By Rachael Ukamaka Osayi
Every society has culturally established rules, standards and guides (norms) which define acceptable human behaviour as well as stable, long-lasting beliefs about what is right, good, important, desirable, and worthwhile (values).
The established norms and values of societies are regularly called to question in different ages and sometimes even attacked. The attack on societal norms and values obviously have become more pronounced in this modern age, with many strategies employed by proponents of radical changes to bring about their desired goal.
Among the strategies, the use of social engineering techniques appears the most veritable and efficient tool in the hands of change agents. The success could be attributed largely to the obvious reason that many are ignorant of the concept of social engineering with respect to social change, given that the most common knowledge of social engineering is in the context of information security where deception and manipulation are employed to get individuals to divulge confidential information, for fraudulent purposes.
Strategies
Promoters of this agenda employ social engineering technique of deception which usually goes through six stages as follows:
Shocker stage
Outrage stage
Discussion stage
Tolerance stage
Acceptance stage; and – Reaggregation
Veneration stage – Routinization
Shocker stage: at this stage, the change agent, groups or isolates his targets, based on their interests, inclinations, experiences and vulnerabilities. The targets are considered to be frozen in certain unwanted molds which are first identified to determine the possible areas of resistance. Such resistance could result from factors such as fear of change, institutional inertia, vested interests or groupthink.
The mold could refer to political leaning and ideology, social, moral or religious values. Having assessed the targets based on their values, the change agent, having the change agenda always in view, decides the best way to introduce the desired change, most often in a scandalous way.
It is usually referred to as testing the waters. For instance, a high ranking Churchman may grant an interview to a renowned media outlet, denying the existence of hell or that souls of the damned go to hell, canvassing for women ordination or official recognition of same-sex union or gay clergy, whereby there were no prior considerations or possible consideration of such.
Outrage stage: the bombshell from the change agent is followed by an outrage from those thoroughly bewildered and disgusted by it. It triggers reactions, mostly negative from various facets of the society or targeted group.
However, the change agent remains unrelenting and continues pushing, intent on ensuring sustained exposure of his targets to the desired change, a psychological mind control trick.
The strategy is also to spark debate on the subject with a view to increasing its popularity and capturing more audience. The freezing continues at this stage and the agent works to suppress dissenting voices that have real capability of truncating the change agenda but encourages and can even sponsor opposing voices with no real capacity to impact the change agenda negatively, so as to increase debate on the subject.
Discussion stage: this is the stage of disaggregation or unfreezing, which means to break the rigidity of the audience by removing them from their current mold of undesirable values to begin to fit them into the new mold made for them by the change agent.
Here, debates on the proposed change hit up and the change agent employs every available means, like print, electronic and social media, seminars, fabricated scientific research works, among others to push the new ideology or mindset.
They have advantage of resources over opposing groups or voices, having planned and pulled together resources for the purpose beforehand. Being highly connected and powerful, they are equally likely to have dominance over the media space.
Tolerance stage: with consistent exposure on the subject, overtime, the sensitivity of people to what initially was considered abhorrent, will begin to be numbed. The fitting into the new mold progresses. Attitude of indifference will begin to set in and even though at this stage the change is not yet accepted by many, they may decide to ignore or worse still tolerate those who embrace the change or promote it.
Depending on what the change agenda is, the change agent may play the card of human rights, social justice, mercy, charity, and even employ propaganda against opposition at this stage to further his agenda and to disarm and silence opposing voices.
Acceptance stage: this is the stage of reaggregation or combining or grouping similar elements or entities together to form a larger entity or concept. It can span collection of data through surveys or other research methods, to the organization of individuals into groups to advocate for social change.
Reaggregation is an important strategy for social change because it allows for the identification of common trends and patterns across diverse groups, as well as the creation of larger groups with more influence and power. Here, the unfreezing has progressed to a very reasonable extent and the change has gained more ground, with many converts won over and emboldened by the momentum the change has gained.
If it is a change that requires legal and social rights, every effort will be made at this stage to guarantee those rights. Those still on the side of opposition will be considered inconsequential and given various labels to discredit them. In the case of LGBTQ+ agenda, they will be termed homophobic, transphobic, etc. In matters of morals generally, they may be regarded as rigid, judgmental, antiquated, unmerciful, uncharitable, self-righteous, among others.
Veneration stage: this is the final stage at which the new change becomes normalized and those who embrace it are extolled, idolized, rewarded and even set as models for the younger generation because usually such changes are planned for long term purposes.
For instance, in some countries members of the LGBTQ+ are projected as heads of governments, appointed into juicy and outstanding positions in governments, promoted in sports, beauty pageantry, businesses, and entertainment, among others. The process can occur through a gradual acceptance of the change by individuals and institutions, as well as the development of laws, policies, and social norms that support and reinforce the new change.
A few instances
A 1987 essay titled “The Overhauling of Straight America”, by Marshall Kirk and Hunter Madsen (writing as Erastes Pill), layed out a six-point plan for a campaign for LGBTQ+ agenda, which was first published in Guide magazine. They argued that gays must portray themselves in a positive way to straight America, and that the main aim of making homosexuality acceptable could be achieved by getting Americans “to think that it is just another thing, with a shrug of their shoulders”. Then “your battle for legal and social rights is virtually won”.
The pair developed their argument in the 1989 book, After the Ball: How America Will Conquer Its Fear and Hatred of Gays in the ’90s. The book outlined a public relations strategy for the LGBTQ+ movement. It argued that after the gay liberation phase of the 1970s and 1980s, gay rights groups should adopt more professional public relations techniques to convey their message. After its publication Kirk appeared in the pages of Newsweek, Time and The Washington Post. The book is often critically described by social conservatives such as Focus on the Family as important to the success of the LGBTQ+ Movement in the ’90s and as part of an alleged “homosexual agenda”.
President Biden, soon after assuming office, in a Memoradum on Advancing the Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Persons Around the World, directed American Embassies in various countries of the world to push for the legalization of homosexuality in their respective countries of residence.
He noted that the memorandum “reaffirms and supplements the principles established in the Presidential Memorandum of December 6, 2011(International Initiatives to Advance the Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Persons)” of Obama/Biden Administration. His argument is that “all human beings should be treated with respect and dignity and should be able to live without fear no matter who they are or whom they love”. In the memorandum, Biden stated “I am directing all agencies engaged abroad to ensure that United States diplomacy and foreign assistance promote and protect the human rights of LGBTQ+ persons”.
In April, 2018, during the year’s annual summit of Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM 2018) in London, the then Britain’s Prime Minister, Therasa May urged Commonwealth nations to overhaul “outdated colonial era legislations” that treat supposedly more than a hundred million lesbians, gays, bisexuals and trans people across member countries as criminals. She noted especially, that Britain has ‘special responsibility’ to help change hearts and minds on anti-gay laws. This among others lends credence to the fact that the LGBTQ+ movement is well coordinated, heavily financed with a clear cut agenda.
The agenda is so close to the hearts of its promoters that any major breakthrough in entrenching it in human society is celebrated with pumps. For instance, in June, 2015, the White House of the United States of America was lit in rainbow to celebrate one of President Obama’s greatest achievements in office, that is, legalization of same sex marriage by the US Supreme Court. Since then, the month of June every year is regarded as LGBTQ+ pride month in the United States of America.
Pike’s letter to Mazzini on the Third World War catalogued in the British museum:
The Third World War must be fomented by taking advantage of the differences caused by the ‘agentur’ of the “Illuminati” between the political Zionists and the leaders of Islamic World. The war must be conducted in such a way that Islam (the Moslem Arabic World) and political Zionism (the State of Israel) mutually destroy each other. Meanwhile the other nations, once more divided on this issue will be constrained to fight to the point of complete physical, moral, spiritual and economical exhaustion. We shall unleash the Nihilists and the atheists, and we shall provoke a formidable social cataclysm which in all its horror will show clearly to the nations the effect of absolute atheism, origin of savagery and of the most bloody turmoil.
Then everywhere, the citizens, obliged to defend themselves against the world minority of revolutionaries, will exterminate those destroyers of civilization, and the multitude, disillusioned with Christianity, whose deistic spirits will from that moment be without compass or direction, anxious for an ideal, but without knowing where to render its adoration, will receive the true light through the universal manifestation of the pure doctrine of Lucifer, brought finally out in the public view. This manifestation will result from the general reactionary movement which will follow the destruction of Christianity and atheism, both conquered and exterminated at the same time.
Specific Strategies of Actualization
The specifics of strategies for actualization of any change agenda is dependent on the change agenda itself, the scope, targets, available resources, among other considerations. Taking LGBTQ+ agenda for an illustration, below are some of the specific strategies associated with the agenda:
promotion through education curricula;
establishment of homosexual cult groups and recruitment of heterosexuals;
promotion through movies, TV reality shows, music, novels and books such as Sex and Lagos City by Success Akpojotor, Lives of Great Men by Chike Frankie Edozien, Blessed Body by Unoma Azuah
establishment of homosexual and pedophile sex rings and clubs;
promotion through fashion and beauty pageantry
government policies, programme and legislation
Affirmation by the major religions, religious groups and notable religious leaders
Advocacy by CSOs and NGOs
Conclusion
The application of social engineering not just in deconstruction of social constructs but moral constructs as well, with far reaching grave consequences for our modern societies, is a reality that cannot be wished away.
The fact that many are ignorant of this veritable tool in the hands of proponents of radical changes in our societies, makes it easier for change agents to operate undetected with attendant massive damage to societal norms and values. For our modern societies to survive the massive onslaught of social engineers on established societal norms and values, knowledge of the subject in question and its operationality is very paramount.
Priests are fathers of souls and as such, many look up to them for direction and guidance, not only on spiritual or moral issues but equally on other existential challenges, irrespective of the age and years of experience of the priests. For this reason, priests need to be insulated from being ‘facilitated’, so that they can objectively discharge their duties without undue influence, detrimental to their souls and those of the flock entrusted to them.
However, the solution does not lie only in rejecting the process but as Robert Cardinal Sarah said in the preface to the book Gender Revolution, “instead of locking ourselves in simplistic attitudes of acceptance or rejection, let us allow God to wake us through those very same shocks we feel and open ourselves to the transcendent light of his grace.” For those already at tolerance, acceptance and even veneration stage, move beyond the level of emotion where the only justification for approving of, or supporting such radical changes in societal and moral values and norms is romanticization, idealization and sentimentalization of mercy, equity, fairness, love, justice, and the likes.
Rachael Ukamaka Osayi writes from Awka
