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Live Not by Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents Kindle Edition

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The New York Times bestselling author of The Benedict Option draws on the wisdom of Christian survivors of Soviet persecution to warn American Christians of approaching dangers.

For years, émigrés from the former Soviet bloc have been telling Rod Dreher they see telltale signs of "soft" totalitarianism cropping up in America--something more Brave New World than Nineteen Eighty-Four. Identity politics are beginning to encroach on every aspect of life. Civil liberties are increasingly seen as a threat to "safety". Progressives marginalize conservative, traditional Christians, and other dissenters. Technology and consumerism hasten the possibility of a corporate surveillance state. And the pandemic, having put millions out of work, leaves our country especially vulnerable to demagogic manipulation.

In Live Not By Lies, Dreher amplifies the alarm sounded by the brave men and women who fought totalitarianism. He explains how the totalitarianism facing us today is based less on overt violence and more on psychological manipulation. He tells the stories of modern-day dissidents--clergy, laity, martyrs, and confessors from the Soviet Union and the captive nations of Europe--who offer practical advice for how to identify and resist totalitarianism in our time. Following the model offered by a prophetic World War II-era pastor who prepared believers in his Eastern European to endure the coming of communism, Live Not By Lies teaches American Christians a method for resistance:
  •  SEE: Acknowledge the reality of the situation.
  •  JUDGE: Assess reality in the light of what we as Christians know to be true.
  •  ACT: Take action to protect truth.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn famously said that one of the biggest mistakes people make is assuming totalitarianism can't happen in their country. Many American Christians are making that mistake today, sleepwalking through the erosion of our freedoms. Live Not By Lies will wake them and equip them for the long resistance.

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Relatively few contemporary Christians are prepared to suffer for the faith, because the therapeutic society that has formed them denies the purpose of suffering in the first place, and the idea of bearing pain for the sake of truth seems ridiculous.

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As part of its quest to define reality, a totalitarian state seeks not just to control your actions but also your thoughts and emotions. The ideal subject of a totalitarian state is someone who has learned to love Big Brother.

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The old, hard totalitarianism had a vision for the world that required the eradication of Christianity. The new, soft totalitarianism does too, and we are not equipped to resist its sneakier attack.

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Editorial Reviews

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“As a new cultural revolution aims to institutionalize a tyranny of ideological clichés, Dreher renews Solzhenitsyn’s great call to ‘live not by lies.’ I cannot imagine a more timely and urgent book, or one with a more enduring spiritual, political, and cultural message.”—Daniel J. Mahoney, coeditor of The Solzhenitsyn Reader

“In this remarkably prescient book, Dreher sets Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s timeless appeal to ‘live not by lies’ as the cornerstone of his own bold warning. His suggestion of a dawning post-Christian, ‘pre-totalitarian’ society is impossible to dismiss in light of the patient case he builds for his passionate, if provocative, thesis.”—Ignat Solzhenitsyn, conductor and pianist

“With characteristic foresight, Rod Dreher has written an invaluable compendium of how to live fearlessly under totalitarianisms, old and new. Better still, the book is a counsel of hope and joy for even the bleakest days—and an encouragement we need, especially today in this time of cascading crises.”—Patrick Deneen, author of Why Liberalism Failed

"Live Not By Lies will cement Rod Dreher’s reputation as the most important Christian thinker of our age."—Crisis Magazine

“Christians who care about the future of the gospel in America should give heed to Dreher's manual. Live Not by Lies is a timely, perhaps even prophetic book."—Touchstone Magazine

About the Author

Rod Dreher is a senior editor at The American Conservative. He has written and edited for the New York Post, The Dallas Morning News, and National Review, and his commentary has been published in The Wall Street Journal and the Weekly Standard. He is the bestselling author of Live Not By Lies, The Benedict Option, The Little Way of Ruthie Leming, Crunchy Cons, and How Dante Can Save Your Life.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chapter One

Kolakovi the Prophet

Sometimes, a stranger who sees deeper and farther than the crowd appears to warn of trouble coming. These stories often end with people disbelieving the prophet and suffering for their blindness. Here, though, is a tale about a people who heard the prophet's warnings, did as he advised, and were ready when the crisis struck.

In 1943, a Jesuit priest and anti-fascist activist named Tomislav Poglajen fled his native Croatia one step ahead of the Gestapo and settled in Czechoslovakia. To conceal himself from the Nazis, he assumed his Slovak mother's name-Kolakovic-and took up a teaching position in Bratislava, the capital of the Slovak region, which had become an independent vassal state of Hitler. The priest, thirty-seven years old and with a thick shock of prematurely white hair, had spent some his priestly training studying the Soviet Union. He believed that the defeat of Nazi totalitarianism would occasion a great conflict between Soviet totalitarianism and the liberal democratic West. Though Father Kolakovic worried about the threats to Christian life and witness from the rich, materialistic West, he was far more concerned about the dangers of communism, which he correctly saw as an imperialistic ideology.

By the time Father Kolakovic reached Bratislava, it was clear that the Red Army would defeat the Germans in the East. In fact, in 1944, the Czech government in exile-which also represented Slovaks who refused to accept the nominally independent Slovak state-made a formal agreement with Stalin, guaranteeing that after driving the Nazis out, the Soviets would give the reunited nation its freedom.

Because he knew how the Soviets thought, Father Kolakovic knew this was a lie. He warned Slovak Catholics that when the war ended, Czechoslovakia would fall to the rule of a Soviet puppet government. He dedicated himself to preparing them for persecution.

The Unready Christians of Slovakia

Father Kolakovic knew that the clericalism and passivity of traditional Slovak Catholicism would be no match for communism. For one thing, he correctly foresaw that the communists would try to control the Church by subduing the clergy. For another, he understood that the spiritual trials awaiting believers under communism would put them to an extreme test. The charismatic pastor preached that only a total life commitment to Christ would enable them to withstand the coming trial.

"Give yourself totally to Christ, throw all your worries and desires on him, for he has a wide back, and you will witness miracles," the priest said, in the recollection of one disciple.

Giving oneself totally to Christ was not an abstraction or a pious thought. It needed to be concrete, and it needed to be communal. The total destruction of the First World War opened the eyes of younger Catholics to the need for a new evangelization. A Belgian priest named Joseph Cardijn, whose father had been killed in a mining accident, started a lay movement to do this among the working class. These were the Young Christian Workers, called "Jocists" after the initials of their name in French. Inspired by the Jocist example, Father Kolakovic adapted it to the needs of the Catholic Church in German-occupied Slovakia. He established cells of faithful young Catholics who came together for prayer, study, and fellowship.

The refugee priest taught the young Slovak believers that every person must be accountable to God for his actions. Freedom is responsibility, he stressed; it is a means to live within the truth. The motto of the Jocists became the motto for what Father Kolakovic called his "Family": "See. Judge. Act." See meant to be awake to realities around you. Judge was a command to discern soberly the meaning of those realities in light of what you know to be true, especially from the teachings of the Christian faith. After you reach a conclusion, then you are to act to resist evil.

V‡clav Vako, a Kolakovic follower, recalled late in his life that Father Kolakovic's ministry excited so many young Catholics because it energized the laity and gave them a sense of leadership responsibility.

"It is remarkable how Kolakovic almost instantly succeeded in creating a community of trust and mutual friendship from a diverse grouping of people (priests, religious and lay people of different ages, education, or spiritual maturity)," Vako wrote.

The Family groups came together at first for Bible study and prayer, but soon began listening to Father Kolakovic lecture on philosophy, sociology, and intellectual topics. Father Kolakovic also trained his young followers in how to work secretly, and to withstand the interrogation that he said would surely come.

The Family expanded its small groups quickly across the nation. "By the end of the school year 1944," Vako said, "it would have been difficult to find a faculty or secondary school in Bratislava or larger cities where our circles did not operate."

In 1946, Czech authorities deported the activist priest. Two years later, communists seized total power, just as Father Kolakovic had predicted. Within several years, almost all of the Family had been imprisoned and the Czechoslovak institutional church brutalized into submission. But when the Family members emerged from prison in the 1960s, they began to do as their spiritual father had taught them. Father Kolakovic's top two lieutenants-physician Silvester KrcÿmŽry and priest Vladim’r Jukl-quietly set up Christian circles around the country and began to build the underground church.

The underground church, led by the visionary cleric's spiritual children and grandchildren, became the principle means of anti-communist dissent for the next forty years. It was they who organized a mass 1988 public demonstration in Bratislava, the Slovak capital, demanding religious liberty. The Candle Demonstration was the first major protest against the state. It kicked off the Velvet Revolution, which brought down the communist regime a year later. Though Slovak Christians were among the most persecuted in the Soviet Bloc, the Catholic Church there thrived in resistance because one man saw what was coming and prepared his people.

The New Totalitarianism

Why did Father Kolakovic know what was coming to the people of Central Europe? He was not supernaturally gifted, at least not that we know. Rather, he had studied Soviet communism intensely to prepare for missionary work in Russia and understood how the Soviets thought and behaved. He could read the geopolitical signs of the times. And as a priest who had been organizing Catholic resistance to the Nazi version of totalitarianism, he had on-the-ground experience with clandestine combat against monstrous ideology.

Today's survivors of Soviet communism are, in their way, our own Kolakovices, warning us of a coming totalitarianism-a form of government that combines political authoritarianism with an ideology that seeks to control all aspects of life. This totalitarianism won't look like the USSR's. It's not establishing itself through "hard" means like armed revolution, or enforcing itself with gulags. Rather, it exercises control, at least initially, in soft forms. This totalitarianism is therapeutic. It masks its hatred of dissenters from its utopian ideology in the guise of helping and healing.

To grasp the threat of totalitarianism, it's important to understand the difference between it and simple authoritarianism. Authoritarianism is what you have when the state monopolizes political control. That is mere dictatorship-bad, certainly, but totalitarianism is much worse. According to Hannah Arendt, the foremost scholar of totalitarianism, a totalitarian society is one in which an ideology seeks to displace all prior traditions and institutions, with the goal of bringing all aspects of society under control of that ideology. A totalitarian state is one that aspires to nothing less than defining and controlling reality. Truth is whatever the rulers decide it is. As Arendt has written, wherever totalitarianism has ruled, "[I]t has begun to destroy the essence of man."

As part of its quest to define reality, a totalitarian state seeks not just to control your actions but also your thoughts and emotions. The ideal subject of a totalitarian state is someone who has learned to love Big Brother.

Back in the Soviet era, totalitarianism demanded love for the Party, and compliance with the Party's demands was enforced by the state. Today's totalitarianism demands allegiance to a set of progressive beliefs, many of which are incompatible with logic-and certainly with Christianity. Compliance is forced less by the state than by elites who form public opinion, and by private corporations that, thanks to technology, control our lives far more than we would like to admit.

Many conservatives today fail to grasp the gravity of this threat, dismissing it as mere "political correctness"-a previous generation's disparaging term for so-called "wokeness." It's easy to dismiss people like the former Soviet professor as hysterical if you think of what's happening today as nothing more than the return of the left-wing campus kookiness of the 1990s. Back then, the standard conservative response was dismissive. Wait till those kids get out into the real world and have to find a job.

Well, they did-and they brought the campus to corporate America, to the legal and medical professions, to media, to elementary and secondary schools, and to other institutions of American life. In this cultural revolution, which intensified in the spring and summer of 2020, they are attempting to turn the entire country into a "woke" college campus.

Today in our societies, dissenters from the woke party line find their businesses, careers, and reputations destroyed. They are pushed out of the public square, stigmatized, canceled, and demonized as racists, sexists, homophobes, and the like. And they are afraid to resist, because they are confident that no one will join them or defend them.

The Gentleness of Soft Totalitarianism

It's possible to miss the onslaught of totalitarianism, precisely because we have a misunderstanding of how its power works. In 1951, poet and literary critic Czesaw Miosz, exiled to the West from his native Poland as an anti-communist dissident, wrote that Western people misunderstand the nature of communism because they think of it only in terms of "might and coercion."

"That is wrong," he wrote. "There is an internal longing for harmony and happiness that lies deeper than ordinary fear or the desire to escape misery or physical destruction."

In The Captive Mind, Miosz said that communist ideology filled a void that had opened in the lives of early-twentieth-century intellectuals, most of whom had ceased to believe in religion.

Today's left-wing totalitarianism once again appeals to an internal hunger, specifically the hunger for a just society, one that vindicates and liberates the historical victims of oppression. It masquerades as kindness, demonizing dissenters and disfavored demographic groups to protect the feelings of "victims" in order to bring about "social justice."

The contemporary cult of social justice identifies members of certain social groups as victimizers, as scapegoats, and calls for their suppression as a matter of righteousness. In this way, the so-called social justice warriors (aka SJWs), who started out as liberals animated by an urgent compassion, end by abandoning authentic liberalism and embracing an aggressive and punitive politics that resembles Bolshevism, as the Soviet style of communism was first called.

At the turn of the twenty-first century, the cultural critic RenŽ Girard prophetically warned: "The current process of spiritual demagoguery and rhetorical overkill has transformed the concern for victims into a totalitarian command and a permanent inquisition."

This is what the survivors of communism are saying to us: liberalism's admirable care for the weak and marginalized is fast turning into a monstrous ideology that, if it is not stopped, will transform liberal democracy into a softer, therapeutic form of totalitarianism.

The Therapeutic as the Postmodern Mode of Existence

Soft totalitarianism exploits decadent modern man's preference for personal pleasure over principles, including political liberties. The public will support, or at least not oppose, the coming soft totalitarianism, not because it fears the imposition of cruel punishments but because it will be more or less satisfied by hedonistic comforts. Nineteen Eighty-Four is not the novel that previews what's coming; it's rather Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. The contemporary social critic James Poulos calls this the "Pink Police State": an informal arrangement in which people will surrender political rights in exchange for guarantees of personal pleasure.

Soft totalitarianism, as we will see in a later chapter, makes use of advanced surveillance technology not (yet) imposed by the state, but rather welcomed by consumers as aids to lifestyle convenience-and in the postpandemic environment, likely needed for public health. It is hard to get worked up over Big Brother when you have already grown accustomed to Big Data closely monitoring your private life via apps, credit cards, and smart devices, which make life so much easier and more pleasurable. In Orwell's fictional dystopia, the state installed "telescreens" in private homes to keep track of individual's lives. Today we install smart speakers into our homes to increase our sense of well-being.

How did maximizing a feeling of well-being become the ultimate goal of modern people and societies? The American sociologist and cultural critic Philip Rieff was not a religious believer, but few prophets have written more piercingly about the nature of the cultural revolution that overtook the West in the twentieth century that defines the core of soft totalitarianism.

In his landmark 1966 book, The Triumph of the Therapeutic, Rieff said the death of God in the West had given birth to a new civilization devoted to liberating the individual to seek his own pleasures and to managing emergent anxieties. Religious Man, who lived according to belief in transcendent principles that ordered human life around communal purposes, had given way to Psychological Man, who believed that there was no transcendent order and that life's purpose was to find one's own way experimentally. Man no longer understood himself to be a pilgrim on a meaningful journey with others, but as a tourist who traveled through life according to his own self-designed itinerary, with personal happiness his ultimate goal.

This was a revolution even more radical than the 1917 Bolshevik event, said Rieff. For the first time, humankind was seeking to create a civilization based on the negation of any binding transcendent order. The Bolsheviks may have been godless, but even they believed that there was a metaphysical order, one that demanded that individuals subordinate their personal desires to a higher cause. Almost a quarter century before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Rieff predicted that communism would not be able to withstand the cultural revolution coming from the West, one that purported to set the individual free to pursue hedonism and individualism. If there is no sacred order, then the original promise of the serpent in the Garden of Eden-"[Y]e shall be as gods"-is the foundational principle of the new culture.

Rieff saw, however, that you could not have culture without cult-that is, without shared belief in and submission to a sacred order, what you get is an "anti-culture." An anti-culture is inherently unstable, said Rieff, but he doubted that people brought up in this social order would ever be willing to return to the old ways.

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ASIN ‏ : ‎ B088F2ZYTV
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sentinel (September 29, 2020)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 29, 2020
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 4969 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
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Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
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Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 255 pages

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Dr. David Steele

A Return to Freedom

Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2020

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When Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was annexed from the country he loved, he published a parting message to the Russian people. “Live Not by Lies” was a bold challenge to the brutal totalitarian system that raved countless thousands of people.

Rod Dreher picks up where Solzhenitsyn left off in his new book, Live Not By Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents. This riveting work helps readers discover what it means to live not by lies. The author interviews Christians who endured the days of totalitarianism behind the Iron Curtain and gains a wealth of information that both inform and inspire us today.

Part One: Understanding Soft Totalitarianism

Part one explores the underbelly of what Dreher refers to as soft totalitarianism. “A totalitarian state,” according to Hannah Arendt, “is one that aspires to nothing less than defining and controlling reality. Truth is whatever the rules decide it is.” Mussolini defined totalitarianism as, “Everything within the state, nothing outside the sate, nothing against the state.” Wherever this worldview reigns, mankind declines, and decays.

The author explains the essence of soft totalitarianism:

"Today’s totalitarianism demands allegiance to a set of progressive beliefs, many of which are incompatible with logic – and certainly with Christianity. Compliance is forced less by the state than by elites who form public opinion, and by private corporations that, thanks to technology, control our lives far more than we would like to admit."

A cursory glance at culture reveals the rise of social justice, the “woke revolution,” radical environmentalism, acceptance of sexual deviancy, reverse racism, and identity politics. Soft totalitarianism includes educational propaganda like the “1619 Project,” an attempt to brainwash students and cause them to abandon the principles that help birth the United States of America. The list goes on and on. Yet more and more people are willing to accept this radical ideology for the sake of convenience.

Dreher adds, “And this is the thing about soft totalitarianism: It seduces those – even Christians – who have lost the capacity to love enduringly, for better or for worse. They think love, but they merely desire. They think they follow Jesus, but in fact, they merely admire him.”

The author warns that Christians who refuse to speak up and resist soft totalitarianism will pay a heavy price. Literary critic and poet, Czeslaw Milosz agrees: “Their silence will not save them and will instead corrode them.”

Part Two: How to Live in Truth

Part two helps readers respond biblically and decisively. It shows them how to “live in truth.” The principles that Dreher shares are invaluable and will be a great encouragement as Christians navigate their way through the social sludge.

Dreher encourages readers to fight for and defend free speech. “To grow indifferent, even hostile to free speech is suicidal for a free people,” writes the author. He encourages truth-telling that is wisdom-based and prudent.

Dreher admonishes readers to foster cultural memory. He says, “Everything about modern society is designed to make memory – historical, social, and cultural – hard to cultivate. Christians must understand this not only to resist soft totalitarianism but also to transmit the faith to the coming generations.”

The author urges Christians to cultivate strong family units. “Christian parents”, writes Dreher, “must be intentionally countercultural in their approach to family dynamics. The days of living like everybody else and hoping our children turn out for the best are over.” Fathers, in particular, must lead their families and help them exercise biblical discernment. They must fight for the truth.

Dreher promotes religion as the “bedrock of resistance.” He continues, “This is the uncompromising rival religion that the post-Christian world will not long tolerate. If you are not rock-solid in your commitment to traditional Christianity, then the world will break you. But if you are, then this is the solid rock in which that world will be broken. And if those solid rocks are joined together, they form a wall of solidarity that is very hard for the enemy to breach.”

We must stand in solidarity. “Only in solidarity with others can we find the spiritual and communal strength to resist,” says Dreher. He adds:

"And this is the thing about soft totalitarianism: it seduces those – even Christians – who have lost the capacity to love enduringly, for better or for worse. They think they love, but they merely desire. They think they follow Jesus, but in fact, they merely admire him."

"Each of us thinks we would be like that. But if we have accepted the great lie of our therapeutic culture, which tells us that personal happiness is the greatest good of all, then we will surrender at the first sign of trouble."

Conclusion

There is much more to explore in this fascinating book. I challenge readers to dig deeply into this “treasure chest.” In the end, both varieties of totalitarianism enslave people. Dreher reminds us, “Hard totalitarianism depends on terrorizing us into surrendering our free consciences; soft totalitarianism uses fear as well, but mostly it bewitches us with therapeutic promises of entertainment, pleasure, and comfort.” It is to this end that we must resist soft totalitarianism with all our might or we, along with the proverbial frog in the kettle will slowly boil in a kettle that appears safe but will, in the final analysis, result in a grizzly death.

Live Not By Lies delivers a powerful and unforgettable message. The price of liberty is costly. This much is true. “There is no escape from the struggle,” writes Dreher. “The price of liberty is eternal vigilance – first of all, over our own hearts.” Live Not By Lies is a must-read book for freedom-loving Christians. To ignore the principles that Dreher sets forth would be foolhardy at best. Heeding the warning of the author will help pave the way for fruitful discussion and greater liberty in the coming days.

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Curt Bumcrot

A Wake-up Call

Reviewed in the United States on October 11, 2020

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My Recommendation
Live Not By Lies will disturb you. At the same time, it will also be a source of hope and encouragement. This book is a wake-up call, a speed bump, a check engine light of sorts to those of us in the West who have been sleep walking through life. Sure, we’re aware of the hardships and persecution Christians have faced under totalitarian regimes. We’ve empathized and been respectful, maybe even made a donation to a relief cause. And then we’ve gone back to sleep telling ourselves, “That could never happen here, and even if it began to, Jesus would come to rescue us before things got really bad.” Church history doesn’t support this view of the Christian life. But we don’t know church history, at least not like we should. We find ourselves caving into the clarion call to embrace a lifestyle of personal peace and affluence as Francis Shaffer called it back in the 80’s. Or, a lifestyle of Hot Tub Religion, as Packer tagged it in the 90’s. Our response to pursuing our best life now has been gradual and incremental. We’ve drifted slowly to a place where many will willingly give up and trade their freedom for personal safety. Live Not By Lives will shake you out of your slumber and complacency. It did me.

In part one of this timely book, author Rod Deher makes the case that a form of totalitarianism, soft as opposed to hard, is surfacing and gathering momentum here in the west. The camel’s nose is already in our tent through social media, our on-line purchasing habits, and all the smart devices that make life so much easier. We willingly expose our private lives on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. We’ve become dependent on the affirmation these platforms provide. “Cookies,” i.e. surveillance capitalism through Google, continuously assist us with our purchasing decisions. They anticipate what we are likely to buy, ad after ad after ad. Alexa and Siri, our digital assistants, are listening, always ready to “help.” Our continuous use of these tools is having a conditioning affect, leading us to surrender privacy and political liberties in exchange for the comfort we desire. We’re willingly turning over the control of our lives to the “experts” who know better than we do what we need and what we should want. Our long-held opinions and ethical standards have been weakened by on-line social justice warriors as they continuously chisel away.

There is hope. Part two of Live Not By Lies provides us with a resistance strategy. It’s also very personal. We’re not given trite Scripture verses that fit nicely on a coffee mug. Instead, we’re presented with stories of courageous, humble Christian dissidents of several faith traditions who have lived under oppressive conditions. They’ve walked the path it appears were just embarking on. Coming from mainly from Eastern European countries, they have lived the faith they confess.

What struck me about their stories is how continuously they looked beyond themselves to living a costly, self-sacrificial lifestyle. For them, it was a daily picking up of their crosses and following Jesus. Reading their stories made me aware of how little suffering we in the West have gone through, how insulated we have been.

They stressed a lifestyle of:
• Confessing and following Christ as opposed to simply admiring him
• Speaking and living the truth
• Cultivating a godly character
• Gathering in small groups for encouragement and communicating resistance tactics
• Passing on family and cultural memories
• Being willing to suffer

The conclusion of Deher’s book leads us to ask ourselves a question reminiscent of the title of Francis Shaffer’s 1976 book, How Should we Then Live? How should we live? The title answers the question- Live Not By Lies! We can’t afford to live in denial of what’s happening. Our children need us to face the truth, speak the truth, and prepare them for the coming on-slough of manipulation and control.

This book will provide the reader with the inspiration and strategies required to do just that.

I highly recommend it.

~ Curt Bumcrot, MRE

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Rocco Santarelli

Wow.

Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2023

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This guy is a thinker. Clear, concise powerful thoughts. Human nature meets the psychopathic manipulators of the world. Human nature usually wins but not without a struggle to remove the manipulators. Timeless examples of true virtue in this world with convincing rhetoric to encourage people to defy these warped leaders. Every young person should read this and maybe someday we can stop the cycle of electing these narcisistic power hungry incompetents.

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Michael McDonald

Great book, brings clarity

Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2023

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This is a great book, well worth the read. Just finished it a few weeks ago and it helped me to understand much of what is happening today. Using the testimonies of Christians who had lived behind the Iron Curtain, he makes a compelling argument for Christian resistance by simply not compromising on truth, regardless of the cost. The stories of faith in the face of great suffering should inspire us to take the risk.

3 people found this helpful

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GeoffS

Shines a light on how to keep the church alive in today's society

Reviewed in the United States on April 7, 2024

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I liked the concept of the book. It gives Christians a framework to use to save and grow the church during times of attack and oppression. I don't believe it is only for the church, but also how to stand up against secular oppression also.

If you believe the government is trying to stifle the church, and society in general you might like this book.

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Michael B

Soft Totalitarianism

Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2024

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This book gave language, even a title, to what I see happening around me in the USA. It is worth noting that I must prepare for a deeper struggle and be ready when it comes-the suffering of Christ and for Chrust

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EXCELENTE

Reviewed in Mexico on July 22, 2023

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Que el subtitulo no te engañe, sin duda hay un lugar y un tiempo para hacer lo que el autor propone, y este parece ser uno de esos momentos. Que Dios te dirección en el contexto en el que vives!!

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Jane Erye

Wakey, wakey…Time to wake up

Reviewed in Canada on June 4, 2023

Verified Purchase

An excellent read addressing where we are in the west.
Time to wake up from our materialistic, pleasure seeking slumber. The lion is not outside the gates, it is in the camp.

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Michaelo El Grando

Very good book!

Reviewed in Germany on March 27, 2024

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Bergenaar

Onmisbaar!

Reviewed in the Netherlands on September 19, 2023

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Het is te hopen dat dit boek heel snel in het Nederelands vertaald zal worden (grote kans, is mijn inschatting), want dit zou iedereeen moeten lezen: met alle recente ontwikkelingen in onze cultuur en alles wat gezegd en beweerd wordt, geeft dit boek een stevig fundament voor wat we kunnen leren van degenen die iets hebben meegemaakt dat - misschien niet voor het oog, maar zeker wat betreft achterliggende principes - cruciaal is om te begrijpen!

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Live Not by Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents Kindle Edition

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