Nothing is but what is not., C. R. Oliver [book club reads .TXT] 📗

"Nothing is but what is not."
   William Shakespeare

2 Tim 4:3-5
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but ... they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to (myth and illusion) fables. NKJV

(Notice to the Reader: The purpose of this study is a bit different than previous works. I have chosen a simple Museum advertisement to show the degree and depth mass media is willing to go in order to re-write history, transform the minds of its public and radicalize thought. It is now necessary to question the minutest of materials before accepting its premises.)

Shakespeare rightly said, "Nothing is but what is not (MacBeth)." The playwright knew the ways of propaganda and why one must ask the constant question, "What is the real intent of this broadcast, this play, this sitcom, this news release, this article, this book, this sermon, this presentation, this government program?" These are places where underlying stimuli may constitute a greater impact than the apparent surface material. Sad, but true, Mr. Shakespeare was correct, "nothing is (these days) but what is not." 

The Bard's observation is never more true than with mass media. Seemingly, there is an agenda coincident with every report, observation or editorial script. The degree of deception is so great, it penetrates every level of visual and auditory medium. 

As the Biblical character, Lot, was grieved by what he saw around him, so our own hearts are tormented as each day brings new assaults on truth, both present and past. 

Currently, there is a huge effort to re-write history. Propagandists in Communist countries have used this method on many occasions. Whether it comes through the subtle processes of public education or the constant bombardment surrounding the media saturated citizenry, one is amazed at the complexity of it and the rapid acceptance of its tenets. Regardless of the title, it is what it is, propaganda. Twisting truth for the purpose of public manipulation has become so rampant that it is nearly impossible to counter it and certainly beyond the scope of one's power to deter its flow. 

In a simple article regarding a museum showing of a cylinder from King Cyrus, the following adornments were woven into the promotional advertisement. The article reads:

It's the first evidence we have of people reflecting on how you run a society of diversity, without just forcing uniformity ... the big question is: How can you manage a state that doesn't have one faith?
... Here is a document that in its time declared a new way of ruling ... in which diversity was respected within a culture.

The article continued:

In the U.S., it's being shown with one of President Thomas Jefferson's copies of "Cyropaedia," a book by Greek historian Xenophon about the philosophies of Cyrus, to illustrate how the Persian king inspired America's founding fathers.

(Curator: Mac Gregor) said both Europeans and Americans looked to the Cyrus model to manage a state with more than one faith. Only the Americans get to the Cyrus model of a state that's equidistant from every faith so that you acknowledge the value of faith, but you don't endorse any one variety. Of course, we're all trying now to live in cities and countries that have an unprecedented diversity in faith, language, ethnicity ... and this is the first model of someone who got it to work for several hundred years."

Author's Note: I have chosen this erudite article because it incorporates a high degree of propaganda and is not some political editorial where daily attacks on truth and reality find acceptance. Hopefully, by my critique of these lines, the reader will be able to apply my method to other arenas. (It is important to be on guard against propaganda in television, newspapers, and internet media. Unfortunately, it is also important to exercise such spiritual discernment in what we hear from religious sources.)

In paragraph one, it is true that Cyrus acknowledged the cultures and religions of the kingdoms he conquered. He allowed captives to return and build their religious edifices. He also gave homage to only one pagan god, Marduk.

Here is a Quote from the Cylinder: From [Babylon] to Aššur and (from) Susa, Agade, Ešnunna, Zamban, Me-Turnu, Der, as far as the region of Gutium, the sacred centers on the other side of the Tigris, whose sanctuaries had been abandoned for a long time, I returned the images of the gods, who had resided there [i.e., in Babylon], to their places and I let them dwell in eternal abodes. I gathered all their inhabitants and returned to them their dwellings. In addition, at the command of Marduk, the great lord, I settled in their habitations, in pleasing abodes, the gods of Sumer and Akkad, whom Nabonidus, to the anger of the lord of the gods, had brought into Babylon. (Lines 30-33)

          Note (below) the Archaeological considerations from www.pasthorizonspr.com, which counter the opinions of Mr. MacGregor. It appears Cyrus acknowledges equidistance to all gods but Marduk.

After taking Babylon, Cyrus the Great proclaimed himself "king of Babylon, king of Sumer andAkkad, king of the four corners of the world" in the famous Cyrus cylinder, an inscription deposited in the foundations of the Esagila temple dedicated to the chief Babylonian god, Marduk. The text of the cylinder denounces Nabonidus as impious and portrays the victorious Cyrus pleasing the god Marduk. It describes how Cyrus had improved the lives of the citizens of Babylonia, repatriated displaced peoples and restored temples and cult sanctuaries. Although some have asserted that the cylinder represents a form of human rights charter, historians generally portray it in the context of a long-standing Mesopotamian tradition of new rulers beginning their reigns with declarations of reforms.

The Bible says:

From 2 Chronicles:

Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is among you of all His people? May the LORD his God be with him, and let him go up!" - 2 Chronicles 36:22-23

From Isaiah:

"Who says of Cyrus, 'He is My shepherd, And he shall perform all My pleasure, Saying to Jerusalem, "You shall be built," And to the temple, "Your foundation shall be laid." ' - Isaiah 44:28

From Ezra:

"King Cyrus also brought out the articles of the house of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and put in the temple of his gods; and Cyrus king of Persia brought them out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. This is the number of them: thirty gold platters, one thousand silver platters, twenty-nine knives, thirty gold basins, four hundred and ten silver basins of a similar kind, and one thousand other articles. All the articles of gold and silver were five thousand four hundred. All these Sheshbazzar took with the captives who were brought from Babylon to Jerusalem." - Ezra 1:7-11

Long before there was a cylinder and long before there was a Cyrus, Jeremiah prophesied about him. Before Cyrus was born, God called his name. Therefore, it was not his generosity or unique philosophy or zealous sympathy that caused him to release the people of God and pagan others to attend their gods---it was Jehovah God's plan; it was The Lord's doing. Such had nothing to do with diversity and cultural prowess or equidistance. 

There are a number of questions that arise from the focal article.

Is the first statement in the article true?
"This is the first evidence we have of people reflecting on how you run a society of diversity, without just forcing uniformity." 

(The author dismisses Moses' Law and Hammurabi's Code which are earlier codifications of Law, as being those demanding uniformity. However, emergent societies require a standard-so did that of Cyrus. He was far from the first to consider such.)

One must question: "What is the purpose of linking Thomas Jefferson to the Cyrus document?" (Could this be an attempt to re-write history and say the influence of Cyrus' document was the basis for the Constitution rather than Christian beliefs? Could their conclusions be an attempt to re-interpret these Documents? Did these early American documents promote equidistance between government and all gods? Could this subtle "separation of church state" heresy be their platform of belief? Could it be they wished to neutralize the power of the Hand of God in founding this nation? Why attempt to make the case of "equidistance?" Is this not basic propaganda?)

Some declare it to be propaganda
The Cyrus Cylinder remains an interesting document, because it shows that the common elements of Babylonian and Assyrian royal propaganda were also used by the Persian conqueror.

Perhaps the reader is wondering at this point why I am taking this matter to task instead of a regular Bible Study. It is because the level of propagandization has reached down to lower levels and now pervades almost every media source, even to the level of an advertisement. 

Several other considerations must come into play: 

First, a replica of this cylinder is prominently displayed in the U.N. headquarters in N.Y. It is a statement of their desire to break down all barriers to cultural integration including religion, capitalism and democracy. I believe this display is a propaganda tool. Symbolically it enshrines a form of world government devoid of God. 

Secondly, it has been hailed by Iranian leaders as a display of their long history of tolerance. 

Thirdly, it is a form of "slanted education" targeting those who do not know true history. It is another attempt to rewrite history in order to legitimize an agenda. The subtleness of the approach is disdainful. 

Think, if you will, about the more blatant attempts, recently, to re-write history targeting the hero's of this nation. George Washington and the recent television exposé of his relationship with Martha is one. Jefferson's supposed affair with a slave girl and his being influenced by "other than wholesome" reasons for his writings. Lincoln, the popular film has innumerable facets of propaganda and speculation. The Passion movie incorporated 32 patently erroneous precepts within its portrayals. Now, the Bible series and its "interpretations" of truth form the latest rage. 

One of the basic tenets of revolution is to raise up new hero images and debase the old ones. Discrediting the old hero system of a nation also discredits their documents and decisions as being outdated and opportunistic. 

We are bombarded with "new information" and the "latest understanding." Science displaces Theology. Societal considerations are more important than philosophy. Moral relativity is more avant guard than morals and social mores of the past. Our consumerism has caused us to increase our tolerance of things worldly in order to maintain our life style and continue the flow of materials and goods toward us. Now, pulpits pander to the "compromised." 

The re-writing of history is the design of educators and others who seek to undermine the sacred matters of our past. America was built on the Protestant Ethic and none other. MY family forefathers are named in Jamestown, and they came here to worship the true and living God. They first erected a cross, founded a church and then built their homes, in that order. My forefathers fought in the revolutionary war, the war of 1812 and