Zealous Zombies

Propaganda achieves its goal when we begin to automatically preach its gospel

From “Spare Me, Great Lord”

Every day, our minds are assaulted with the vitriolic, dogmatic words of the media. Our senses are flooded with the ideologies of the spiritually impure. They sit, hidden away in their studios and writer’s rooms concocting the next wave of lies and truths to corrupt. This invisible horde of men and women seeks to mentally enslave the masses by telling us what to think and not how to think. Sometimes, they’re so bold as to show their faces, and give us empty smiles on CNN and TikTok…

Many people are aware of this. They understand the concept of propaganda and the cult-like behaviors that can follow. However, they ignorantly believe that they are immune to such tactics. These people brag that they are free, unaware they are merely slaves to an array of nameless masters.

Propaganda seeks to alter and control our opinions and behaviors. We are attracted to certain ideologies based on our personalities, interests, lifestyles, and general past. That being said, no one is immune to propaganda. Like a siren, it lures us in before dragging us into a sea of radicalization.¹ Even the highly educated can prove to be the most susceptible to its effects.²

For propaganda to work, it must be all-encompassing. The invisible programmers must drag us into their distorted world. We must remain in this world daily to be retrained. (“All my friends are queer.”) No outside messaging may get through. (“This country has come far in race relations.”)

Soon, we begin to relish in the “truths” we’re given. Our propaganda becomes our worldview as it provides us with a set of “ready-made judgments.” ³ We become comfortable in our chains and ignore all outside arguments. We take on the role of the loyal slave: silencing dissenters; breaking ties with our loved ones; etc. We do it in hopes of gaining acceptance from the other slaves or even our unseen master. All the while, we consume more propaganda, clinging to it for stability.

But, as with anything, we can over-consume propaganda. Eventually, the barrage beats our minds into a bloody pulp and we grow desensitized. In the 1962 book Propaganda, author Jacques Ellul wrote:

It is known that under the effect of propaganda the individual gradually closes up. Having suffered too many propaganda shocks, he becomes accustomed and insensitive to them. He no longer looks at posters; to him they are just splashes of color. He no longer hears a radio speech; it is nothing but sound, a background noise for his activity. He no longer reads the newspaper, but merely skims distractedly over it.

This is not a positive sign. Rather than realizing that we've been fed lies, we begin overlooking the propaganda, not even realizing it’s there. Our chains are so tight, we hardly even notice. Our masters have abused us so thoroughly, we hardly even notice. Our opinions and behaviors have been altered to the propagandists’ liking. In fact, our training has seeped so deeply into our subconscious, we no longer need propaganda. We have reached the ultimate form of mental submission.

Now a graduate of sorts, we move into the role of a missionary to spread the virus for our masters. We follow the trends of our movement automatically and preach its corrupted gospel. We find those who are lukewarm to the cause and push them over the ledge. We sniff out the innocent and drag them into the depths. We prevent the weary from escaping, while descending further into our own madness. We live out our days with deeply infected minds, growing more radical and extreme. Some of us even become willing to die for our “cause.”

There is only one cure for this disease: a heavy dose of education. For some, this is easier said than done. Often, it takes a chance incident to bring our beliefs into question. This can be through a conversation, watching a film, or even a solitary thought in the midnight hours. Confused, we begin to reread our propaganda material, and—for the first time—compare it to outside beliefs. We do this all in secret, feeling a twinge of guilt as we wonder if we’re doing the right thing. But, if we are fortunate, one thing leads to another. The more knowledge we consume, the more we crave. We find ourselves seeking this outside knowledge more and more, even if we do return to our propaganda for a semblance of stability. However, this “stability” begins to feel hollow and corrupted. We yearn for freedom. We want to break free from our chains. But doing that means we have to step into the unknown.

Some of us shy away from freedom. Those who do find themselves returning to their invisible masters, now filled with doubt and discomfort.

But for those of us brave enough to take the plunge, we now find ourselves in a strange new world. We feel a sense of detachment, confusion, and embarrassment over our past beliefs and behaviors. We may even regress.⁴ We feel anger and bitterness towards ourselves and our propagandists. Nevertheless, with patience—and, if we are fortunate, a bit of support—we begin to heal. We realize that the world doesn’t seem as terrible as the propagandists said. We realize we can have views that differ from our former echo chamber. We begin to think more freely, and eventually realize that we can forge our own path in life, unchained and masterless.

Understand that even in this “cured” state we are not wholly immune to propaganda. Some of us will eventually find some other ideology to latch onto. But the rest of us will develop a heightened sensitivity to propaganda, as though it were a sixth sense. We will be able to see control tactics a mile away. We will be able to see past the movies, memes, and talk shows, and see the missionaries or even the invisible masters who seek to destroy innocent minds. We are free. And even if we somehow are lured into another world of propaganda, we'll always have the means to escape.

1. Action Counters Terrorism. (n.d.). The stages. Counter Terrorism Policing. Retrieved October 31, 2023, from https://actearly.uk/radicalisation/the-stages/

2. Rousselet, M., Duretete, O., Hardouin, J., & Grall‐Bronnec, M. (2017). Cult membership: What factors contribute to joining or leaving? Psychiatry Research, 257, 27–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2017.07.018

3. Ellul, J. (1965). Propaganda: The Formation of Men’s Attitudes. Vintage.

4. Giambalvo, C. (n.d.). Spiritual Abuse Resources - Post-Cult Problems: An Exit Counselor’s perspective. Retrieved October 31, 2023, from https://www.spiritualabuseresources.com/articles/post-cult-problems-an-exit-counselors-perspective