Propaganda works by repetition, gaslighting works by erosion. Together they do not merely distort facts, they wear down conscience. They make people doubt their own eyes, their own memory, their own moral instincts. Over time, lies stop feeling like lies and start feeling like air, invisible, assumed, unquestioned. That is how a people are trained not to notice what is being taken from them, truth first, then compassion, then one another.

What hurts most, I think, is not just the lies themselves, but watching good people, baptized people, people who once knew better, swallow them whole. Not because they are evil, but because fear is persuasive, belonging is seductive, and certainty feels safer than truth. Lies offer simplicity. Truth asks us to change.

Jesus never underestimated this. He named it plainly. “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” Not comfortable. Free. Freedom is costly. It requires unlearning. It requires humility. It requires courage to stand apart when the crowd is chanting.

And here is the hard, holy truth. When people believe lies, it is often because the lies have met an unhealed wound. Shame. Loss. Economic fear. Displacement. Rage that has nowhere else to go. Propaganda does not create these wounds, it exploits them. That does not excuse the harm, but it helps us understand why shouting facts rarely works. Lies are held emotionally, not intellectually.

Your frustration with the media and our government, and those in power is righteous. It is the ache of loving truth in a world that keeps anesthetizing itself. It is the grief of watching neighbors choose illusion over accountability. Even Jesus wept over Jerusalem, not because they were ignorant, but because they would not see.

So breathe my friends. Do not let their gaslighting make you doubt your sanity or your moral compass. Truth is not decided by volume or votes. Truth is steady. Truth is patient. Truth keeps showing up, even when mocked.

Your call is not to convince everyone (a reminder I need sometimes ) Your call is to remain clear, tender without being naïve, compassionate without being complicit. To keep telling the truth in love, even when your voice shakes. To refuse to let lies harden your heart.

This frustration we are all feeling, hold it carefully. Let it sharpen your prayer, deepen your solidarity with the wounded, and fuel your resistance rooted in love. Lies burn hot and fast. Truth endures.