Over the course of the last several days, the story of the hoax perpetrated by the African-American homosexual actor, Jussie Smollet, has dominated the news cycle in much of the media. I say ‘much’ of the media because it was much like a seesaw with one side going way up and the other way down, and depending on which political or social perspective one adopted, you probably endured the seesaw experience of this story. According to the Chicago Police Department, Smollet perpetrated a lie, one not even worth a storyline on Wresting Entertainment, all because he wanted more money for his role on the Fox TV show, Empire. Smollett’s story was that on January 29 at 2:00 a.m., he went to a local Subway in Chicago to buy a sandwich (I don’t know of any Subway that is open 24 hours except maybe at highway truck stops, but it is possible). As he was walking back to his apartment, he was assaulted by two white men wearing red ‘Make America Great Again’ hats. They were screaming obscenities and racial and gender insults while referring to the show he was part of: “this is MAGA country!” They then attempted to douse him with bleach and put a noose around his neck to hang him (literally or figuratively, I am not sure). As proof of his assault, Smollet sported bruises and cuts around his face and body. Within a few hours, the story went viral with much of the media huffing and puffing and roaring with “righteous indignation.”

On CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, and a whole host of other outlets in the mass media, anchors and commentators shook their heads and pontificated on how the United States has become a country of hatred since the advent of President Donald Trump. “This is America in 2019,” said one lady with a sigh of sorrow and moral superiority at CNN. Politicians such as Senators Kamala Harris and Corey Booker called it a “lynching,” believing the story lock, stock, and barrel. Senator Harris commented on the pristine character of Jussie Smollet, on how he was one of the “kindest, most gentle persons” that she knew. They were joined by several other politicians in the Democrat party, as well as several celebrities in Hollywood. Don Lemon later said that many in the political left as well as in the LGBTQ crowd “wanted to believe Jussie Smollet.” I wonder if he thought about the irony of that statement after he finally decided to think about it.

For about two or three weeks, Jussie Smollet was a media darling. It has been said that most of the news media is driven by a “narrative.” Basically, most of the networks bring a political agenda or ideology into every story, regardless of the facts. Lara Logan, former CBS reporter who was viciously brutalized during the so called “Arab Spring” in Egypt when the Muslim Brotherhood took over the government from former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, said in a recent interview that 85% of the journalists in America are part of the Democrat party or vote that way officially. One can reasonably assume then that they have a vested interest to forward the agendas, ideologies, assumptions, as well as personalities that would benefit that party, despite any kind of reservations that the majority of people may have on any of the above. Whatever pushes an agenda forward… the facts only matter if it accomplishes this goal. If not, don’t worry about it and don’t mention it. And if anyone should bring those “stubborn facts” up, ignore them as much as possible, and if necessary destroy them. Given this situation, I believe the media, as well as the politicians and personalities, purposely decided to peddle Jussie Smollett’s lie. That’s right. Not one word of his story is true.

Of course, journalist and media personalities will never admit that they were so gullible. Robin Roberts of ABC Good Morning America interviewed Smollet. At the time of her interview, most viewers would say it was certainly not an effort to find facts but rather to create a stage for Smollett’s theatrics. In short, Roberts was totally lacking in the skepticism that journalists are supposed to bring into their work. Roberts later said that at the time of the interview, the Chicago Police Department had treated Smollett’s story as absolutely credible. In other words, it was the CPD’s fault for her journalistic negligence. Negligence? Absolutely. Usually, journalists save themselves from libel laws and litigation by using the word “allegedly.” Virtually none of the journalists or personalities such as Robin Roberts, or her colleagues in CNN and MSNBS or the other outlets used that word.

They did not study the facts of the case at all. This particular crime was committed during the very worst of the Polar Vortex ice storm that hit the upper Midwest of the nation. Chicago had -20 Fahrenheit temperatures. No one in their right mind would dare to be out at that moment. If Smollett’s account was to be true, it would mean that he was being stalked, targeted, but how could this be factual if virtually no one who would votes for Donald Trump watches the program, Empire? They were out targeting him - why? How would they know who he was on the program or that he was a homosexual activist at 2:00 in the morning? The attackers, according to Smollet, were wearing MAGA hats… in the city of Chicago. Chicago is not MAGA/Donald Trump country; it’s Barak Hussein Obama country. Over 88% of its vote in the 2016 election went Democrat. From the Mayor (Rahm Emmanuel) downward, their vitriol against President Donald Trump in particular, Republicans and Conservatives in general, is a known fact. But apparently, according to Smollett’s story, Chicago is an ultra-conservative white supremacist city akin to Mississippi and Alabama during 1965. The vast majority of the media colluded with Smollet. They bought the lie… because they wanted to. And now the reactions are fantastic!

The reactions run the gamut of those who are trying to run and hide, to those like Roberts who blame the police for treating Smollett’s story as credible, to empathy (they “understand” him), to outright support in spite of the facts… and now to the point of blaming those “racist, Donald Trump loving police!” Incredible.

We further keep hearing about “hate crimes.” “Stop the Hate.” “There is just too much hate in America these days.” What exactly does that mean? Before I answer that question, I should bring up Jussie Smollet again; what made him perpetrate this crime? Why did he think he would succeed in his intention in fabricating this hoax?

I think the answer to that question is a bit more complicated than what most people would like to believe. Smollet is an actor - problem number 1. He is very much a part of the Hollywood scene, where personalities, actors, actresses, and directors peddle so called “social justice” causes, trying to portray themselves as people “who really care.” When we say they “care,” it means preaching, lecturing, and pontificating about ideas near and dear to the political left, and only on the surface, I might add. Deeper thought and/or critical thinking is not part of the equation. I should also say that any form or media, including those having to do with advertising, are not geared to people who think deeply on a regular basis. In fact, quite the opposite. From my own observation, the vast majority of the populace is under an inferiority complex. It takes a tremendous amount of courage to go against popular trends in society. This is nothing new. Imagine how difficult it was for Copernicus, Galileo, Columbus, and Churchill to stand for the positions for which they are now famous. We respect them for being right, but at the time, they suffered all the scorn and alienation that their contemporaries and most of the people could dish out. That being said, political correctness is very much a part of the American psyche. Political correctness has nothing to do with the Truth. The term, “politically correct,” is actually from the Communist Party in the former Soviet Union and the Peoples Republic of China. Lenin, Stalin, and Mao all used the term or a derivative of it, and it has continued to this present day in every single Communist/Socialist country in the world, from North Korea to Cuba. Stalin would dictate to the propaganda ministry how to cover news stories (both foreign and domestic) from “true” party perspective. He (and Mao did this in China as well) further met with the country’s literary authors and other artists in other fields to induce them to create “socialist realism.” The threat against doing the opposite was very much implicit behind the smiles and fawnings of the dictator. That’s where the term and idea of “political correctness” comes from, and yes, it is very much alive in the United States.

One only needs to see the case of the baker in Colorado whose business was shut down by the LGBTQ groups as well as the by the state government of Colorado for not making a wedding cake for a gay wedding based on his faith beliefs. He became the victim of such harassment to basically drive him and his family to as much destruction as possible. That man fought back for two years. His case ended up in front of the U.S. Supreme Court which overturned all the decisions made by the local Colorado state officials. Though that decision was on the side of the baker, LGBTQ and all its entertainment world allies continued with all their vitriol and harassment, and just like Smollet and the journalists who uncritically covered his case, they never stopped to think of the irony of their statements (e.g., “that baker…should be forced to bake the cake for the gay couple…there is no room for bigotry in any way, shape or form…we have to drive it out - the thought police). The comments were made by people who scream “CENSORSHIP” at the slightest suggestion of restraint regarding their opinions, art work, or portrayals on the big screen.

There are numerous other examples. The Covington Kids who were harassed and lied about just a few weeks ago and who are now suing the Washington Post for $250 million for libel is another similar case. The truth about the innocence of those kids mattered not at all to leftist commentators and social justice warriors; instead, the commentary shifted to the idea that the kids deserved the treatment and slander that was thrown at them because some of them wore the red Make America Great Again hat! In such a time and place, should it surprise anyone why Jussie Smollet perpetrated this hoax? I call it the Cult of Victimization.

From Smollett’s point of view, it all had to do with contract negotiations and moving his status upward as an actor. Had his scheme worked, the whole world would be fawning over him. FOX executives would have given him a new contract with possibly quadruple the salary. He would be a more central character on Empire. He would possibly be given the obligatory Emmy Award and a whole host of other civic related awards for not only his activism but also his “courageous rise over adversity.” In the next presidential election, he would be the “poster boy” of the Democrat Party against the “bigotry” represented by the MAGA hat. How high could he have gone? He could be the next Colin Kaperneck, or even Nelson Mandela!

Had he been paying attention, he would have seen the same snake that tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden, whispering into his ear… only Smollet had long ago surrendered to that Snake.

Until the truth came out, everything was going according to plan. Why did the media and other personalities buy the lie… because they wanted to. It fit the narrative that the Devil had already put in their minds. Another homosexual actresses, Ellen Page, went on Stephen Colbert’s Late Show on CBS and with great melodrama blamed the “attack” on Jussie Smollet on the “hatred” that comes from the Vice President of the United States, Mike Pence! “The Vice President of the America wishes I didn’t have the love with my wife (Page is a lesbian)…”if you are in a position of power and you hate people, and you want to cause suffering to them, you go through the trouble, you spend your career trying to cause suffering, what do you think is going to happen? Kids are going to be abused and they’re going to kill themselves, and people are going to be beaten on the street.” Once again the Cult of Victimization. Why do they do this?

Vice President Pence had absolutely nothing to do with any of this story, yet his name and reputation was dragged through the mud along with President Trump. And why did the media go along with the charade? Because it fit the story line they want to peddle. From a certain point of view, one should honestly wonder, how are these people any different from fear mongers and “lynch mobs” of ages gone by? The same kind of melodrama and hysteria that is based on lies with the intention of attacking, subverting, or destroying someone else… some might say the “the end justifies the means” or “it’s about the cause.” The Bible says, “Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness Against thy Neighbor.”

Smollet and Page are actors, and in this category or people most everyone has a form of mental illness, at least that is the way I have observed it. Perhaps that helps with their profession. One of the most famous actors of recent times is Daniel Day Lewis. He has won numerous awards for his acting in moves and theatre. One of the techniques that he is famous for using would seem like sheer madness. He would mentally assume the persona of his character for the entire duration of the shooting of the film or the work that he was doing. Literally, for two months, he would “be” his character 24 hours a day 7 days a week until the director called for the final wrap on shooting. (How he kept from being diagnosed with schizophrenia, I do not know!) It was one of the techniques that made him a great actor, but not much else. Day-Lewis’ advantage is that he will never become a social commentator though I believe that there are issues he feels strongly about. He is focused almost exclusively on his acting job. Others, not so much.

Smollet and Page have added social commentary to work resume… and it is dangerous because as actors they do have a stage presence. They are trained to draw attention and to be emotive, but it is all from false pretenses. Ellen Page now feels that she has go further down the Cult of Victimization, most likely to cover the previous slanderous attack again the Vice President. She now claims that she was told by Hollywood producers to cover up the fact that she was a practicing lesbian, an absolutely bogus claim. Since the time of President Bill Clinton, the LGBTQ agenda has never been restrained in Hollywood by anyone, but rather it has been celebrated. I do not believe she can tell the truth about anything, including her own personal life. She feels that she needs to tell the world how much she loves and enjoys her “wife”… why? It goes back to the same idea behind Smollett’s “tears” on his interview with Robin Roberts on GMA. They are trying to put themselves on a pedestal by claiming the moral high ground. She should be careful. The whole sphere of Truth belongs to only one Person, Jesus Christ. And it will be dreadful when she, like Smollett, begin to fall as their fantasy dream world turns into a nightmare when the Truth rises up to judge sin.

I will touch on one more aspect… who are these people to claim that someone else is a “hater?” How do we define “hate?” What does “hate” look like? In fact, is that the right way to address “hate?” I suggest to anyone who is interested in the subject to read Jussie Smollett’s tweets about President Donald Trump. The language is dreadful and the content is so explicit that I cannot detail it in this article. For several months, Smollet uttered the most vial insults and epithets, but what made it worse was that he justified it as a political stance against the President… and all the leftists and liberals in the media, in entertainment, and even in the Democrat party (like Senators Harris and Booker) applauded him. Not once did anyone tell him to “tone it down” or to be careful about what he was saying. Why? In their minds “hate” speech is just fine if it is directed at President Trump, or against conservatives, or against anyone else who would dare voice the opinion against the political left or their whims and fancies. “Hate” speech is wonderful if it is directed at “deplorable.” Threaten the women and children associated with that group with rape and murder - that’s perfectly fine. But if at any point, the slightest criticism or even questions about verbalized policy is lobbed against any liberal or leftist group such as the LGBTQ, Social Justice Warriors, Climate Change, or anything else, it is “hate” speech.
Perception… I wonder if these people have it anymore. Some years ago, commentator Ben Shapiro was threatened during a debate in the aftermath of ESPN giving a “courage award” to Catelyn Jenner, former Olympic athlete Bruce Jenner, by “transgender” reporter Zoey Tur in a forum on the HLN cable channel. Tur was angry that Shapiro referred to him as well as Jenner as “biologically a man” with the pronoun “him” after asking the panel of guests why they were justifying delusions, and so he grabbed Shapiro (who was sitting next to him) by the back of his neck and threatened to send him home “in an ambulance.” It was a threat pure and simple and virtually anyone could see that, even the liberals who sat on that panel, but they decided to excoriate Shapiro saying that he purposely instigated Tur’s threat.

I think this is an example of the problem. Objectivity is impossible because, regarding the left, there is no objective standard except to say that what is considered Biblically right, morally accepted up until a decade ago, common sense up until a decade ago, never subject to question up until a decade ago, now is wrong. They do not know what the right answer is… except what the right answer is, but that’s ok, they’ll except any answer except the right one! Whatever anyone says about anything is right… except if it is the Truth. And we will try to kill that with semantics!

What is even more incredible about the Smollet situation is that now that the truth has come out, how many actors, actresses, and other personalities are “standing with him” unless they see “definitive proof.” One would think that Smollett’s $3,500.00 checks to the two Nigerian brothers who was part of the hoax, as well as their own testimony to the Chicago police would have served as more than sufficient proof. But apparently not. It was at this point, I was reminded of something from Scripture. And yes, this is the part where I bring in the Word of God and its relevance to the times.

In 2 Thessalonians 2, Paul warns and instructs the Church about the rise of the “Man of Lawlessness” - the Antichrist and the particular time period, or rather the situation of the time period in which he will rise and the Judgement of God would begin: “And you know what restrains him now so that in his time he will be revealed. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so till he is taken out of the way. Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonder, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. For this reason God will send a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the Truth, but took pleasure in wickedness” (2 Thessalonians 2: 6-12).

Three points to consider in that passage; First, the “mystery of lawlessness” is already at work. Secondly, the “one who restrains” - Jesus made mention of Him in John 15 and 16, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth which the world cannot receive (John 14:16-17). Third, the reference to “those who perish” - that they would have a proclivity to believe a lie and thereby are repelled by the Truth. In fact, they hate it. Would I put Jussie Smollet into this category? Not just him, but in fact much of the world would fit into that category.

Let’s face it, I don’t expect much of the world to stand up for the truth unless there is a multitude of people to stand with them. Often times, the vast majority of people are kowtowed by the sheer obnoxious, bellicose, behavior of the left, the ones who get press coverage for outrageous behavior. And what’s worse, if you have Hollywood celebrities and personalities and much of social media, not to mention the powers that be in the tech world in Silicon Valley all lined up against… you will not stand up against it unless the Holy Spirit is dynamically moving in your heart. (The president of Grindr found out about that the hard way.) That is not to say at this point that everybody out there is a fool. No. But that does not mean that if the aforementioned groups claimed the world was flat, that they would resist it. Smollett’s case for the liberal left is now not so much a factual occurrence as it is a reason to talk about “real hate crimes that are happening.” Exactly the kind of talk that has been used by every liar with an evil motive through all history. Each time, by the grace of God, it has failed. In Smollett’s case, there is no where he can run or disappear… that is if he wants to. Smollet, as said before, is not the first hate hoax. The numbers are very high and all throughout the country. Hoaxes and the mentality behind them give rise to the fallacious claims of “campus rape culture,” “white privilege,” male domination of women, and even Climate Change! Without insisting on the facts, claims are dogmatically asserted to be true and if the facts come out… well, we will continue to believe the lies anyway! Why? Because it makes us feel like good people! (AUTHOR’S NOTE from a previous article: This is John Lennon’s Imagine Syndrome!)

The “mystery of lawlessness” is very much in play in the world today. Its influence is on the sin nature of mankind and because of this mankind is gullible to the point of being setup for the biggest liar in human history. Jussie Smollet was just an agent of that “mystery” this time. I pray that God would open his eyes before he becomes a victim of that lawlessness for all eternity.