Which Threats Are Real—and Which Are Fake?

Most people agree that our world faces major threats, but they wildly disagree on what those threats are.

After two mass shootings in America on August 3-4, leftist journalists and politicians immediately zeroed in on the “real” underlying threat of such atrocities: lack of gun control and white nationalism.

They hyped this threat using not only contorted logic but also fake facts. The 21-year-old El Paso murderer is not a conservative or even a Trump acolyte. The manifesto he appears to have posted views Hispanic immigrants as a threat to the United States, not because they are racially inferior but because their numbers will jeopardize free universal health care, universal basic income and the environment. Yet journalists and politicians turned this deranged, big-government, socialist eco-terrorist into a “white nationalist,” and pontificated and preached as though mass shootings and hate in general would cease if only the president would stop encouraging white supremacy.

All mass shootings are tragic, regardless of motive. But from 1989 to 2014, all mass shootings accounted for 0.13 percent of the shooting deaths in America, most of which cannot be even remotely linked to white nationalism. But one third of the 33,000 gun deaths each year in the U.S. are homicides—an outsized portion of which are black men killing other black men. The other two thirds are suicides. For each mass shooting death, there are over 500 shooting suicides. And that is to say nothing of the one million abortions performed each year on average in America over that period.

Mathematically, these are real threats. But leftists aren’t weeping and ranting and swearing about those like they are about “white nationalism.”

Meanwhile, illegal immigration is another real threat. Huge numbers of immigrants, including desperate adults, vulnerable children, drug smugglers, terrorists and other criminals are crossing the border. It is mathematically impossible for millions of impoverished people pouring into the country not to strain the economies they are entering. It’s impossible for them not to change society and, if Democrats succeed in giving them voting rights, the government.

These are objectively serious threats. But if you even mention them, liberals say you are a white nationalist. If you want to deal with shootings or immigration by enforcing the law, then you are a racist. The actual threat posed by white nationalists is barely a blip on the radar compared to the threat of open borders. Some on the left are screaming about racism and the danger of another Holocaust—while insisting that the solution is to eliminate the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and offer these “undocumented asylum seekers” free health care.

You may have a termite problem affecting, let’s say, less than 1 percent of your house. But if your house is on fire, you deal with the fire! You don’t turn your back on the flames and begin ripping off drywall to address the termites.

Leftists in America, in truth, are trying to solve the termite problem by setting the house on fire.

The El Paso shooter supports free health care and universal basic income. These happen to be two of the “solutions” being promoted by Democratic presidential candidates to solve the crisis of economic inequality. Their other proposals include wealth tax, minimum wage increases, free college, free cash handouts, even slavery reparations. Meanwhile, America’s national debt is $22 trillion and rising fast. This is an existential threat not only to our economy but to our national security.

Examples of ignoring real threats abound. What about the godless, devastated families producing these mass shooters, gang members and other criminals? What about dangerous turmoil in China, Russia, Korea, Turkey, India and Pakistan? What about the corrosion of European democracy? Or Brexit? Or how any number of these volatile situations might affect markets and national economies? It’s all background noise compared to the threats of white nationalism, police shootings, toxic masculinity, carbon emissions, Confederate statues, abortion restrictions, lgbtq disadvantages and “misgendering” a man who says he’s a woman.

When you view everything through a distorted lens, the fake threats look huge—and you never see the real threats coming.

If you hear a lie often enough, you will eventually believe it—unless you constantly fight it off and have clear, solid truth to compare it to. God tells you to prove all things and hold fast to what is good (1 Thessalonians 5:21).

Here is how to assess the actual threat level on any given subject: Look at what Bible prophecy says. It will help you distinguish actual crises from fake ones. A practical way to do this is to read “‘But What Do I Watch For?’” Another is to look at our Trends page (deTrompet.nl/trends ). This breaks down the news into the four main areas that Bible prophecy addresses. These are the real threats, based not on ideology or rhetoric, but on Bible prophecy revealed by God. This will help you keep your perspective, help you stay clear from being deceived and sucked into fighting fake threats—and keep you grounded in the truth.