In an historic move with far-reaching implications, the president of the United States has been banned by Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Twitch, Pinterest, Reddit, TikTok, Discord, and Snapchat. Though President Trump doesn’t have an account with most of these social media platforms, they are banning such things as videos of Trump speeches and unofficial Trump forums. The e-commerce platform Shopify shut down shops run by the Trump campaign and the Trump organization. At least four banks have closed Trump accounts: Bank United and Professional Bank in Florida and Signature Bank and Deutsche Bank in New York, and Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York City, said the city will terminate business contracts with Trump (“Banks Close Trump’s Accounts,” Epoch Times, Jan. 22, 2021). Trump has lost two real-estate brokers, and the Professional Golf Association announced that it would not allow Trump to host the 2022 PGA Championship (“Florida-based bank,” The Washington Post, Jan. 22, 2021).

Parler, the free speech alternative to Twitter, has been removed from Google Play (Android) and the Apple store. Amazon shut down all of Parler’s servers on Jan. 10, and Parler’s CEO John Matze issued a notice that it might be unavailable for up to a week “as we rebuild from scratch.”

The chairwoman for Mozilla, the creator of the Firefox web browser, called for additional actions to alter “the dangerous dynamics” of the internet and to silence “disinformation campaigns” by “bad actors,” meaning those who refuse to toe the Leftist line.

This is totalitarian language that flies in the face of the U.S. Bill of Rights.

Where were these people when Black Lives Matter and Antifa caused $2 billion in destruction across America?

We’re never been great fans of President Trump and have disagreed with a lot of things that he has said. It appears to us that he is immoral, foul mouthed, pompous, narcissistic, self-willed, bullying, an abusive name caller, speaks when he should be silent, and turns on his own friends, among other things. We believe that he has degraded the office (not that he is the first to do so, by a long shot). But the man has done his best to fulfill his campaign promises, a rare thing. He has not enriched himself from politics as so many have done. In fact, he has not taken a salary from the government and has probably harmed his personal business empire by his effort to make America great again. He has most definitely done many good things for America. He is convinced the election was stolen, believes he has evidence of it, and has complained loud and long about it. Who is to blame him? But he did not call for an attack on the Capitol Building. Rather, he publicly and plainly condemned it. He cannot be compared to Leftist ideologues who have openly called for violence, even against the president himself. And Trump’s supporters aren’t insurgents. Whatever part they had in the attack on the Capitol Building on Jan. 6, it was out of character.

The anti-American totalitarianism and gross hypocrisy of the moguls behind the major social media platforms is evident in this move.

Tucker Carlson of Fox News said, “Days after Donald Trump called for breaking up the Big Tech monopolies in order to preserve democracy, they have silenced him. Friday evening, Twitter announced that the sitting president had been banned from the platform that is his primary means of public communication. Of course, they waited until the Democratic Party took power to shut it down. Silicon Valley oligarchs are more powerful than the president of the United States, and they want you to know it. ... The assault on speech accelerates ... Friday morning, CNN announced that it is working to force the Fox News Channel off the air and run this company out of business. A number of prominent Democrats, including officeholders, support that effort. CNN staffers have already contacted the six major cable carriers in this country, the companies that carry our signal into your home, and pressured them to drop Fox News” (Tucker Carlson Tonight, Jan. 8, 2021).

Donald Trump, Jr., warned, “We are living in Orwell’s 1984. Free-speech no longer exists in America. It died with big tech and what’s left is only there for a chosen few” (@DonaldJTrumpJr, Jan. 9, 2021).

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, “Silencing speech is dangerous. It’s un-American. Sadly, this isn’t a new tactic of the Left. They’ve worked to silence opposing voices for years. We cannot let them silence 75M Americans. This isn’t the CCP” (@mikepompeo, Jan. 9, 2021)

Liberal reporter Michael Tracey also sees clearly where this is heading. “The new corporate authoritarian liberal-left monoculture is going to be absolutely ruthless--and in 12 days it is merging with the state. This is only the beginning, The most extreme, coordinated corporate censorship offensive in modern history and liberals/leftists are in a mindless celebratory stupor. Pathetic shills” (@mtracey, Jan. 9, 2021).

Kate Ruane, a senior legislative counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), released a statement condemning Facebook and Twitter’s decision to suspend the president’s account, warning of “unchecked power.”

All of that is true, but God’s people have far more light than the world. Concerning such times, God’s Word says,

“Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart” (Psalm 37:1-4).

This is not blind religious faith. It is faith in the Word of a God who cannot lie, who has prophesied the coming of His kingdom in a Book whose prophecies have always been fulfilled, who has all power, and who cannot fail.

Further, though it is bad day in America for its historic liberties, it is not the end of America nor the end of liberty. For now, there is still plenty of opportunity for “conservatives” to fight and who knows what a year or two will bring forth? Conservative lawyer John Hinderaker put it like this: “Now we are on to the Biden administration. I, for one, plan to #Resist the incoming administration every day for the next four years. We won’t #Resist like the Democrats did; that is, there will be no lies and no crimes. But with a cadaver like Biden, truth will be more than enough. Some famous American once said something along the lines of, ‘I have not yet begun to fight.’ I believe that was when he was called on to surrender. That is how I feel tonight. On January 20, the battle begins” (“A Sad Day,” Powerlineblog.com, Jan. 6. 2021).

More importantly, there is still time for churches to take the Word of God much more seriously, to awaken from a lukewarm slumber. There is time to stop playing and start praying, really praying, praying a lot, praying on purpose, setting aside time in the weekly church schedule for real prayer, private prayer, corporate prayer, family prayer, praying with partners, prayer before services, real prayer meetings. Not talking about prayer, not taking prayer requests, not talking about politics, not complaining and bemoaning. Praying. And it is time to start confessing sins and living a separated pilgrim lifestyle instead of a Christian party lifestyle that is, in reality, worldliness with a thin veneer of “we love Jesus and the King James Bible.”

It is time for pastors to wake up and lead their churches out of spiritual lethargy. We recommend taking 21 Steps to a Stronger Church for the 21st Century.