The meaning of mesmerism is fascinating. The dictionary defines mesmerism in part as “a strong or spellbinding appeal; fascination; a hypnotic induction.” Have you ever met a person who was mesmerized by another person? Maybe you have seen old newsreels of the 1930s and 1940s when Adolf Hitler was in power. Often, they depicted young women in a mesmerized state with tears flowing down their cheeks. Hitler affected other people the same way, too. Further, part of this spellbinding appeal is observed as swooning. To swoon is defined in part as “to faint, to be overwhelmed by ecstatic joy; to become enraptured as swooning with joy.” Maybe you remember such swooning over Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley or other entertainers.
Sorrowfully and more serious, people can be mesmerized by propaganda, brainwashing and other means of emotional control. With that said, we see the importance of truth and honesty. Unfortunately, we have observed people who are emotionally controlled by political affiliation, religious organizations and the like. Charlatanism can drive part of this control. “No matter how big the lie; repeat it often enough and the masses will regard it as the truth” (John F. Kennedy). “If you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes the truth” (Joseph Goebbels). “Those who are capable of tyranny are capable of perjury to sustain it” (Lysander Spooner). “Propaganda is as powerful as heroin; it surreptitiously dissolves all capacity to think” (Gil Courtemanche). “It’s the unknown that draws people” (E. A. Bucchianeri). “The faster our lives spin, the more things tend to fly apart” (Richard Paul Evans). “Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened” (Winston Churchill).
Steadfastness in the
Truth Will Keep Us Stable
“Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong” (1 Corinthians 16:13 KJV). “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works” (Hebrews 10:22-24). “O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles” (Psalm 43:3). “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, if ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32).
So many people are manipulated into believing lies via propaganda, deception and charlatanism. Sadly, in the field of politics, government and overall religion, the manipulation is outrageously widespread.
