The rising tide of antisemitism in America since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, prompted a pastor from a New Jersey church to draw a parallel between Nazi Germany and America today.
As a result of his conclusion, Matthew Maher from Landmark Church in Ocean City, wrote “Discerning the Devil’s Playbook,” a booklet in which he outlines, as stated in the subtitle: “The Four Plays From Nazi Germany Currently at Play in America.”
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In a recent Gallup Poll, it was found that 81% of adults viewed antisemitism as a “very” or “somewhat” serious problem, up from 57% in 2003. As the The Washington Times reported, the poll results included a jump from 9% to 49% of those who described anti-Jewish prejudice as “very serious.” The study also showed that the share of people viewing antisemitism as a minor issue dropped to a small minority.
It was when the initial public sympathy for Israel seemed to be overshadowed by a growing opposition to Israel and support of Palestine and Hamas that Mr. Maher said he began formulating the premise for his conclusion. In America, protests against Israel’s actions included “people yelling at the top of their lungs for Hamas” without having all the facts, he said.
“I realized at that moment how quickly people can be deceived with propaganda,” Mr. Maher said in an interview. “People were led astray by lies, and that basically is what led me to begin to formulate my thoughts [for writing the booklet].”
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In “Discerning the Devil’s Playbook,” Mr. Maher writes that “the enemy has a limited playbook with just four plays” and that Satan “successfully runs these four plays over and over again, and has done so throughout the ages.”
The Devil’s four plays and Nazi Germany
Mr. Maher describes the four plays from biblical and historical narratives (including from Nazi Germany). In the first play, “Contradict the Truth,” he notes in his booklet that during the rise of Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler’s regime “utilized every sector of society as a way to contradict truth and manipulate the masses.”
“As these plays were laid out, I was astonished to see how one could see a parallel to what happened in Nazi Germany,” he said.
Under “Play 1” he writes, “With the propaganda machine in full swing, part of their slanderous efforts was to de-Christianize society. In essence, Hitler’s ‘administration’ sought to remove God from the conscience of the nation. This he did by neutralizing the church. Hitler said that the churches must be ‘forbidden from interfering with temporal matters.’ And God being moved out is the prerequisite for the enemy to move in.”
Mr. Maher continues in the outline found in his booklet: “Basically, [Play 1] was the age-old lie that the sacred and secular must be separate. In the American context, it is the lie of separation of church and state.”
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“Contradicting the truth rolls over to controlling the news [Play 2],” he said. “That’s the way the enemy gets his messaging out there, or his narrative, and then ultimately, if he controls the news or narrative that leads to creating conflict between groups and nations [Play 3].”
The fourth play outlined in the book is “Convert the Youth.”
“The future of any nation rises or falls on the worldview of its youth, a reality the Devil understands all too well. Thus, he targets the impressionable minds of young people, seeking to indoctrinate them with his lies and ‘academic’ distortions,” Mr. Maher writes.
And again, in comparison to history and today’s times, under Play 4, he states: “Consider the quote from Hitler when he said, ‘He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future.’ This demonic obsession with youth manifested vividly in Nazi Germany. Over the course of the 1930s, the Nazi state abolished all independent youth programs in Germany, paving the way for Hitler to establish a youth organization for the Nazi party known as the Hitler Youth and the League of German Girls. By 1939, more than 82% of eligible youth (ages 10-18) belonged to these organizations, which served as vehicles for the indoctrination of children and adolescents into the ideology of the regime.”
Further in the chapter, he writes, “Today, the common assault on children takes subtler forms, from the erosion of traditional family values to the promotion of ideologies that undermine the sanctity of life and the innocence of youth. The normalization of abortion, the push for gender ideology in schools, and the sexualization of children through media and entertainment are all manifestations of this ongoing spiritual battle.”
Mr. Maher said his goal in writing the book was to “challenge the Christian and the church to counter attack” this narrative.
“We are not to be passive in this spiritual war. We know the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. They’re not in the flesh. They’re mighty in God,” he said. “I think the church, for too long, has been ill equipped, or not equipped at all, to engage in this spiritual war. So that was basically the heart behind the book.”
Mr. Maher shares that the Rechurched podcast covers “Discerning the Devil’s Playbook - The Four Plays From Nazi Germany Currently at Play in America” at length.
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Alex Murashko is a journalist and writing team leader for Think Eternity, a site for powerful faith content to help you live the fulfilled life in Jesus. Murashko is also founder of Media on Mission. Connect on X (formerly Twitter): @AlexMurashko.
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