims about a "triune God" while at the same time
asserts that the elements of the "God" cannot be
comprehended.
To make matters worse, none of it has actually been validated as
real and much of it is actually inconsistent with the Bible,
particularly the Old Testament.
Yet, the Trinity is promoted as an obvious, certain, universal
fact that's binding on all people.
However, the Trinity, a doctrine that evolved over time with
oversight by the Catholic Church, whose teachings Protestants
reject when they see fit, is "obvious" only to those
that want to create reality out of subjective cloth and then
parade it to the world as the only true "God".
Most Christians lap up this dreamy tale and proclaim it to
others, wanting them to join them in a headlong fall into a pit
of utterly convoluted doctrine creation and wishful thinking.
The Hebrew scriptures (commonly referred to by Christians as the
"Old Testament") renounce God becoming a man, and they
do not support the Trinity construction.
God is not a man (Num 23:19 Hos 11:9, 1 Sam 15:29, Psa 146:3,
Isa 2:22), does not change (Mal 3:6), is a singular
being, and there are no others besides him:
(Deut 4:35, Deut 32:39, 1 Sam 2:2, 1 Kings 8:60, Isa 40:18,25,
Isa 42:8, Isa 43:10-11, Isa 44:6-8,24, Isa 45:5-6, Isa 45:21-22,
Isa 46:5,9, Hos 13:4, 1 Chron 17:20).
In the Hebrew scriptures, God was revealed by voice to all his
people in a national revelation at Mt. Sinai or Horeb (Deut
4:10-12,15,32-35, Deut 5:1-4, Exo 19:9,11, Exo 20:19-20).
There was no indication whatsoever that God was a
"Trinity" nor was any presentation, inclusion, or
mention of Jesus given to the people.
There were none besides God, no equals.
None means none, it does not mean not three persons, or three
entities, and it does not include a son that's also God.
Deut 4:35
Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the LORD he
is God; there is none else beside him.
God also gave a warning not to be seduced by other concepts of
God.
Deut 11:16
Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye
turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;
Declaring Jesus to be God is exactly what God warned his people
not to do, and Christians that take it upon themselves to do that
are doing so in disregard to these instructions repeatedly given
in the Bible.
Such hypocrisy and "God-mocking" is typical because the
Bible will end up meaning whatever a believer wants it to mean.
It has nothing to do with absolute truth, but rather has
everything to do with subjective theological preferences
and the desires of men to be connected to a powerful being that
gives them authority to dominate others.
The New Testament does contain several verses that can be used
advance the position that Jesus is God.
However, for every verse that is friendly to Jesus also being
God, there are other verses that clearly refute that possibility.
Jesus claimed to have a God, and he claimed this even after he
was resurrected and ascended.
Paul and Peter also made this claim.
The list of New Testament verses refuting the Trinity is quite
extensive and the following are only a sample of statements made
after the resurrection, a time when Jesus was supposed to have
been transformed into his glory, and not simply playing the role
of a man.
(Acts 2:32-36, Acts 3:21, Rev 1:1-6, Rev 3:12, 1 Peter 1:3,
Eph 1:3,17, John 20:17, 1 Cor 8:6, 1 Cor 11:3, 1 Cor 15
20-28,45-49, 1 Tim 2:5, Rom 15:6, 2 Cor 1:3, 2 Cor 11:31 )
Jesus clearly has a God and is subservient to God, even after
the resurrection and ascension.
John 20:17
Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to
my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend
unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God,
and your God.
Rev 3:12
Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my
God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write
upon him the name of my Go, and the name of
the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem,
which cometh down out of heaven from my God:
and I will write upon him my new name.
1 Cor 8:6
But to us there is but one God, the Father,
of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom are all things, and we by him.
1 Cor 11:3
But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ;
and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of
Christ is God.
2 Cor 11:31
The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not.
1 Peter 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto
a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
It should be noted that Jesus is declared to be subservient to
God, sitting at the right hand of God, Jesus does not know
everything that God knows, and must rely on God for his power.
Not all Christians are Trinitarians and their refutations and
denial of the Trinity earn them the wrath of those that believe
in God as a triune deity.
For every argument or verse that "proves" the Trinity,
there are a multitude of arguments and verses that refute it.
In other words, there is no universal agreement among Christians
about Jesus being God or God being a Trinity.
In reality, the verses that can be used to define Jesus as being
God are canceled out by the many verses that clearly establish
him as not being God.
This popular talking point about a triune God has no meaningful
validation and should be assigned in the category of theological
gibberish and propaganda.
Both of these talking points are extremely popular myths.
The free will claim is bogus because there are instances in the
Bible where God manipulates human behavior to produce certain
outcomes (Exo 4:21, Deut 2:30).
Claims about universal free will are also demolished by the New
Testament, where Rom 8 and Rom 9 show that God predestines
things according to his plans, not the plans of humans.
Predestination voids free will as the matter in question has
already been decided in advance by God.
If God predestines some people to their ultimate belief, then
free will is moot.
The following verses crush claims about universal free will, as
they clearly state that God predestines some things according to
the pleasure of his will and purpose, not the will of the
individual.
Eph 1:4-5,11
According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of
the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in
love:
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of
children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good
pleasure of his will,
In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated
according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the
counsel of his own will:
There is no way to determine to what degree God may have imposed his
will on the actions or decisions of any person.
The claim about salvation being a free gift is also false.
Truly free gifts require nothing in return.
Christian salvation is not free because it's an ultimatum.
Failure to comply with the demand results in damnation and a trip
to hell.
Christian salvation is actually a barter arrangement where
worship and performance of some works is exchanged for salvation.
The requirements for salvation are:
-Belief is required. (Mark 16:16, John 3:16,18,36, John 16:9)
-A confession of belief is required. (Rom 10:9-10)
-Maintaining belief is required. (Heb 6:4-6, 2 Peter 2:20-21)
-Repenting is required. (Acts 2:38,, Acts 3:19, Luke 13:3)
-Being baptized is required. (Acts 2:38, Mark 16:16)
-Doing some good works is required. (Matt 25:41-46)
These two popular talking points, about free will and salvation
being a free gift, are examples of false advertising used to
create an impression that simply isn't true.
It's nothing more than a tool to suck people into thinking this
religion is founded in liberty and generous behavior on the part of the Christian god.
This is an absurd claim when one considers that Christians
also declare that God is the source of moral absolutes and sets
the standard for proper human behavior.
The goal is to replace the obedience to the law with faith in a
human sacrifice called Jesus.
In Christian theology, particularly the teachings of the Jewish
apostate called "Paul", the law is a yoke that stands
in the way of people being reconciled to God.
That opposite is true if the Old Testament is to be taken
seriously.
The law provides blessings, is eternal (Psa 119:152,160),
and is perfect as it stands (Psa 19:7).
Psa 119 may be the longest chapter in the entire Bible and
it's entirely devoted to praising the law and the importance of
adhering to it, in order to find favor and receive blessings from
God.
The new covenant is defined in Jer 31, and it says nothing
about the law being ended or done away with.
It states that the existing law would be reaffirmed under a new
contract or covenant.
The expected king messiah was to bring people into great
compliance with the law (Ezek 37:24).
Jesus did not do that and Paul's antics about the law being a
burden and curse on people is pure rubbish if the Old Testament
is to be regarded as accurate and true.
The New Testament fully supports this but the Old Testament
does not.
According to the Hebrew scriptures, every person has the ability
to save themselves.
There is no need for Jesus or for a human sacrifice, which isn't
even a valid sacrifice for sin according to the law of God.
The formula for salvation is to repent and keep the law of God (Ezek
18:20-27).
This was written long before Christianity came along and changed
the rules.
When presented with this revelation, Christians will insist that
God changed the rules because nobody can keep the law.
However, this is a lie because the Bible shows that some people
could keep the law (Gen 26:5, Deut 30:11, Luke 1:5-6, 2 Chron
34:29-33, 2 Chron 14:2, Psa 119:55).
The ultimate cure for failing to keep the law was also outlined
by God in (Jer 3:15-17, Jer 24:7, Jer 31:33, Ezek 11:19-20,
and Ezek 36:26-27) where God states his plan to infuse his
laws directly into the hearts of his people so that they will
obey them.
An expected king messiah would also help lead people into great
compliance with the law (Ezek 37:24).
The divine plan has absolutely nothing to do with Jesus, who did
not qualify to be messiah, nor does the plan involve canceling
the law and replacing it with faith in a god-man that is
sacrificed for sin.
The intentional disinformation on the part of Christians is a
necessity because if there is no need for Jesus in order to be
saved, Jesus and Christianity are rendered irrelevant.
This Christian chicanery also creates the absurd scenario of an
all-powerful, loving God who is incompetent and an outright liar
that deceived his most trusted prophets.
This is not true according to the Old Testament Bible.
Jesus lacked the pedigree to qualify as a king messiah because
Jesus had no paternal blood link to David, which is a requirement
(Psa 89:3-4,34-37, Psa 132:10-12, 2 Sam 7:12-13).
Jesus never sat on the throne of David, which is an obvious
requirement.
The king messiah was also supposed to accomplish his task during
his lifetime, not through multiple appearances separated by
thousands of years (Jer 23:5-6).
Jesus was never anointed king by a prophet or high priest, which
was done throughout the Old Testament.
Physical anointing with special anointing oil was even performed
to settle a dispute between Solomon and his brother, when both
claimed the throne for themselves.
Jesus never performed the various tasks of a king messiah, which
are required for authenticity of the candidate in order to claim
the title of "King of the Jews".
This is a mainstay claim for those in the business of
promoting fluffy, feel good Christianity.
It's the type of thing that is constantly repeated to little
children, hoping to ensnare them in the illusion before they are
old enough to employ critical thinking.
The love of Jesus is actually conditional, repressive, and
represents a very human thug mentality.
According to Jesus, simple unbelief in him is a "sin"
worthy of punishment and eternal damnation.
This is made very clear in Mark 16:16, John 3:18,36, John
16:9, and Rev 21:8.
Jesus will send the Holy Spirit to convict people of sin if they
fail to believe in him.
John 16:8-9(Jesus speaking)
And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of
righteousness, and of judgment:
Of sin, because they believe not on me;
Jesus will send out his angelic drones to purge the world of all
that is offensive to him.
Matt 13:41-42
The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather
out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do
iniquity;
And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be
wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Jesus will engage in a killing spree when he sets up his kingdom
on earth.
Rev 19:15
And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should
smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and
he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty
God.
Christians often complain about brutal, repressive regimes in
countries that do not embrace Christianity.
Yet, the regime of Jesus is just as dictatorial, intolerant, and
repressive, condemning people to torment and death for failure to
believe in him and kiss his holy buttocks.
Yes indeed, Jesus is love…as long as you do what he says and
believe what he tells you to believe.
The popular Christian "Jesus is love" talking point is
based on special pleading.
Any other dictator would be criticized for such repressive
behavior, but Jesus is special and can do anything he wants
because he's holy.
This is the silly, warped mindset that many Christians embrace
with gusto.
This is a grand claim, made to impress the unwary with such an
overwhelming number that they conclude Christianity must be
accurate and true.
This talking point is tossed out regularly by missionaries and is
often used in recruiting converts.
It's also pounding into the skulls of the faithful by preachers
that want to maintain a tight grip on paying customers, those
that attend their church or buy their books, or look to them for
guidance.
Converting someone into a paying customer is vital, but keeping
them in the fold, supplying a steady stream of "tithes"
(money!) to the church is also very important.
Some of the most often cited "prophecies" are found in Isaiah
53, Isa 7, and Dan 9.
There are other essays that address the alleged fulfillment of
these by Jesus but suffice it to say that all of them are based
on highly subjective interpretations of the scriptures
involved.
Christians have scoured the Old Testament for anything that can
be remotely used to validate Jesus as being foretold or
fulfilling something.
The alleged fulfillment often employs taking a small piece of an
existing passage in the Old Testament, and then using it out of
context to validate Jesus as a genuine messiah.
The author of the Gospel of Matthew was a master at doing this.
When encountering this Christian talking point about 300+
fulfilled prophecies, it's important to realize that there is no
prophecy in the Hebrew scriptures that states a king messiah
would come once, be killed, and require a second coming thousands
of years later to accomplish what he was supposed to do the first
time.
A second coming for Jesus is the Christian rationalization of a
messianic failure.
While this claim is clearly stated in the New Testament, it is
of very dubious quality in terms of truthfulness.
Although Jesus didn't have an earthly father, he did have a
mother who was descended from Adam
According to Rom 5:12 all humans have sin by default via
Adam.
Mary was not exempt from this "original sin" because
she was descended from Adam.
The birth of Jesus also made her unclean and she had to be
purified (Luke 2:22), indicating that the infant Jesus was
no more pristine than any other baby.
Jesus did several things that classify as sin or disobedience to
God.
In Mark 7:18, Jesus the rabbi (teacher) declared that no
eaten foods can defile a person.
This is not true as Lev 11 clearly indicates.
Eating certain foods is abomination to God, and they cannot be
consumed for this reason alone.
Teaching otherwise is a sin because it not only displays contempt
for the law, it encourages others to ignore the law as well.
Jesus also introduced a blood drinking ritual in John 6:53-55,
where the consumption of blood is advocated for people that want
to live forever and be blessed by Jesus.
This is a blatant violation of the law (Lev 17:10).
It doesn't matter if the blood is only symbolic and not real.
However, Jesus declared it to be real drink, not symbolic.
Either way, it's still a violation and a sin because God gave
strict instructions not to add or subtract from the law (Deut
4:2).
In the area of truthfulness, Jesus came up short again when he
was questioned by the high priest about his teaching activity.
Jesus gave false testimony to the priest of God
When arrested and questioned by the high priest about his
teachings, Jesus made the following statement:
John 18:19-20
The high priest then asked Jesus of his disciples, and of his
doctrine.
Jesus answered him, I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in
the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort;
and in secret have I said nothing.
There are three claims presented here:
1. Jesus said he spoke openly to the world.
2. Jesus said that he always taught in the synagogue or Temple.
3. Jesus said that he did not teach anything in secret or
privately.
All three of these claims are false if the New Testament is to be
taken seriously and are fully discussed in another essay.
Telling lies, or bearing false witness about himself certainly
qualifies as sinful behavior.
Jesus also issued false prophecy in Matt 16:27-28 and
other places, where he promised a glorious return
within the lifetimes of some of the people living at that time.
God warned his people not to heed such false teachers Deut 13
and Deut 18.
This is another one of those dreamy, fluffy talking points
that has serious problems if the New Testament is to be taken
seriously.
How often have you heard a Christian proclaim that their dead
Christian grandma, or some other Christian is happily cavorting
in heaven with Jesus?
Even preachers declare this to be factual, despite the complete
lack of validation for such a claim.
Proponents of the "Grandma is in heaven" doctrine will
cite (Philip 1:22-23 and 2 Cor 5:6-8) as proof that
Christian dead people are in heaven with Jesus.
However, the New Testament casts serious doubt on this because
there are verses that conflict with this rosy scenario.
The dead Christians are not in heaven but are sleeping,
waiting for Jesus to come and wake them up.
In a spectacular second coming air-show, Jesus will wake up the
dead Christians and then lift the living Christians into the air
with the formerly dead believers.
1 Thess 4:14-17
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them
also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which
are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not
prevent them which are asleep.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with
the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the
dead in Christ shall rise first:
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together
with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so
shall we ever be with the Lord.
If these dead people were already in heaven, there would be no
need to wake them up and lift them anywhere for they would
already be in a conscience united state with Jesus, enjoying
everlasting life.
Grandma would already have her new form and would be doing
somersaults in heaven if she had actually gone there immediately
after she died.
While it could still be argued that Jesus is only resurrecting
and lifting their dead bodies and is rejoining their already
ascended heavenly souls to those bodies, the text gives no such
indication.
Some people are cremated, leaving only ashes, which further
compounds the problem.
It makes little sense to go through this elaborate procedure of
resurrection if it only involves animating and levitating a dead
corpse.
A new body could easily be created in heaven by divine power.
The text says that dead people are sleeping, which implies a
complete being, not just a rotting corpse.
Another passage that speaks of the resurrection of the dead is 1
Cor 15:35-54, where dead bodies are described as being
transformed into new bodies.
However, there is nothing that indicates the soul is already in
heaven while the body is rotting in the grave.
Once again the dead person is said to be sleeping, or in stasis.
In John 5:28-29, all of the dead will hear the
voice of Jesus and be raised together.
Rotting corpses don't hear divine voices, but a sleeping soul
might.
John 5:28-29
Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all
that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the
resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the
resurrection of damnation.
In John 6:40, Christian dead believers are raised up to
everlasting life when Jesus returns.
John 6:40
And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which
seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life:
and I will raise him up at the last day.
There is no indication that Jesus was referring to raising only
the dead bodies and not the souls as well.
Eternal life is promised to some of those that are raised and if
these people's souls were already in heaven there would be little
need to raise a soul-less corpse just to give it eternal life.
In John 11:43-44 Jesus raised the sleeping Lazarus from
the dead, not simply his lifeless body.
There is no indication that the soul of Lazarus was in heaven
with God immediately after his death.
If it were, then it would have had to come back to earth to
rejoin his corpse so that Jesus could bring him to life again.
In Acts 2:29,34 the noble King David was declared to dead
and buried and has not ascended to heaven.
If King David, one of God's favorites isn't in heaven yet, why
should lessor figures such as someone's Grandma get there ahead
of him?
Rev 20:4-5,13 speaks of multiple resurrections of the dead
but the context indicates that these are not simply dead bodies
but the totality of the person, body and soul.
The popular claim about dead believers being in heaven with Jesus
is constructed on a platform of wishful thinking that is
inconsistent with scripture.
It should be noted that the number of New Testament resurrections
is inconsistent.
In John, Jesus said there would be only one last day
at an appointed hour, when the dead would be raised, not
multiple resurrections at different times.
Also, the mainstream Christian teaching about the "rapture",
which involves separate resurrections, contradicts scripture.
This teaching may sell books and movies like the "Left
Behind" series, but it is deeply flawed if the Gospel of
John is to be taken seriously.
This claim is also built on a platform of wishful thinking.
The evidence for the character known as "Jesus of
Nazareth" is found in selected New Testament cult writings
that were designed to promote the cult leader (Jesus) and the
religion.
The determination of what was to be included in the New Testament
was made by male clerics that lived hundreds of years after the
facts.
Christians will assert that the clerics carefully researched
everything and only included the facts that lined up with
traditional oral teachings handed down from the Apostles.
The Catholic Church was the determining factor in establishing
the canon of the New Testament.
This is the same Catholic Church that Protestants claim does not
represent Godly authority because of the rampant corruption and
faulty doctrines it promotes.
In other words, you have to trust that the New Testament is
accurate history, even though the Catholic Church was
untrustworthy.
The New Testament shows signs of containing embellishments that
were used to promote the credibility of the story.
These embellishments, along with contradictions in the stories,
are simply waved away as inconsequential by Christians.
Outside of the cult writings in the New Testament there is
virtually no contemporary evidence that "Jesus of
Nazareth" existed.
Remember, it is not simply a man called Jesus that was supposed
to have existed, but a god-man specifically known as "Jesus
of Nazareth", the wonder working famous rabbi and healer
that Christians promote as a historical fact.
A cult leader called Jesus could certainly have existed in that
time period, but that does not establish the New Testament
version of this character as reliable, objective, or factual.
See the essay "The Fame Of Jesus" for more on this
subject.
These are some of the popular talking points used by Christian
clerics and operatives in order to expand the influence of their
beliefs, with the ultimate goal being to dominate not only the
religious landscape but all other aspects of society as well.
By repeatedly pounding talking points like these into the minds
of people, the issues of validity, accuracy, and truthfulness are
obscured.
In this way, highly subjective teachings and doctrines become
"truth" simply because they are repeated so many times.
An air of authority is established, not based on objective
reality, but on perception alone.