Leftists, Including Leftist Evangelicals, Are Attempting to Gaslight Conservatives

Gregory, are you trying to tell me I am insane?
—Paula Anton, Ingrid Bergman’s character in Gaslight, 1944—

---

Key points: Leftists are notorious gaslighters. They do not have perspectives grounded in the truth and are not reliable sources of information.

---

This article is part 1 of a 3-part series titled “Beware of Leftist Gaslighters.” Part 2 is available here, and part 3 here.

Gaslighting is a term that refers to psychological manipulation of an innocent party. The term and its definition are based on a 1938 play and two subsequent films, one released in 1940 and the other in 1944. You can view the 1940 movie on this page. Here are a few scenes from the movie released in 1944.

Gaslighting occurs when an abuser attempts to blame another for various “problems” or “problematic” situations that often have been created and fueled by the abuser himself. The innocent party initially is relying on what he, she, or they see, hear, and know to be true; but the psychological tactics of the abuser cause the innocent party to question those facts, and even in some cases his or her own sanity.

Beware of Gaslighters and their Tactics

Leftists are notorious gaslighters. Many of them engage in gaslighting intentionally, but in some cases people who have been gaslit themselves use gaslighting’s manipulative tactics in their relationships with others without realizing it. Often the goal is to push leftist ideas. Their perspectives have been manipulated; and based on their newly adjusted point of view, they are unknowingly attempting to exploit and control others.

In our day, truth has been relegated in the minds of many to the realm of opinion — but objective truth exists nevertheless. Thus, we live in a culture that provides fertile ground for gaslighters. Here is a list of 9 gaslighters and gaslighting narratives. It is representative but not exhaustive. It should give you a good sense of how, and in some cases why, this increasingly common form of abuse takes place.

1. 1. 1. 1. Fact-Checkers
         2. Russell Moore
         3. J. D. Greear
         4. James Merritt and Danny Akin
         5. Ed Stetzer
         6. Thabiti Anyabwile
         7. Tim Keller
         8. The effort to minimize the importance and impact of the pro-life movement by broadening it.
         9. The narrative of critical race theory that says whites are perpetuating racism just because they’re white.

A Keen Observation

On May 10, 2019, Conservative activist and Christian Allie Beth Stuckey tweeted,

In my experience, as a Christian moves to the left politically, they begin to take the Bible less seriously. I’ve never seen someone become more liberal socially/politically while becoming more solid theologically. Biblical inerrancy seems to give way to cultural relevance.

Despite their claims to uphold biblical inerrancy and their identifying as theological conservatives, evangelical elites are drifting away from affirming Scripture in all it teaches and moving toward liberalism and even leftism. Beware! Leftism is a religion in itself, and it is incompatible with Christianity.

That said, be sure you don’t miss the main point we’re emphasizing here — that false messages are wrapped in manipulative rhetoric and accompanied by deceptive tactics to make the messages appear the more acceptable.

Coercion also occurs. Sometimes gaslighters shame their victims. Sometimes they play deceptive word games. Frequently they will seek to make their victims question their beliefs and convictions, typically by sewing seeds of doubt and by subtly challenging long-held, tested, and tried assumptions, including beliefs in biblical principles such as “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” and “You shall not covet.”

Take, for example, this Facebook post from a gentleman named Richard Hyde. Richard writes, “The Gospel is to save the world from sin not to save America from communism.”

Fashionable Statements

We’ll get to Mr. Hyde’s declaration in a moment. What he wrote actually reminds me of another statement I often hear about homosexuality and those who’ve come to Christ with homosexuality in their pasts. It has become fashionable for such a person to say, “God doesn’t call me to heterosexuality, but to holiness.”

Here we must wave a red flag. Wait a minute! Make sure you don’t let your understanding of God’s call pave the way for you to make excuses to sin or to flirt with temptation!

• • • • • We never would say God doesn’t call a thief-turned-Christian to be productive and generous, but to holiness.
        • We never would say that God doesn’t call a liar-turned-Christian to tell the truth, but to holiness.
        • Nor would we ever say that God doesn’t call a murderer to cease killing people, but to holiness.

Why? We understand intuitively that in each of these instances the God-honoring activity is a part of holiness. (See Eph. 4:17-32.) Because heterosexuality is a part of God’s good design, it also is a part of holiness. Therefore, the call to holiness for the Christian with homosexuality in his or her past involves heterosexuality—or at least moving toward it. At bare minimum, this means renouncing homosexuality as an identity and turning away from homosexual activity altogether.

Advocating the Tenets of Social Justice and Marxism also Has Become Fashionable

Similarly, it has become fashionable for Christians to embrace socialist ideals pushed by the social justice movement. It has become fashionable to imply or to state directly that socialism and communism are neutral on Christianity or even compatible with it. However, neither of these ideas is true. Socialism and communism (and the social justice movement as well) are incompatible with Christianity. Why? Because they rest on unbiblical principles. They are unbiblical ideologies.

Another reason it has become fashionable to push socialist ideals is because American patriotism is out of style. No one wants to be accused of being a Christian nationalist, or (gasp!) a capitalist! Yet the Bible affirms the free enterprise system in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. As theologian, sociologist, and historian Alvin J. Schmit declares,

Even though Christianity does not [overtly] espouse a given economic ideology, it would be quite erroneous to conclude that therefore [just] any economic ideology is compatible with Christian values and beliefs. Such a conclusion, however, is often made, especially by those who look favorably upon socialism.…Just as God does not want people to be coerced in spiritual matters, so too he does not want them to be coerced in earthly matters, for instance, in their economic activities. There is not a single reference in either the Old or New Testament in which God denies economic freedom to people, as in fascism, socialism, and communism (emphasis added).¹

Christians need to make freedom fashionable again!

Communism and Christianity: Polar Opposites

Daren Mehl, an astute cultural observer and a believer who is firmly grounded in a biblical worldview, responded in part to Richard Hyde’s assertion that “The Gospel is to save the world from sin not to save America from communism” this way:

Your post has made a false dichotomy. The gospel saves the world from Communism. It’s not that Jesus came only to save our souls, but to set us free from sin. America is part of the world, and communism is sin.

You’re gaslighting for communism.…

[In this instance, gaslighting means] leading the reader to believe the gospel doesn’t address politics or that saving America isn’t in scope of the gospel. It [the intended or unintended gaslighting] makes room to downplay communism which is sin and one of the largest threats to nations RIGHT NOW. The gospel does absolutely speak against communism and if we lived in that truth it WOULD save America from the sin of communism. A clear and present danger, promoted by democrats.

So gaslighting is leaving the reader thinking the gospel isn’t a means of salvation for a nation, or that communism isn’t conquered through the gospel.

Now, Daren knows that Jesus didn’t come to set up an earthly kingdom. Further, he knows that the gospel isn’t salvation from communism. At the same time, when the gospel is preached and people come to Christ, take Christianity seriously, and apply its principles to their lives and in society, God-given rights are recognized and freedoms are respected and protected. Authentic biblical Christianity impacts not only every area of an individual’s life, but also society at every level. In this sense the gospel trumps and “saves people” from communism.

Members of Previous Generations of Christians Knew

Not that many decades ago, believers understood this. They weren’t so easily led astray by enticing, feel-good rhetoric.

Listen to Jim Downing, whom we heard from in our post on Pearl Harbor, talk about the onset of the Cold War. Remember, Jim was a military man, but also a devout Christian engaged in ministry. In his book The Other Side of Infamy: My Journey through Pearl Harbor and the World of War, Jim wrote,

THE WORLD WAR WAS OVER, but a new and different battle was just starting. Two superpowers remained at the conclusion of World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union. Our society was founded on freedom—a capitalistic economic system, leaders chosen by the people, a free press, freedom of expression, and freedom to worship. The Soviet state featured socialism and a single-party government that mostly discouraged religious faith and controlled the economy, the press, and to a great extent the lives of its people. Perhaps conflict was inevitable. The Cold War was about to begin.²

---

Our [American] society was founded on freedom—a capitalistic economic system, leaders chosen by the people, a free press, freedom of expression, and freedom to worship. The Soviet state featured socialism and a single-party government that mostly discouraged religious faith and controlled the economy, the press, and to a great extent the lives of its people. Perhaps conflict was inevitable.
—Jim Downing—

---

And what was Jake DeShazer’s perspective? Remember that Jake was the Doolittle Raider who spent three years as a POW, held by Japan. In captivity he became a believer and became a missionary to Japan following World War 2.

Jake’s biographers, Janet and Geoff Benge, report the following:

• • • As 1949 rolled on, to the west, in China, the communists were slowly but surely taking control of that country. There were also many in Japan who embraced communism, seeing it as providing new hope and a new direction for Japan. This motivated Jake and many other missionaries to reach out to as many Japanese people as possible with the gospel before the people could be wooed away by the promises of communist ideology.³
    • Christmas gave way to New Year’s Day 1950—the dawn of a new decade. Jake kept busy through January and February, although he was becoming increasingly concerned about the political situation in Asia. The region was still very unstable following the Second World War. On October 1, 1949, the communists had taken complete control of China and established the People’s Republic of China. Now it was looking as though the Korean Peninsula was also about to fall into the hands of the communists. Despite General MacArthur’s ban on communism in Japan, the ideology was making inroads. Jake was convinced that more had to be done to win the Japanese people over to Christianity, lest Japan also fall into the hands of the communists.⁴
    • Jake, like many in Japan, was greatly concerned about the [Korean] war. If the UN force failed to achieve its objective, would Japan be the next country the communists set their sights on? Jake redoubled his evangelism efforts as he waited to see the outcome of the fighting in Korea.⁵

---

Jake was convinced that more had to be done to win the Japanese people over to Christianity, lest Japan also fall into the hands of the communists.
—Janet and Geoff Being, biographers of Jake DeShazer—

---

Jim Downing and Jake DeShazer were discerning enough to understand that communism would not be kind to personal liberties or to efforts to spread the gospel. Do you think they would have been convinced otherwise, or even would have been tempted to think otherwise, had they been gaslit by those favoring socialism and Communism? I don’t think so.

We need to be grounded in this way. We need to take our cues, not merely from Jim Downing and Jake DeShazer, who lived decades ago, but also from Daren Mehl. We have to become wise and wary of nefarious, deceptive efforts, of attempts to manipulate our thinking and perspectives in favor of socialism.

Let’s make sure we’re grounded in biblical truth, that we are upholding a biblical worldview and living our lives accordingly, and that we can recognize and effectively resist gaslighting tactics.

We’ll talk more about this after Christmas. Next week, we’ll focus on Christ’s arrival as a baby in Bethlehem.

You will definitely want to be here for our discussion! Count on it!

 

Copyright © 2021` by B. Nathaniel Sullivan. All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture has been taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Some Scripture passages in this article have been taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

top photo credit: Gaslight, 1944, Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman

Notes:

¹Alvin J. Schmidt, How Christianity Changed the World, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2004), 204-205.

²Downing, Jim. The Other Side of Infamy: My Journey through Pearl Harbor and the World of War (p. 135). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

³Benge, Janet; Benge, Geoff. Jacob DeShazer: Forgive Your Enemies (Christian Heroes: Then & Now) . YWAM Publishing. Kindle Edition. Locations 1839-1842.

⁴Benge, Janet; Benge, Geoff. Locations 1857-1860.

⁵Benge, Janet; Benge, Geoff. Location 1941.