Live Not By Lies, Episode 1, Part 1Small Group Discussion Guide0:00-27:02
Question: How might you put this verse in your own words?
Ephesians 6:12 ‘For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.’ The video begins by highlighting the arrest of the woman who was quietly praying outside of an abortion clinic. (Note: Her priest, who is now in the States, was arrested because of his bumper sticker that said “unborn lives matter.”)
? Question: Would it have been morally justified to refuse to respond to the police officer, who was effectively attempting to scrutinize her mind? Put another way, Does the state have a right to monitor the thoughts of citizens?
? Question: How would you describe the difference between Totalitarianism and Authoritarianism?
It’s asserted that the way a select group of powerful people exert control over masses is by propaganda. Specifically, the telling and the repeating of lies. It was also said that the best way to combat those lies is to do and tell the truth, regardless of the cost.
? Question: Can you think of a popular lie today that you are tacitly required to reaffirm and repeat? Secondly, what would be the cost of dissent/truthfulness?
Rod Dreher comments that a Christian woman who survived totalitarianism in Eastern Europe said to him, effectively:
‘Son the things that I’m seeing in America now remind me of the things that were happening in my home country when the Bolsheviks came to Power.’
? Question: In what way or ways, if any, do you see attempts to prevent freedom of thought, speech, or association at work today in our country?
Kamila & Vaslov Benda, Czech Dissidents, told their story. In light of that....
? Question: Do you agree or disagree with this statement: 'Within Eastern Europe in the previous century, it was easier to be a dissident because people essentially recognized the tyranny of totalitarianism. As such, Dissidents were often admired, even by those who turned them in due to fear of the state, if they didn't. In other words, The state exacted punishment directly and indirectly by using coercive means to get citizens to turn upon one another.
Today, in the western world, it’s more difficult because most people don’t recognize the creeping totalitarianism, and as such, dissidents are seen as troublemakers if not downright evil (i.e. an 'ist' of one sort or another). Unlike then, it's now the state, large corporations and the general population that exact punishment upon dissidents. The difference being that today’s general population will oppose dissidents, not out of fear or blackmail, but out of conviction, while those who support dissidents remain quiet out of fear that they'll be targeted.
? Question: What do you suppose your average citizen in the Communist Czech Republic back in the 1940's and 50's thought of the Bendas and other dissenters?
? Question: Were there any particular practical ideas that we can glean from those, like the Bendas and others, who sought, at great cost to themselves, to live ‘Not By the Lies’ while living under a totalitarian state?
? Question: What do you think of this quote? True? False? Which group, if either, should a Christian identify with?
‘It is as though mankind has divided itself between those who believe in human omnipotence, who think that everything is possible, if one knows how to organize the masses for it, and those for whom powerlessness has become the major experience of their lives.’
Stop @ 27:02 minutes Episode 2B Begins at 27:03-conclusion of Video 1 Discussion of subsequent episodes will follow the following questions. 1. What, if anything, was most meaningful to me in this episode?
2. What, if any, questions did the video create for me or perhaps leave me with?
3. What, if any, difference might this video make in my thinking, relating to God, prioroites or my behavior?
4. Can I think of a bible verse or passage that is relevant to a topic or topics that arose in this episode?

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'Live Not By Lies' Video Series Small Group Study Questions