I have just recently finished reading George Orwell’s classic novel 1984.  For me, this was required reading in high school.  I am sure most of you had to read it at some time in your educational career.  I remembered a lot of things from the story.  But I had forgotten how insightful Orwell could be.  In many ways, he sheds great light on human nature, and the ability of fallen humans to oppress and control their fellows.

1984 presents a dystopian picture of the world.  The entire globe consists of three massive empires—Oceania, Eastasia, and Eurasia.  These three states exist in a continual state of warfare with one another.  However, the war is largely contrived to serve economic ends and to help control the population of each state.  The hero of the novel, Winston Smith, is a citizen of Oceania, which is comprised of what we know as Great Britain, the Americas, and Australia.  Oceania is ruled by “the Party,” which exists for one purpose—pure power.  All citizens of Oceania are continually monitored, controlled, and indoctrinated in the philosophy of Ingsoc (formerly English Socialism).  Smith is a member of the Outer Party, but he hates the entire Ingsoc system, especially the ubiquitous leader, Big Brother.

The Party rules Oceania through fear, intimidation, mind control, and even torture.  Their goal is to maintain power by changing the very thought processes of the citizens, mainly through the manipulation of language.  They have created a new form of English called Newspeak.  Newspeak is designed to continually eliminate words from its ever-shrinking vocabulary.  By restricting the number of words, the Party restricts Oceania’s citizens from having the ability to verbalize, and eventually even to think about, concepts contrary to official Ingsoc doctrine.  Thus, the concepts of liberty, political equality, justice, freedom, God, religion, and morality are gradually being removed from their speech, and thus the thinking of every man.

In its efforts to control the citizenry, the Party has created powerful psychological weapons.  One of these is doublethink.  Doublethink is a Newspeak word that describes the irrational acceptance of contrary ideas.  In doublethink, a person can believe two contradictory ideas at the same time.  Part of the subtlety, and danger of doublethink, is that when a person has achieved the ability to actually think this way, then they accept lies and falsehood readily, knowing they are false, but choosing to believe in them as truth anyway.  As a result, truth itself is no longer objective or absolute.  Truth is whatever the Party says it is.  There is no objective reality to truth.

Along with doublethink, the Party is constantly engaged in monumental effort to control the past.  This is what Winston Smith does for a living.  He works for the Ministry of Truth (“Minitrue” in Newspeak), which is a government ministry devoted to promoting the Party’s version of the truth.  This includes altering documents from the past so that they agree with official Party positions.  For example, if a newspaper article from a previous year had a Party official saying that arms production would increase by 12% and it actually only increased by 9%, then all documents and recordings of that prediction have to be altered to conform to the 9% figure.  Thus, the Party is always right.  As a result, the objective reality of the past is revised to match the present Party assertion of truth.  Again, truth is relative and alterable.  The Party has learned that to control the present and the future, one must control the past.

As I reread 1984, I was struck by the parallels between Orwell’s imagined totalitarian society and what we are experiencing in our own society today.  There are many groups in America that may be accused of encouraging “doublethink” and the like.  However, one of the most obvious, and egregious, has to be the popular media.  This includes the various news media, Hollywood and the entertainment world, and Madison Avenue and the advertising industry.   For decades there has been a concerted effort on the part of these media outlets to call into question the nature of truth as it has been accepted as part of our Judeo-Christian heritage.  They then promote other versions of reality as “more true” and the “genuine” truth.  Let me give a couple of examples.

We now live in a culture where traditional sexual morality has largely been abandoned.  Adultery, fornication, homosexuality, and every form of sexual perversion are currently no longer considered immoral or sinful.  Indeed, these behaviors are actually considered normal, “healthy,” and acceptable.  I believe that one of the major reasons for this has been the concerted and purposeful effort of the various media—journalistic, print, film, music, the internet—to present sexual immorality as legitimate, even desirable.  At the same time, there is a concomitant and continual attempt to portray anyone who thinks differently as prudish, old-fashioned, and bigoted—even hateful and malicious.  The truth of God’s word regarding this matter is now held up to ridicule.  Further, it does not matter that there is evidence that demonstrates that sexual purity and monogamous marital fidelity is good for us and good for society.  The facts don’t matter.  “Truth” is what the media says it is.  And the media is always right.

However, there is another factor in play here.  Think about how many movies, novels, TV shows, and news reports depict the destructive nature of infidelity in relationships.  We watch celebrities in film and on television portray characters that lie, cheat, and are unfaithful at the drop of the hat.  And yet, we are supposed to feel sorry for those same characters if their boyfriends, wives, or significant others have an affair and prove unfaithful.  And we act the same way in our personal lives.  We want license to do as we please, but still believe that our partners should not betray us by being unfaithful to our relationship.  Talk about doublethink!

There are probably scores of examples that could be further cited.  Let me offer just one more—the growing tendency to unfounded and dishonest historical revisionism.  For instance, we increasingly hear historians who assert that most of the Founding Fathers were Deists and very secular in their worldviews.  They say that there is a common “myth” about the religious and spiritual foundations of our Republic.  (Click on this link to see one example from the Huffington Post.)  Sad to say, many people accept this tripe without even bothering to check the facts.  And even if the facts are presented—such as the multitude of allusions to God, Christ, the Bible, and Christianity to be found in the writings of the Founders—these are dismissed as being exceptions and of minor importance.  Yet, the truth is just the opposite of what is asserted.  No, not all of the Founders were Christians.  But many were.  And even those who were not believers still lived, thought, and operated within a Christian consensus and with a essentially biblical worldview.  But this historical fact is contrary to the worldview that many in the media believe in, or want to see promoted in our culture.  So they alter the past.  And just like the Party in Oceania, they have discovered that whoever controls the past controls the present and the future.  For these people, the past has no objective truth.  The truth of the past is what they choose it to be.  They create their own “truth,” making it what they want it to be.

Are you a person who is concerned about truth?  Do you believe that truth is objective and absolute?  Do you think that truth can still be found in the Bible?  In the Judeo-Christian worldview?  Then perhaps you would find it beneficial to take the time to read (or reread) Orwell’s 1984.  It is a powerful and poignant reminder of what is happening all around us, and what our future may become if we continue our rapid decline into doublethink and moral relativism.

P.S.  For a good article on historical revisionism, check out this link.

You also may want to watch this video on YouTube about the religious worldview of our Founding Fathers and the necessity of this worldview to our system of government.  Just click on this link.

P.P.S.  By the way, “plusdoublethinkful” is Newspeak for saying that someone is very good at exercising doublethink.

Truth Builders is an independent ministry, not associated with any particular denomination or parachurch organization.  The content of this site is the personal opinion of Victor Morris, and does not necessarily reflect the opinions, views or conclusions of anyone mentioned on this site.