When foreign immigrants came to America, it didn’t take long for them to become “American.” They learned the English language, adopted the American dress styles, they bought into everything in the American culture. The Jews would never do that. Wherever they were taken, they held on to their rituals, traditions, and religion. When Daniel and his friends were taken as captives to Babylon, they were tempted with all the best Babylon had to offer. The Babylonians wanted the young Israelites to become like them. They seduced them with the best food. This passage begins, “The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank.” Their food came from the Kings table. It wasn’t ordinary fare. In many countries, you will find “re-education” camps for those entering a country to indoctrinate the newcomers to the right understanding of history and language and all things. The next verse talks about re-education. It says, “They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king.” As we’ll see the young Israelites could not be seduced by food or converted to the pagan Babylonian ways of life.
Then another major step that Ashpenaz took in indoctrinating the children of Israel into the Babylonian culture was to change their names. The passage continues, “Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah. And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.” Their Jewish names made them Jewish. Their new names made them Babylonians. According to Richison, “By giving these four young men these names, Ashpenaz hoped to eradicate Hebrew culture and inculcate Chaldean culture into their thinking. The names indicate that they were subject to the Chaldean gods. This was simply a brainwashing technique.” But these young men were seeped deeply in their own culture and the teachings of Moses, the writings, and the prophets. They knew their bible well. “Studies in Chaldean culture did not daunt the convictions of the four Judean believers. The content of Chaldean culture contradicted those convictions, but they were able to stand on their beliefs. These young men were able to study the Chaldean culture with academic excellence.” Richison concludes, “There is a great difference between God’s viewpoint on life and the viewpoint of the world. The viewpoint of God transcends the viewpoint of the world because the source is from eternity rather than time, from all-knowledge rather than special knowledge.”[1]
It has been widely recognized that the Institutes of higher learning in the United States have become more interested in indoctrinating students with the far-left liberal agenda than preparing them for a lifelong career. One of the more conservative reformed colleges in the country, Calvin, has now accepted LGBTQ professors on its faculty. If you do not have a pro-gay agenda, you will be ostracized and “cancelled” in our society. This seems to be worldwide. It seems that every show we attempt to watch on TV will have a gay couple presented as not only acceptable but applaudable. Even Downton Abbey has a gay gentleman that receives the approval of other characters. Then Anne with an E promoted the gay young man who received approval and praise from other gays and Anne herself in the show. There is no escaping the gay agenda. Those that do not approve of this lifestyle are framed as bigoted and hateful in such a way that no one wants to identify with them. But what’s worse, this trend has not been satisfied with working at the college and university level but has taken a turn to brainwash our high schoolers and even the elementary level. According to one source from Wisconsin, “State universities indoctrinate future teachers in controversial transgender, racial, and political theories—and instruct them to teach these principles to children beginning in preschool, a new report has found.”[2] Wisconsin is not the only state. The national trend with teacher’s unions is to support and affirm the gay lifestyle of students. Babylon is still seducing our children!
[1] Richison, Grant. 2006. Verse by Verse through the Book of Daniel. Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems.
[2] https://www.dailysignal.com/2022/08/16/public-school-teachers-told-to-indoctrinate-kids-as-young-as-three-in-radical-lgbt-theory/