THE BLOODY HANDS

Why Christianity is the Only Antidote An Engineered Consensus Society by Leighton Grey K.C.

In our recent series of commentaries, we have been examining how and why modern civilization has entered a period of unprecedented psychological and technological transformation. Never before in human history have governments, corporations, media institutions, universities, digital platforms, activist organizations, and surveillance systems possessed such extensive influence over the perceptions, emotions, and behavior of entire populations. Most people continue viewing modern society through the language of diplomacy, freedom and open communication; but a deeper examination reveals emergence of something far more complex and troubling. It is a civilization increasingly organized around perception management and behavioural control.

The mechanisms shaping this transformation are often subtle. Control no longer depends primarily upon visible force, public censorship, or overt authoritarian rule. Instead, modern systems operate psychologically and spiritually. They influence us through fear, social pressure, emotional conditioning, technological dependency, algorithmic visibility, defamation, and institutional coordination. The result is a society like Canada has become today, we often regulate ourselves voluntarily out of fear of social consequences or even legal punishment.

One clear example of this shift is the rise of cancel culture and its later rebranding into what activists and institutions now call ‘consequence culture’. At first blush, these movements appeared to represent social accountability; but they soon evolved into mechanisms for ideological enforcement. Individuals expressing politically inconvenient opinions, questioning institutional narratives, or challenging dominant social ideologies were increasingly subjected to public humiliation, censorship, professional destruction, financial ruin, and organized harassment campaigns.

The key issue was never moral consistency. Standards were applied selectively according to ideological utility. Certain individuals received institutional protection despite serious misconduct. They aligned with approved narratives. Others faced severe punishment for merely expressing skepticism or dissent. This exposed the deeper function of cancel culture. It was not designed primarily to create justice—it was designed to spread fear.

Fear remains one of the most powerful tools of social control ever discovered. It is the go to move for our spiritual enemy, the father of lies, Satan. He knows that human beings are deeply social creatures. Throughout history, all the way back to Eden, social exclusion has threatened individual survival. Modern systems exploit these ancient instincts through digital technology. Social media transformed public shaming into a global psyop, where thousands of strangers can participate simultaneously in reputational destruction. Every public cancellation serves not only to punish the target, but also to warn millions of us watching from the sidelines. The message is simple: conform publicly or risk isolation. Fight back or cow tow to the mob.

Over time, large corporations and political systems adapted. Social media platforms morphed into managed environments where algorithms determine visibility, search engines control informational access, and recommendation systems shape public perception. The internet gradually transformed from an open communication network into a curated psychological milieu. Visibility itself became a form of power. Information no longer need be openly banned in order to vanish. It could simply be buried algorithmically, hidden from search results, demonetized, throttled, or excluded from recommendation systems. This created a new form of invisible censorship. Individuals technically retained the right to speak, but increasingly lost the ability to be heard.

Meanwhile, institutions began coordinating narratives across multiple sectors simultaneously. Media organizations repeated identical ideological frameworks. Corporate advertising adopted synchronized political messaging. Technology companies partnered with governments to combat ‘misinformation’ and ‘hateful content’ through censorship laws imposing criminal sanctions. Activist organizations received extensive media amplification and institutional protection. The result? Manufactured artificial public consensus.

Most of us naturally assume that if every major institution promotes the same narrative, then it must represent objective truth—or at least broad public support. Yet consensus can be engineered through repetition, visibility control, emotional framing, and suppression of dissenting voices. As Nazi Propaganda Minister Dr. Joseph Goebbels once wrote:

“If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it, and you will even come to believe it yourself.”

Once we believe that a viewpoint is universally accepted, we stop questioning it publicly out of fear of isolation. This creates societies where millions privately doubt official narratives while publicly pretending agreement. Such conditions produce collective dishonesty across society. Conversations become performances rather than authentic exchanges of ideas. We censor ourselves automatically. Fear contaminates discourse. Public debate collapses into ideological theatre where we repeat approved slogans to protect reputations, careers, and social standing.

Psychological manipulation is vital to maintenance of these systems. Modern propaganda rarely resembles crude government posters or overt state broadcasts. Instead, it functions through emotional conditioning. Fear based narratives dominate media cycles continuously because frightened populations are easier to guide. Emotional language replaces rational analysis. Disagreement becomes associated with danger, extremism, and hatred. Once these emotional associations are deeply entrenched, we stop evaluating evidence independently. We instead become psychologically reactive rather than reflective.

Social media dramatically intensifies this dynamic because digital platforms reward emotional engagement above all else. Outrage spreads like wildfire. Fear generates clicks. Conflict drives attention. Consequently, modern information systems have evolved toward constant psychological stimulation rather than thoughtful analysis. This produces societies increasingly addicted to outrage, distraction, and emotional volatility.

At the same time, technological dependency now permeates every aspect of our lives. We rely upon centralized digital systems for communication, navigation, finance, entertainment, employment, information access, and social interaction. Smartphones track our movements continuously. Algorithms monitor our behavior. Platforms collect immense amounts of psychological and behavioral data from billions of us every single day. This data carries enormous political and economic value. It allows institutions to model and predict human behavior with remarkable precision.

We increasingly exist inside continuous surveillance loops while perceiving ourselves as ‘free’. The danger is not simply that institutions observe us. The deeper danger is that human behavior itself becomes manageable through technological systems designed to shape our attention, our emotions, and our perceptions. These systems are behavioral conditioning environments. We adapt psychologically to digital reward systems involving likes, shares, followers, and visibility metrics. Over time, identity itself becomes performative as we unconsciously modify behavior to gain algorithmic approval. This weakens authentic human interaction while increasing dependency upon digital validation.

Meanwhile, media propaganda and information warfare continue eroding objective reality itself. We are flooded with endless streams of contradictory information, emotional narratives, outrage cycles, and selective framing. Rather than merely promoting one narrative, many modern systems create confusion deliberately because confused societies are easier to control.

We no longer know what to trust. Institutional credibility collapses because media organizations increasingly function as ideological actors rather than as neutral investigators. Governments openly pressure technology companies regarding ‘acceptable’ speech. Universities prioritize ideological conformity over critical inquiry, banning scholars like Dr. Frances Widdowson from even setting foot on campus, let alone speak there. Corporations adopt political activism as branding strategy. Remember the Dylan Mulvaney Bud Light adverts? Every major institution appears increasingly synchronized. As a result, large numbers of us sense instinctively that something artificial has emerged within modern society.

The deeper issue underlying all of these developments is the struggle between centralized control and human sovereignty. Modern systems increasingly encourage individuals to outsource perception itself to institutions, algorithms, experts, and ideological authorities, rather than rely upon direct observation and independent judgment. This creates psychologically dependent populations vulnerable to manipulation. Yet despite the scale of these systems, resistance remains possible. We have begun recognizing these patterns. Public trust in media, governments, universities, and corporate institutions continues to decline. Contradictions have become too visible to ignore independently. There is a meme online vividly explaining this. It shows a snake eating a fish under the headline: “brave snake saves fish from drowning.” This is how the media reports the news these days. Independent communication networks continue to emerge, despite censorship efforts. Increasing numbers of individuals are rediscovering the importance of direct human relationships, local communities, decentralized forms of cooperation, and most of all—faith. Ultimately, the defining struggle of the modern age is not merely political; it is psychological and ultimately, spiritual.

The central question facing civilization is thus whether we will retain the capacity for independent thought inside systems increasingly designed to shape our consciousness. Will we continue drifting toward technologically managed existence where behavior, opinion, and emotional responses are regulated through algorithms, surveillance, social pressure, and institutional manipulation? Or will we reclaim sovereignty over our own perception, attention, and moral judgement? The answer depends upon millions of individual decisions, including yours.

Everyone choosing honest inquiry over ideological conformity weakens artificial consensus. Everyone who resists fear based control fortifies the possibility of authentic discourse. Every community built upon trust, direct human connection, and independent cooperation reduces dependency upon centralized systems. History demonstrates repeatedly that no structure built entirely upon illusion can remain stable over the long haul.

Systems of manipulation require constant maintenance. Propaganda requires repetition. Fear based control depends upon psychological exhaustion and social fragmentation. Once we recognize these mechanisms operating around us, the illusion dissipates rapidly; and once we rediscover the ability to think independently, speak honestly, and perceive directly, the foundations of manufactured consensus collapse. This can only come by first turning our hearts and minds toward transcendent objective truth, which explains why those who seek to control us constantly claim that the biggest source of evil is—of course—religion.

I have heard this claim more times than I can count. It usually aimed at Christianity. It sounds devastating at a dinner party, but crumbles from its own falsity once we ask someone for the receipts. So, let us look at the numbers. Actually look at them.

Famed Hollywood director Ridley Scott made this claim in a 2012 Esquire interview promoting his film, entitled Prometheus. He is not alone in this. The three heads of the so called “new atheism”, Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, and Christopher Hitchens, built their careers on selling their own versions of this canard; but Kirk Durston, drawing on the research of Rudolph Rummel—former professor of political science, 2007 winner of the Genocide Scholars’ Award, and frequently nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize—actually went and checked. Rummel spent his career studying democide: government-sponsored mass killing, including genocide, politicide, and mass murder. His findings are peer-reviewed and exhaustive. They are also inconvenient truths for the enemies of truth.

Here is what Rummel credits to Christianity. The Crusades, the Inquisition, the witch hunts, the full greatest hits package. Rummel estimates:

Crusades: 1M

Spanish Inquisition: 350k

Witch Hunts: 100k

Total: 1.45M over a millennium or so.

Before we move to the other side of the ledger, a deflection arrives right about here. Someone mentions Hitler. The Nazis were Christian, the argument goes, so we must add the Holocaust to the Christian body count. There is just one problem with this. It is categorically false. Naziism never presented itself as Christian. Hitler despised Christianity. His own writings describe it as ‘meek’ and ‘flabby’. He sought to destroy it ‘root and branch’ and openly complained about Germany being stuck with what he called ‘feeble minded’ Christianity. He preferred, in his own words, ‘strong-arm’ systems. His writings and speeches contain so many passages dripping with contempt for Christianity that arguing he was a Christian amounts to claiming that Mark Carney is a conservative. All evidence runs entirely the other direction. His private comments, recorded by those closest to him, make it clear that he found militant, conquest-oriented religion far more suited to his purposes than anything the Sermon on the Mount could offer. The Holocaust therefore does not belong to the Christian column.

That said, let us be honest about the Christianity side of the ledger. The question worth asking is not whether people committed atrocities in the name of Christianity. They did. The question is really whether those atrocities represent authentic Christianity or a perversion of it. Ask any atheist what Christ’s two great commands were and they are unlikely to know. Love God with everything you have. Love your neighbour as yourself; and by neighbour, Jesus explicitly meant every human being on the planet—even our enemies. So does killing 1.45M people square with the Lord’s second commandment? Clearly not.

There are quack doctors in the world, but that does not make all medical science quackery. There are crooked lawyers in the world, but that does not indict the entire legal system. Similarly, a person who carries out a Crusade while violating Christ’s explicit command to love their neighbour is not demonstrating Gospel teachings. They are demonstrating what human nature does when it is handed institutional power and left without accountability to the actual teachings it claims to follow. Sort of like the Carney government and its captured courts.

Jesus said it plainly: “you will know them by their fruit”. He also said that on Judgment Day, many would say Lord, Lord, did we not do great things in your name? And his answer would be: “I never knew you.”

A root cannot deny its fruit.

Now here is what gets credited to the atheist states in the 20th century alone. Not religion. Not Christianity. States that made atheism a core value, promoted it through their education systems, enforced it in daily life, and worked effectively to eradicate religious belief entirely:

People’s Republic of China (1949-1987): 77M

U.S.S.R. (1917-87): 62M

Total: 139M in seventy years.

Christianity killed 1.45M in a thousand years. Atheist states killed a hundred times as many in less than 1% of the time. To equal what godless regimes produced in the 20th century alone, Christian wars would need to run constantly for approximately 98,000 years. Nor were most of these atheist deaths battlefield casualties. China starved more of its citizens to death in a single year of peacetime than Christian wars killed across ten centuries.

The Khmer Rouge, operating in a considerably smaller country, killed 31% of their own population. Cambodia? 31%. Both were atheistic, communist regimes. Even granting every number in the Christian column at full value, you cannot reach 10% of what godless regimes produced. The Inquisition resulted in fewer then 5,000 deaths over approximately 300 years. The Salem witch trials lasted four months and killed 19 people, none of them sentenced by the church, which had no such power. The full Christian atrocities column, tallied generously over a thousand years, does not come within shouting distance of what atheistic states accomplished in a single century.

Some atheists attempt to shift the blame to Communism rather than atheism. It is worth asking what specific feature of the Communism practiced by these states permitted such unholy slaughter? The Hutterites are a communal society. As are the Amish. They are both exceptionally peaceful (and Christian). The philosophical difference between they and Maoist China is not economic structure. It is that the Hutterites and Amish worship God. Communist countries less zealous about eradicating religious belief, like Cuba and Nicaragua, had considerably lower mass murder tallies. The pattern therefore holds. The more aggressively atheism was promoted and enforced, the greater the atrocities.

Here is what makes the atheism side of this argument genuinely chilling, and it is not simply the body count. It is the reason the body count is at all possible. One thing God provides is an objective moral standard transcending human civilization, history, or whoever is currently in power. Remove God, and morality becomes relative; it is whatever the society in power decides it to be. A guardrail that society carries in its own hand, anchored to nothing but itself. As society drifts, the guardrail drifts with it. There is no final accounting. There is no right or wrong beyond the powerful decree.

Does this not sound like the state of affairs in Canada today?

Not believing in God is not a neutral act without consequences. Author Barak Laurie, a former atheist, puts it plainly. It is like not believing in the police, the judiciary, medicine, or fire stations. You need not believe in them; but living in a world without them has dire consequences. Journalist Matthew Paris is another atheist. He wrote the following in The Times in 2008 upon returning from Africa:

“Now a confirmed atheist, I’ve become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa. Christians black and white, working in Africa, do heal the sick, do teach people to read and write…Removing Christian evangelism from the African equation may leave the continent at the mercy of a malign fusion of Nike, the witch doctor, the mobile phone, and the machete.”

An atheist. Writing that Christianity is irreplaceable. Because he went and looked.

Statistics Canada data, summarized in a MacLean’s piece entitled “Do Atheists Care Less?”, found that the average annual donations of churchgoers more than tripled that of the rest of the population; and that churchgoers volunteered twice as many hours in their communities. A charity launched specifically to showcase atheist generosity raised less than $19k from 447 members in its first four months. That equals what only 18 churchgoers give in a year. Again, judge the tree by its fruit.

Who fought against and ultimately defeated the institution of slavery? Christians and Jews. Who stood against eugenics, the forced sterilization of those the state deemed unfit? Christians and Jews. Who pushed back against China’s draconian one child per family policy when everyone else looked away? Christians and Jews. Who led pro-freedom resistance of Covid-19 lockdown measures and vaccine mandates? Christians and Jews. The people most routinely credited with history’s worst atrocities have also produced its most consistent record of resistance to institutionalized evil. Those who cling to the murderous ideologies that produced such atrocities have the nasty habit of projecting the bad fruit of their own making upon those who make them look bad by comparison. That is no coincidence. Judge the tree by its fruit, and see what happens when a civilization anchored to a God declares every human being made in His image.

History does not show that religion is the greatest source of evil. It shows quite the opposite. Authentic Christianity, centred upon loving God and loving every human being as yourself, restrains evil and produces measurable good. Atheistic states, freed from any transcendent moral compass, have produced the largest mass murder events in recorded human history. This is not to say that individual atheists are evil. Many live decent, generous, admirable lives. What they are living on, whether they choose to acknowledge it or not, is the moral capital of a civilization built by people who believed in the Imago Dei. That capital does not replenish itself, however. It was deposited by centuries of Christian influence into the foundations of Western law, charity, medicine, education, and the very concept of human dignity. Remove the foundation slowly enough, and most people never notice it leaving….until it is gone for good.

And when it is lost, the society that replaced it with nothing does not stay empty for long. Nature abhors a vacuum. We are not preparing our children for this contingency. We are not even preparing them to recognize it. So, the next time someone announces at a dinner party that religion is the source of all evil, ask them if they have actually looked at the numbers. Ask them what Jesus actually taught. Ask them which philosophers were running gulags. Ask them what fills the space when the last Christian remnants wear off on a culture. Then wait for an answer. If that does not work, then just share this commentary with them.

The God haters do not have numbers. They have an emotion dressed up in the language of reason. That is what Bill C-9 is. Or they were simply never asked to question what they have been taught. In which case they are taking it on faith—exactly what they accuse Christians of doing.

This is what Christianity actually teaches. Every word is straight from the text. If you think that a Christian is not living up to it, then you are welcome to use it. Read it once and see if you can find a more demanding or more generous moral code anywhere on earth. This is not the pathetic passive absence of harm. This is Love in action:

“Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you…Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you…Give to every man that asketh of thee, and of them that taketh away thy goods ask them not again…As ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise…Bear ye one another’s burdens…Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice…If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink…Be not overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good…Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy…Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God…Pure religion and undefined God and the Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in affliction…Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; for the rights of all who are destitute…The stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself…What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God…Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things…Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

I invoke you to hold every Christian to this standard, because that is exactly what Jesus taught us to do in His name.

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