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A look at how crowds are steered toward quick, emotional choices — and why this pattern keeps repeating through history, from the jeering crowd at Christ’s crucifixion to the anti-ICE raids in Minnesota.

History reveals how easily people can be manipulated, especially when crowds are involved. Leaders will lie to the public to distract from their own corruption or incompetence. Agitated crowds demand that the government do something “good” fast. But does this “good” feel just, or does it just merely feel good?

Minnesota (Not So) Nice

Minneapolis, Minnesota, is ground zero for alleged industrial-scale fraud linked to the Somali community. It also appears that local and state government authorities were involved in, or at least aware of, this fraud.

Minneapolis is also a sanctuary city. Local police limit cooperation with federal law enforcement on immigration matters. They do not readily hand over violent criminal aliens — murderers, rapists, and the like. ICE and Border Patrol are often forced to locate and apprehend them within the community, risking harm to all involved. from protesters.

The state governor and city mayor have both claimed that ICE and CBP are arresting US citizens and “disappearing” them, causing further agitation within the community. Government administrators have encouraged residents to surveil and obstruct federal officers. Credible claims suggest that some of these leaders are even involved in such community efforts. Recent fatalities have inflamed the situation further, causing violent riots to erupt.

The situation raises two obvious questions. Why are people rioting to keep violent criminal aliens roaming freely in their communities? And why are those same crowds not rioting over the billions of dollars allegedly stolen from their own neighbourhoods?

Agitation and Propaganda

One answer lies in agitprop. Dr James Lindsay describes agitprop as “two broad types of propaganda, what the Soviet dictator Lenin termed ‘agitation’ and ‘propaganda’. Agitation is supposed to influence your emotions; propaganda is meant to make you misunderstand.”

It can be argued that local and state Minnesota government officials are using agitprop to foment chaos in order to distract from corruption.

Agitprop is not new. As this article’s title suggests, it goes back to biblical times. And it is not practised solely by communists.

The Tyranny of Stupidity

Another answer is what Dietrich Bonhoeffer famously described as stupidity. Bonhoeffer, who was executed for opposing the Nazi regime, warned that stupidity is more dangerous than malice because it renders people impervious to reason.

“Against stupidity we are defenceless,” he wrote in Letters and Papers from Prison (1945).

What is this “stupidity” Bonhoeffer warned about? American conservative commentator Glenn Beck coined the term “the Barabbas Trap” in a recent YouTube video. It is well worth fifteen minutes of your time, but first, let’s connect some dots.

Beck makes several crucial points. He asks, “Where have I seen this before?” He then connects agitprop and stupidity to the Sanhedrin, Pilate, Barabbas, and the Jewish people:

Crowds are like a weather system. They move on pressure, not principles. Pressure. And they’re not choosing who to condemn and who to set free based on good or evil. They were actually choosing what kind of hope felt the most satisfying in that moment.

The two choices were the slower hope of Jesus, which demanded repentance and true change in everybody’s life, or the faster hope of the revolutionary Barabbas. The people always wanted to go the fast way. They chose revolution, not repentance, because they hated Rome more than they hated sin.

Modern Echoes of an Ancient Pattern

Some may consider agitprop and stupidity to be contributing factors in the fomenting of antisemitism that led to the Bondi massacre on 14 December 2025:

• A government appearing to do little to stop antisemitic propaganda from protestors and clerics
• Credible ASIO threats ignored
• Agitated and emboldened Islamists taking matters into their own hands
• A grieving and angry community demanding a speedy response
• A government only too willing to comply, introducing hate speech and gun laws the fast way — within weeks, not months

For more on this topic, see my recent article From Nudge to Push to Shove: Bondi Terror Attack a Pretext for Hate Speech Laws.

Will hate speech laws address the root cause of antisemitism? Will there be serious adverse effects? Will fundamental freedoms be trampled?

It all feels uncomfortably similar to the COVID response: warp-speed shots, misleading claims about safety and efficacy, social distancing rules, mandates, two-tiered policing, and obfuscation.

How did that fast way work out?

Should we be concerned about government lies and manipulation being exposed? Yes and no.

Yes, we should fight for fundamental freedoms. These are God-given, even if our constitution betrays that fact.

No, God is not surprised, and we should not be fearful.

Yahweh’s Sovereign Sting

When it comes to laying traps, Yahweh reigns supreme as the original master. His sting was laid in the divine decree, using counterfactual knowledge and infinite wisdom. From the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8; Ephesians 1:4–5), Christ was appointed as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

But how would Yahweh do this? Satan had to be left completely ignorant. As the Scriptures say, “None of the rulers of this age understood this …” (1 Corinthians 2:8). Here’s how He orchestrated it:

• Yahweh knew what Satan was capable of
• He understood the corruption of the Sanhedrin and the power of agitprop
• He knew Pilate’s weakness and that Barabbas would be offered instead of Jesus
• He knew the fickle heart of the crowd — that they would choose revolution over repentance because they hated Rome more than sin

Satan thought he had won by killing the heir and seizing the inheritance. How wrong he was. “If they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Corinthians 2:8).

Yahweh delivered His sting at the cross, blindsiding Satan and his forces. Christ then descended to declare victory. “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them.” (Colossians 2:15)

Satan did not see it coming. Jesus is now enthroned, and we await the day when “the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever”. (Revelation 11:15)

The Sting of Stings for the King of Kings!

Come quickly, Lord Jesus.

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Image courtesy of Adobe.