Propaganda has a power
similar to mob mentality. One wants to agree with the prevailing direction the
mob is moving in. To oppose the crowd is uncomfortable, even dangerous, and
therefore generally avoided. That is why the “average German” did not oppose
Hitler and the “average Afrikaner” supported apartheid. It is also the reason
why the “average Jew” rejects the notion that Jesus of Nazareth was the promised
Messiah and the “average Muslim” refuses to believe that Jesus rose from the
dead.
Only the brave dare to
investigate the claims of their opponents with an open mind. Most people are
completely unwilling to listen to those whose opinions are radically opposed
to their own. This is not altogether bad. I would rather accept the opinion of a
friend whom I know and respect than that of a complete stranger. Nevertheless, I
would do myself a disservice if I refused to listen to the arguments of those
who are “obviously wrong” in my eyes.
My father, whom I
regarded as my best friend, was extremely upset when I chose to “join the
opposition”. I was brought up Afrikaans and was a nominal member of the
predominant Afrikaans church. When I decided to get baptised as a believer, my
father was quite beside himself. Fortunately I was not living in 15th
century Europe or Britain where it was a capital
offence to be “re-baptised”. To crown it all I married someone who had never
learnt a word of Afrikaans. Since my father refused to speak English to her, I
taught my wife Afrikaans and today she speaks it
fluently.
The story has a good
ending. My father and I got reconciled after he rediscovered the faith he had
had as a child but had lost. When he died I was pleasantly surprised to find he
had made me a co-executor of his will and administrator of his
trust.
