In the first four parts of this series we have discussed the development and recent realization that society is bifurcating into parallel worlds, so to speak. The separate worlds that exist parallel to each other in the areas of the media, the money, the medicine, and the mind have been previously featured.
This week the final installment of the series will examine the morality of each of these parallel societal worlds today. What I mean by morality is applied spirituality, or applied faith that exists as the principles by which ethical acts and decisions are made.
As is the case with each of the previous facets of this phenomenon, the parallel morality that is observed today has been developing for a long time. Moreover, it is counter to the traditional Judeo-Christian morality that has been dominant in the western world for more than a millennium.
The parallel world of digital “faith” and techno-paganism
There has only begun to exhibit a clear division between these societal worlds very recently and it is reaching new and disturbing levels of cultic behavior using digital technology. Moreover, as has been the case in the previous arenas of our new parallel worlds, the COVID-19 plandemic panic has provided the opportunity for the world of digital “faith” to flourish as never before.
We have already seen Silicon Valley moguls like Zuckerberg attempt to create a virtual, digital ‘church,’ and the rise of transhumanism where people become the being they would worship, or AI where we just worship the machines. We are now also witnessing increasing awareness and advocacy for various forms of digital paganism and polytheism in recent times.
However, this phenomenon has historical roots dating back many decades, as Joe Allen explains in the following video presentation. The video is titled, “Is The Devil in the Computer?”
Yes folks, Timothy Leary, the LSD guru, predicted an electronic “religion” in the 1960s and wrote about “digital polytheism” in 1988! Yes, there really are a growing number of people trying to contact spirits using smartphones today!
However, this is actually just a new manifestation of an ancient divergence from Christianity and a heinous error known as “Gnosticism.” Note the title of one of the books Allen mentioned in the video, “TechGnosis.”
Gnosis is a Greek word generally translated as “knowledge.” In ancient Christianity, the gnostics claimed that truth and faith came from within rather than presented and accepted from without through the Word of God.
In fact, many biblical commentators believe that the gospel of John was written in part to rebuke the gnostic claims and beliefs that began to manifest in the late first century. According to britannica.com,
Many of the so-called gnostic groups are characterized by a mythology that distinguishes between an inferior creator of the world (a demiurge) and a more transcendent god or order of being. Another frequently encountered theme is that there is a special class or race of humans that are descended from the transcendent realm and are destined to achieve salvation and to return to its spiritual origins. Salvation is understood as a revelation that reawakens knowledge (gnosis) of the race’s divine identity; in contrast, the traditional Christian emphasis is on redemption through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
This ancient belief was a twisting of Christian belief to empower man with divinity, “knowledge of the race’s divine identity,” and thus create whatever moral and religious system the human race would see fit to create. Moreover, it traces right back to the original sin where our progenitors believed the Satanic lie that we could become “like Gods.”
The result of this has always been a rise in paganism from ancient times, now reasserting its presence in the techno-world, as Allen mentioned in the video above. The occult, witches, magic, and mysticism are all increasingly popular on the internet and available worldwide.
With the newly sensory immersive technology that is now emerging in the virtual reality world, the appeal of these pagan practices will only increase. People have been trying to put “the devil in the computer” for a long time and now it may be coming to a point where techno-demons and the digital devil will emerge into being.
The question that comes to the fore is, ‘Can this be avoided or better yet, halted in its tracks?’ Is this parallel world of manifest evil going to continue inevitably and dominate our world centered on truth and God, or can it be halted and defeated?
The answer is yes…with certain qualifications.
That is, to halt this takes the unified effort of God’s people, however, in the end, only the work of the LORD can totally defeat these efforts.
For these parallel worlds have existed since the dawn of Creation. They are the parallel worlds of good and evil and there will always be portions of humanity aligned with one world or the other.
That will only cease at the culmination of time with the return of Christ. However, we are called to continue the battle against evil until that end-of-time event.
With the help of God, we can temporarily halt the advance of this evil in our time and perhaps secure the hold of righteous liberty for further generations. But we must begin here and now, with prayer and relentlessly asserting our God-given liberty against our foes in the tech world, the media, and in the government.
That effort will require a great deal of strength and determination and those qualities need some inspiration as well. So, I conclude with this music video that I like to think of as a new anthem in this battle.
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. I Peter 5:8 [ESV]
D.T. Osborn
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