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The ad, now removed by Facebook, denounced Antifa, the decentralized movement of far-left agitators known for acts of domestic terrorism and political violence.
US Attorney General Barr has declared Antifa a domestic terrorist organization, but Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook disagrees.
The riots in the streets are only exceeded by the media's battle for your mind.
Here's how it works.
Be informed.
The battle for your mind.
Yesterday Facebook removed a Trump Campaign ad denouncing Antifa, even though A/G Barr has defined their actions as "domestic terrorism."
As a result, President Trump has said he intends to officially declare Antifa to be a domestic terrorist group.
His campaign placed the ad on Facebook yesterday to move the process forward.
The ad said this:
Dangerous MOBS of far-left groups are running through our streets and causing absolute mayhem. They are DESTROYING our cities and rioting – it’s absolute madness.
It’s important that EVERY American comes together at a time like this to send a united message that we will not stand for their radical actions any longer. We’re calling on YOU to make a public statement and add your name to stand with President Trump against ANTIFA.
Please add your name IMMEDIATELY to stand with your President and his decision to declare ANTIFA a Terrorist Organization.
The now-deleted ad featured Antifa's symbol---an inverted red and black triangle. Antifa uses it to symbolize their movement. The colors black and red are the historical colors of the anarcho-communist movement--- all of which are available for sale on their web site.
But Facebook and the far-left organizations that run cover for them, told Facebook that the triangle was a "hate" symbol because it was similar to the one's used in Nazi concentration camps.
But I thought the red and black triangle belonged to Antifa, not Trump. Well, it's complicated. It is Antifa's anywhere else, but when Trump exposes it, it becomes Trump's.
Got it.
A Facebook spokesman explained it to the New York Daily News like this:
"We removed these posts and ads for violating our policy against organized hate. Our policy prohibits using banned hate group's symbols to identify political prisoners without the context that condemns or discusses the symbol."
In a post on Twitter, the Trump team posted an image showing the inverted red and black triangle noting that it is not in the ADL's Hate Symbols Database and that they were not promoting the symbol, but promoting the President's desire to identify the organization and its symbols as domestic terrorists.
This looks like a simple misunderstanding. Of course. It's supposed to look like that.
In 2018 Facebook deliberately censored political ads from the Trump team on an entirely different issue. Ahead of the mid-term elections, Facebook censored a Trump ad about the dangers of mass immigration.
Their explanation was very much the same as it was for Antifa: Complicated. And this time, "racist."
The far-left Daily Beast was the banner carrier on this attack. They actually convinced the broadcast networks to pull the ad first, because it was "racist" and unfit for television.
Once that was accomplished, they came after Facebook. Facebook quickly responded with this:
"This ad violates Facebook's advertising policy against sensational content so we are rejecting it."
A Facebook spokesman said at the time,
"That policy prohibits 'shocking, sensational, disrespectful or excessively violent content in paid ads. This [one] includes dehumanizing or denigrating entire groups of people and using frightening and exaggerated rumors of danger."
The images were of thousands of migrants at our southern border trying to illegally enter the country. It was, indeed, a sad sight, but the Trump campaign was trying to show the American people the tragedy of it all, while those who promote such things didn't want the American people to see it, so they blamed the Trump campaign for "shocking" and "sensationalizing" what their "policies and beliefs had created."
It really isn't very complicated. A closer look brings clarity.
This is one incident---one battle. The battle for your mind is an epidemic.
Americans don't trust the news media, but we keep watching.
Rasmussen Reports published yesterday found that just 30% of likely US voters trust the political news they're getting from the mainstream news organizations, while 53% do not trust it.
An earlier survey by Rasmussen had found that 72% of Democrats are "quite happy with the media news about Trump's handling of the coronavirus" because they believe it does not favor Trump.
Studies on why people don't trust the media usually land on 2 or 3 things: About 45% usually say they mistrust the news because of "inaccuracy, bias, 'fake news' and 'alternative facts'." Another reason people usually give is that they believe news reporting is "based on opinions or emotions." They also feel that many news stories are written online with the " primary objective of getting you to click ---"click bait" because it's their source of revenue."
The dilemma.
Mark Twain once said, "If you don't read the newspaper, you're uninformed. If you read the newspaper you're misinformed."
The takeaway
The battle for the mind is fierce on all fronts---cultural and spiritual.
Note this Truth:
"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." Romans 12:2
Eph. 1:8 talks about "The eyes of your understanding" being "filled with light." when we accept Christ. David wrote "My mind made diligent search". I Cor. 2:13 shows us how the new, redeemed mind functions. It is able to "discriminate", "examine", combine", "compare" and "explain" from a spiritual, biblical perspective---discernment.We, as believers, have the mind of Christ in us. With a new mind filled with light by the Spirit of God, the believer sees the path he or she should walk, and discerns the will and ways of God without the confusion and perplexities of the world.
Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Faithful. Be Prayerful.