I picked up this book because it was recommended by Alisa Childers, who wrote Another Gospel – which is another book I highly recommend. In Live Not by Lies, Rod Dreher explains the soft totalitarianism we are experiencing in our culture and what a Christian dissident (a person who opposes official policy, especially that of an authoritarian state) can practically do about it; things we can put into action right now.
Throughout the book, Dreher explains our current plight through personal stories of people who have lived (and died) through totalitarian regimes. These people see what is happening in Western culture and they are warning us what to look for. They see how our media, academia, and corporations are feeding us doublespeak every day. (Doublespeak is a reference to Orwell’s 1984, in which one thing is said, but the meaning is actually reversed in order to confuse and reprogram.) Have you ever wondered how the media can declare a protest to be “mostly peaceful” when there are buildings burning and people looting in the background for all the world to see? What about when you are blamed for something you didn’t do just because you belong to a certain group by your immutable characteristics? Thus, we arrive at the author’s first big piece of advice, which is the title of the book – Live Not by Lies – the famous quote from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn as he was being exiled from the Soviet Union for pushing back hard on communism. We can’t go along with the lies we see and hear around us, and Dreher gives us several ways in which we can live in the truth.
Another section of the book is dedicated to a detailed account of how we are monitored and exploited by technology companies and what could be done with the information they collect. Have you ever heard of “social credits”? They are in practice in China and the technology exists here in America. At present, Americans are tracked electronically, and that information is used to manipulate our voting decisions and buying habits, etc. Taken to the level they are used in China, this information could be used to reward those who behave in acceptable ways and softly punish those who do not. In China, behavior believed to be anti-government could keep a person from being able to find a new job or send their child to college. It manipulates behavior without ever laying a finger on anyone. Another problem is constant fear mongering by the media and government officials which shows up on the news and in social media feeds. We have already seen big tech companies making decisions about what stories will be promoted and which stories will be buried. People tend to give up freedoms when they have been convinced it is for their security, or even their convenience. And I can’t finish this thought without pointing out that if we lost (or gave up) enough freedoms, then the government could conceivably take you out with the seemingly innocent information they have already gathered.
“Social justice’ seems like such a good thing on the surface, especially if you care about other people, as I believe most people do. I didn’t realize that it was a new religion, though – one that has replaced real faith for many people, especially those who grew up in the post-Cold War era. If you replace real faith in God with faith in a secular idea that promises comfort and freedom from suffering and guilt of any kind, including any kind of perceived oppression, then there doesn’t need to be a rational argument outside of the demonization of those who disagree with the prevalent narrative. The cancel culture we are witnessing and experiencing is the result of very well laid plans. There is no discussion. Just cancellation. We have to be ready to be cancelled for standing for truth.
Next, Dreher explains that it is extremely important to protect the nuclear family because strong families are the bedrock that will support the movement which will stand in the way of the complete and permanent soft totalitarian takeover. Accordingly, the proponents of equity and progress need to destroy the nuclear family because it stands in their way. Dreher has a whole section of his book in which he discusses how groups are categorized by whether or not they plan to go along with this march towards progress or not. If you do or believe anything that stands in their way, you are the enemy and must be demonized and silenced – even if the whole thing makes absolutely no sense….which most of it doesn’t.
Gratefully, the author does give the reader a plan to survive and thrive in what he calls a “soft totalitarian” country based on the interviews he has done with many Christian dissidents (and their descendants) of Eastern bloc communist countries. One of the tactics he outlines is keeping the family intact. Unfortunately, our public school system was taken over by progressives over 100 years ago and their ideas and agendas have been slowly rewriting history and undermining children’s faith. Our boardrooms, Hollywood, the halls of Congress, and even many of our churches are full of people who are the product of this system. Don’t let these institututions feed propaganda to your children unchecked and unscrutinized! If you are a Christian, teach your children Christian Apologetics (how to defend their faith and answer tough questions). One of the biggest tactics communists and progressives must use to be successful is to lure our children away from their faith. Kids need to know that there are answers to the tough faith questions or they will cave very fast under the pressure that is coming increasingly from more and more areas of culture, especially from schools and universities. After all, the other side offers freedom in so many forms, including sexual…and no guilt. (Note that abortion is necessary in this part of the plan because it helps handle the consequences of sexual freedom, lowers the value of human life, and makes them slaves to pleasure.) The only rules are to stay loyal to the group and whatever ideas it puts forth. Dreher gives the reader a list of six ways to prepare your children for now and the days ahead, given to him by the Benda Family, an inspirational family that has helped so many stand firmly in the face of totalitarian persecution. He talks extensively about the Benda family who had to raise their children in communist Prague. Please pick up the book and read it. “It’s no accident that every dictatorship always tries to break down the family, because it’s in the family that you get the strength to be able to fight.” (quote from Maria Komaromi, pg 148, Live Not by Lies)
Another key pillar to withstanding is the Church. Churches need to prepare their congregations to stand up to tyranny by relying on their faith and believing in it so much that they are willing to suffer for it. In terms of levels of suffering, the gulags of Communist Soviet Union are probably not what is coming our way. Dreher put it like this: “…the old totalitarianism conquered societies through fear of pain; the new one will conquer primarily through manipulating people’s love of pleasure and fear of discomfort.” (pg 485, Live Not by Lies) Imagine the discomforts you may already feel, like being pressured into going along with dogma that does not align with your faith, either in person or online. Do not be deceived into thinking you are the only one who thinks the ideas being perpetuated by woke progressives are abnormal and shouldn’t be accepted without discussion and debate. Dreher tells many stories about Christians who found their true faith when they were willing to die for it – because only then were they truly living. The many stories of those tortured and martyred are terrifying, but inspiring at the same time. When the media and some people in our government tell us that our values are evil and that we cannot speak out or gather to proclaim them, then we are either directly or indirectly threatened, bullied, or shamed into silence to avoid the wrath of the mob. But if we keep alive the ideas that we hold dearest and we teach them to eager learners who are disillusioned by lies that do not really fulfill them anyway, then we keep our heritage alive – and perhaps a growing movement will form and take back the culture.
Possibly even more important than the church we may attend on Sundays, is the power of the small group. Somehow, we need to propagate our historical, social, and cultural memories, along with our faith. Our education and media institutions are telling the story they want us and our children to believe; a story of a supposedly insignificant and evil founding that must be overthrown and redone (i.e. 1619 Project). It is absolutely crucial to the survival of the American Dream – and our freedom – for us to study and propagate objective truths. There are many stories in Live Not by Lies in which the author relays stories from people who kept hope alive and led their countries out of communism by holding secret seminars and discussion groups in their homes. They heard lectures, they prayed, they studied the Bible, they watched plays, they read books, they discussed ideas about freedom, and they built friendships and bonds that held them together and reminded them they were not alone. Progressives want us to think we’re alone when I would assert that we are actually in the majority. It is a type of soft torture for you to think you are the only one who is trying to hold onto reason and basic principles. Just think about how lonely it has been with the Covid-19 lockdowns keeping us in our homes, cut off from other people. How long can you withstand without knowing you are part of a group that has your back? How do we expect anyone to stand for objective truth in their public life if they feel alone in their convictions? We cannot depend on our online social media groups to provide this camaraderie. We have to invite others into our homes, eat together, watch good content together, discuss ideas together, and stick together. And it wouldn’t be a bad idea to do acts of charity as a group on a consistent basis to help others and show God’s love. Perhaps by chance, but perhaps by Divine prompting, we have been hosting such a group in our home for about a year and a half. It has been amazing.
In conclusion, we can’t forget who we really are. Don’t let the elites or the media or the cancel culture tell you your idea of a traditional family is harming anyone or anything. Take responsibility for educating your children in their faith, their history, Biblical values, character, …. Teach them to be skeptical and to know good logic from bad logic. Go to church. If yours isn’t open, find a different one. Welcome people into your home and talk about ideas; watch movies and videos about marriage, finances, history, the Bible, apologetics, etc. Form friendships and bonds with those same people and encourage them to invite people into their homes as well. Love and support those people. And I implore you to read Live Not by Lies by Rod Dreher. It is a very easy read and conveys many compelling true stories. As I finished the last few pages, I found hope, and I think you will too.
Pssst …. America is a great and free country. Pass it on.
Ideas for small group viewing and discussion: (If you have other ideas, please put them in the comments section below.)
- Focus on the Family has blogs, podcasts, videos, books, and small group studies. (A fantastic one we have used is The Truth Project.) (https://www.focusonthefamily.com/)
- Stand to Reason has blogs, podcasts, videos, books, and small group studies. https://www.str.org/
- Answers in Genesis has books and videos on Apologetics and Creation. https://answersingenesis.org/
- Wallbuilders (and Patriot Academy) has materials on American history and Constitution. They have a free program called Constitution Coach that people can watch and discuss with others. https://wallbuilders.com/
- The Chosen series, by Vidangel https://studios.vidangel.com/the-chosen
- Summit Ministries holds conferences for teens and college age students. Their website also has many books and videos. https://www.summit.org/
- Salem Now has events, movies, blogs, interviews, music. https://salemnow.com/videos/movies/
- Additional Book Ideas: (A short list)
- Mama Bear Apologetics, by Hillary Morgan Ferrer
- God’s Smuggler, by Brother Andrew
- 1984, by George Orwell
- Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
- The Hiding Place, by Corrie Ten Boom
- Gulag Archipelago, by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
- Another Gospel?, by Alisa Childers
