​The New African magazine (August – September 2004) recently published the results of their poll. The choices of the readers who participated in this New African survey are quite incredible. Robert Mugabe, the brutal dictator of Zimbabwe was voted the third greatest African of all time! Winnie Mandela, despite her convictions for kidnapping, child abuse and theft from the poor, was voted the "most popular woman in Africa!"

The editors of the New African observed that although they requested nominations for “the greatest Africans of all time”, over 95% of the nominations were from the post-independent era. They asked the question: “Have people forgotten Africa's history?”

​The vast majority of people chosen were political leaders. The editors declared: “The results are disappointing. It shows that African governments and educationists have to review the kind of history and education we are teaching and providing in our schools. Without knowing our past and where we came from, we can hardly know our present and why we are where we are, and plan for our future.”
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Amongst some of the surprising nominations for “The Greatest Africans of All Time” were numerous Americans: Malcolm X, Mohammed Ali, Bob Marley, Michael Jackson, Bill Cosby, and Louis Farrakhan. Even Brazilian footballer Pele featured as one of “the greatest Africans of all time”!

​​"Then Jesus said:… 'And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.'" John 8:31-32
 
The first casualty in war is truth.
 
Beware the Victor's Version
As my history teacher in Rhodesia reminded us: Beware the victor's version! War time propaganda becomes school textbooks.
 
Mass Suggestion
As early as 1930, John Dewey observed that: We are being exposed to the greatest flood of mass suggestion that any people has yet experienced.
 
Manipulation of Public Opinion
Propaganda is to Democracies what violence is to Dictatorships. Propaganda, the calculated manipulation of public opinion to serve political and ideological interests, is pervasive. We are also exposed to commercial propaganda: Marketing and Advertising.

​The First President of Zambia has Died
Kenneth David Kaunda, the first president of Zambia, died 17 June 2021 aged 97. As he was Zambia’s first president, in office from 24 October 1964 to 2 November 1991, many are seeking to evaluate his legacy.
 
The Family of Kaunda
Kenneth Kaunda, or KK, as he was generally referred to, was born in Chinsali, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), 28 April 1924. His wife, Betty, who he married in 1946, died in 2012. They had eight children. Before entering politics, KK was a teacher. He was the youngest of eight children. His father was Reverend David Kaunda, a Church of Scotland missionary and teacher, who was born in Nyasaland (now Malawi).
 
A Humanist in Africa
KK wrote in his book A Humanist in Africa, that he could never agree with the Calvinist religion of his parents who believed in the depravity of man. KK asserted that he believed in the “goodness of man”.

​​Darkest Hour highlights Winston Churchill’s extraordinary eloquence and showcases some of his most famous war time speeches. In his first address to the House of Commons as Prime Minister on 13 May, “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat… you ask, what is our policy? I will say, it is to wage war! By sea, land and air! With all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against the monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime… you ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: Victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror; victory however long and hard the road may be!”
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Marshalling the English Language for War
As an observer noted, Winston Churchill marshalled the English language and sent it into war. Certainly his policy of war at all costs, meant an extremely long and hard ruinous road for the people of England, Europe and indeed the whole British Commonwealth.

Was it Really Necessary?
But the film Darkest Hour does raise the question: Was it necessary? Could Britain have chosen the road of peace and negotiation? That indeed is the whole premise of Patrick Buchanan’s book, Churchill, Hitler and the Unnecessary War – How Britain Lost its Empire and the West Lost the World.

​This article is available as a PowerPoint on Slideshare here

"And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." John 8:32

Discernment
It is absolutely essential that we know the truth of history in order to recognise the lies of propaganda and indoctrination. We need to study the Word of God so we can be freed from the deceptions of the world.

Deceiving the Nations
In the Book of Revelation, we read: "Then I saw an angel coming down from Heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old who is the devil and satan and bound him for one thousand years and he cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more" Revelation 20:1-3. "And war broke out in Heaven that serpent of old, called the devil and satan, who deceives the whole world" Revelation 12:7. Satan is plainly deceiving the nations.

Indoctrination
Education teaches you how to think. Indoctrination teaches you what to think. The ability to think critically is becoming less and less common. We are being subjected to the greatest flood of misinformation and disinformation in the history of mankind.