While doing biblical research on the internet I came across some very interesting videos by a man who claims to be Christian. Much of what he said was true, and could be verified, but the more I watched his videos the more questions I had, and the more suspicious I became. I felt like he was manipulating his viewers, but I wasn’t sure how.
So I prayed about this, asking God if these were true Christian videos, or a cleverly disguised deception. God told me that it is highly important to know the meaning of words, and gave me some words who’s definitions I needed to look up. I did so and immediately discovered that the man in question is not a Christian but a gnostic who subtly deceives Christians into believing unbiblical views.
You Are Easily Manipulated When You Don’t Know the Definition of Words
Word-play and manipulation is like a magician’s trick. If you don’t know what to look for you can be easily fooled. The word magician can lead you on a path you normally would not go, by using words that you think you know the definition of, but actually do not.
Politicians are masters of this. Often they will describe something that sounds good, but if you know the definitions of the proper words you will discover that what they seem to propose is actually the opposite of what they desire. In this way people believe they are voting for certain policies and laws when they are really voting against them.
How many voters know the true definitions of the following words?:
Fascism – Socialism – Capitalism – Communism – Liberalism – Conservatism – Republic – Democracy
Common English has a certain meaning, but in law the same word can have a totally different definition. In a court of law it is of extreme importance to know the legal definition of words. Even words and names using lower case and capital letters have a different legal meaning than words and names written in all capital letters. Do an internet search for why legal name is all capitals or birth certificate name in all caps and see what comes up. Do you know the meaning of maritime law or admiralty law?
Of course, many religious leaders, evangelists, preachers and new agers use words to fool their followers as well. Wolves in sheep’s clothing are far easier to spot when you know the definition of religious or belief systems like: Christianity – Pentecostalism – Calvinism – Gnosticism – Agnosticism – Animism – Protestantism – Catholicism – Judaism – Islamism – Theism – Atheism and so forth.
Even when you know the meaning of words they can still be used against you if you are not aware of the manipulation. Many things, people and situations are renamed in order to reframe your beliefs.
The media will use sensationalism to distort the facts of a news report to excite the audience and to form biased impressions. The media also puts its spin on a story, which is a form of propaganda. They will spin words like homophobia or Islamophobia to push a certain agenda or belief.
Advertisements in all its forms use a number of tactics in which words are used to influence the audience to make a buying decision, whether it is beneficial or harmful for the consumer. There are many words used in a copywriter’s arsenal to trigger emotions, like: guaranteed, money-back, scarce, limited-time, quality, now, powerful, secrets, special offer, free and bonus.
At a higher level many advertisers, media outlets, religious leaders, lawyers, writers, musicians and politicians use words to hypnotize people.
Words Have Different Meanings According to Situation, Context and Time
Situation: The meaning of a word can change according to the situation you are in. For example; in an informal setting the word kill is probably used to mean to cause the death of something. But in court it can mean to cancel an investment transaction prior to the system receiving its posting. If you are in the United States and you hear the word bird it refers to the animal, but in England it is used to describe a very young female. In the USA a casket means coffin, but in Great Britain in means a box to store jewelry or trinkets.
Context: A word may have several different meanings. To determine its definition you need to look at the context in which the word is used. For example: some of the meanings for the word race are: the act of running, a contest of speed, to function at top speed, a breeding stock of animals, a class or kind of people unified by shared interests, habits, or characteristics. To determine the meaning the author intended it is vital to take the word in context. In the sentence he won the iron man race the author is obviously talking about a contest of speed and not a breeding stock of animals.
Time: With the passage of time the definition of words can be changed, or the use of a word will almost exclusively lean towards one definition. For example: one of the meanings of the word suffer was to allow; to permit; not to forbid or hinder. Suffer is almost never used that way anymore, instead it is understood to mean to be in some sort of pain or distress. The word naughty used to mean having very little or nothing, now it means guilty of disobedience or misbehavior. When reading older texts be careful to get the original meanings of the words.
To see the different meanings for yourself type in the same word in each of the following online dictionaries:
http://webstersdictionary1828.com
https://www.merriam-webster.com
https://thelawdictionary.org/
https://www.urbandictionary.com/
Reinforce and Increase Your Vocabulary
Make sure you know the definitions of the words currently in your vocabulary. Look up a few of them. You may be surprised that some of the words don’t mean what you thought they did.
Make an effort to learn new words and their definitions every week. You will find that your perception and understanding of the world will increase.
Whenever you hear or read a word that you do not know the meaning of, be sure to look up its definition and to memorize it.
Here are a few words you may want to start with:
Liberalism – Race – Holocaust – Cultural Marxism – Repent – Politically Correct – Corporation
When you know the definitions and meanings of words it becomes very difficult for someone to manipulate or to deceive you by those words; whether it be through people, shows, radio, the news, the written word, or even yourself.