Last night, on my ride home from work, I was listening to National Public Radio’s (NPR) All Things Considered. After listening to their broadcast, I always (as consistent as the sun’s rising in the east) ask myself why the hell I just put myself through that gruelingly stupid and propagandistic experience. All Things Considered is truly an instrument in the leftists’ tool box, serving a similar purpose to the Ministry of Truth in Orwell’s 1984.

The March 29, 2010 show featured a segment about an experiment involving moral questions and brain manipulations. Basically, a bunch of scientists asked one group of subjects some moral questions. Another group of subjects got asked the same moral questions, but one area of their brains got zapped with some electromagnetic energy. There was no permanent damage done to the brain, but the subjects that got the zap ended up making moral judgments similar to that of a very young child . . . around 3 years old according to the study’s authors.

So, what was the grand conclusion of these scientists? They unequivocally stated that the brain and the mind are one in the same, and furthermore, there is no soul. They based this conclusion on their belief that they’d indisputably proven that morality is no more than a mechanical function of the material, physical brain. Therefore, human beings should disavow themselves from the notion of a soul. They don’t have one; the only thing they’ve got is the equivalent of a computer riding atop their shoulders. Morality is nothing but a mechanical function of neurons and synapses.

There are two points to consider here. I will take the liberty of expounding on one point and refer the other point to an individual who I consider the 21st century C.S. Lewis.

On whether the brain in the same as the mind (i.e. the soul), Dinesh D’Souza provides an excellent and rigorous explanation in his book, “Life After Death: The Evidence.” I refer you to Chapter Seven titled, “The Spiritual Brain: Finding the Soul within the Body.” In this chapter, D’Souza beautifully lays out the scientific (yes, indeed, I wrote “scientific”) evidence indicating that the immaterial mind (i.e. the soul) does not appear to be the same thing as the material brain. In a nutshell, this viewpoint is called “Dualism”, and scientists of an atheistic bent have as much distaste for this theory as they did for the theory of the Big Bang.

Get the book and read the chapter. And then you will see that it’s quite fair to conclude that the scientists on All Things Considered, who waxed so poetic about the nonexistence of the soul, were not sharing a scientific opinion, but a religious one (in other words, a statement of faith, no different than saying God is Trinity). D’Souza . . . the 21st century C.S. Lewis . . . well shows that the hypothesis that the mind and brain are one in the same is a failing scientific hypothesis.

The second point . . . the one that I want to expound on . . . is not scientific. Instead, it’s about the purpose and the effects of such “news” reports. It’s about NPR’s status as an accomplice in the progressive revolution that is slowly, but surely becoming metastatic in our culture. The seemingly innocuous report on All Things Considered about a little old science experiment was nothing short of a propaganda piece in the service of the progressive movement’s efforts to reign in religion, if not kill it altogether. “Religion is the opiate of the people” and really gets in the way of the state becoming the final authority of what is and what is not true. Religion must go. Faith should be only for science, and science should be at the service of progressivism. NPR is the bully pulpit (“I heard it on NPR . . . it’s got to be true!”), and make no mistake, they are devastatingly effective (Goebbels eat your heart out).

Am I making a mountain out of a molehill? I think not. For an average Joe, who is perhaps more interested in next week’s episode of his favorite reality TV show than Christian apologetics, the effects of NPR’s report is insidious. It plants a perfectly reasonable seed of doubt . . . now, don’t get me wrong. Doubt which leads to seeking is actually beneficial. “Seek and ye shall find” is a promise kept. But, on the other hand, doubt without the accompanying seeking is a recipe that usually produces a nominally religious person, the kind of fellow that may go through the motions out of some sense of tradition, but whose faith is really reserved for human authorities (science and government). This is exactly the kind of religious person desired by the progressive movement, because this is exactly the kind of person who will allow morality and truth to be the purview of the government.

The revolution that is afoot is a soft one. There are no Stalinist purges. There are no 1984-esque, heavy handed tactics. There is just the lullaby of the left delivered in the lofty, we-know-better-than-you, baritones of NPR shills. They are softly, gently, in erudite tones, telling the public to once and for all put God in His place . . . a dusty storage bin filled with the toys and fantasies of childhood. Place God right next to Santa and the Easter Bunny, and then take your place as an adult in the bloodless, progressive revolution. Most of all trust, Trust, TRUST the latest incarnation of the Ministry of Truth. NPR is your friend and is here to help you become.