You are not crazy.

Slowly we are being indoctrinated into believing that right is wrong and wrong is right.

But you are correct. There are only two sexes. There should be separate male and female bathrooms. Girls’ and boys’ sports are exclusive from one another. And a man cannot give birth to a child.

You are also correct. You are not required to say anything. No one can force you to use a certain language. It is not hateful to call something what it is. Your speech is sacred.

You are correct as well. The police force is a good thing. Lawlessness is unjust. Our soldiers, cops, and first responders are the best of the best.

I could go on.

The Ninth Commandment in the big ten is, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor”. In short, you cannot lie. This is not simply a matter of jurisprudence. It is an all-encompassing nature to hold things that are true to be true. Period.  We owe it to one another to be honest and we do a disservice to everyone by entertaining a lie.

The idea of deception is certainly not new. It is used for all manner of control, power, and destruction. What makes the societal deceptions today so frightening is the extent to which we are being transformed to accept writ large falsehoods.

We could discuss further how we got here, but the greater questions are, “Can we get back? Can we once again agree on principled truths? And how do we combat the tyranny of corruption?”

To be sure, there are some things we can do.

First, speak the truth. Do it in a mannerly way but hold the line. None of us is required to be a part of groupthink. The idea that timidity will serve us well is a fallacy.

Second, be humored by some of the untruths being advanced. The thing about deception is that it doesn’t have a sense of humor. Just watch comics as they lambast our dumbest deceivers. A roll of the eyes may be enough to tell the deceiver you are not buying.

Third, the Apostle Paul reminds us, “…whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things”. We are being taught to fear everything. Not everything is fearful. Look around. There is still beauty everywhere. It grounds us.

Finally, unplug for a while. While there are many benefits to our technological age, one downside is that we can allow companies to direct our thoughts. Rather than meditating or considering or observing on our own, we let others set the agenda for our minds and souls. This is where those that wish to deceive have their best opportunity to succeed.

We are obligated to God and one another to have truth as the playing field of society. That is always truth, not just when it is easy.

We need truth tellers to speak up. We need grownups to pleasantly dismiss ridiculous notions. And we need to focus on what is true, not on fear.

You are not crazy if you do these things. Trust me.

Kent Simmons is the pastor of Canyon Community Church in Kingman, AZ.