Daniel Defoe, author of Robinson Crusoe in 1719, was put in the pillory from 29th to 31st July 1703 because of a tract he published. His intention in producing the leaflet was to make it look as if a foaming High Anglican zealot of the most bigoted stamp wrote it. Drawing on High-Church sermons, the pamphlet argued that the best way of dealing with the dissenters was to banish them abroad and send their preachers to the hangman. “The Church of England, it argued, is like Christ crucified between two thieves, Papists on the one side and Nonconformist sectarians on the other. Very well, let us crucify the thieves. To go on tolerating them is like allowing a plague to continue without medical treatment.” [1]
The authorities were not amused and they offered a reward for information on the perpetrator, having discovered from the printer who had done it. Defoe was soon arrested in Spitalfields and imprisoned in Newgate Gaol. At his trial he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three one-hour periods in the pillory. The pillory was used to punish minor criminals including cheats, liars, rioters and homosexuals, by shaming them in public.
Some of the candidates were killed or maimed for life as the crowd pelted them with eggs, fruit, dead cats and dogs, every variety of filth, stones, saucepans and other suitable missiles. Fortunately for Defoe he was pilloried when it rained which kept down the crowds and all that was thrown at him were flowers from his friends.
His brickworks failed, he could not pay his fine, and he was returned to Newgate Prison. However, four months later the government paid his fine from secret service funds. They realised his worth as a spin-doctor, and within a year he was employed to publish a regular newspaper, which showed the ministry in a favourable light, and to act as a government spy.
He continued for many years spreading propaganda for successive ministries, and it was not until later he turned to writing fiction. Fiction is what spin doctoring really is, it spins tales around truth to deceive. “Propaganda is that branch of the art of lying which consists in nearly deceiving your friends without quite deceiving your enemies.”2
Most governments employ them to advance their cause in a good light and influence public opinion. It was Adolf Hitler who said: “The greater the lie, the greater the chance that it will be believed.” 3 It is a sad state of affairs to see spin-doctors employed by authority figures to polish their image, but it is a situation that has woven itself into the fabric of public life.
God doesn’t need a spin-doctor, He is well able to represent Himself, but unfortunately some preachers do. The hype that precedes some of them into a new country or city, is sometimes far in excess of their calling, anointing and ability. No doubt we all want to be viewed in a good light, and can fall into the deception of exaggeration. God’s claims are real, what He says he does. Here are just a few:
“Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matt 11:28) – “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27). Just one more will do – “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. “(Matt 6:33). The problem for many Christians is that they think this is spin doctoring. How can God bless them abundantly, if they don’t work all their lives from sun-up to sundown? A good question, one that I can’t answer, but it’s true. No one has to convince me that it’s true, I’ve proved it, time and again. The Holy Spirit (God’s propagandist – only He’s absolutely truthful) convinced me many years ago, that what God says He really means.
[1]Richard Cavendish (Article), History Today, July 2003, Page 55
2 F. M. Cornford (1886–1960) British poet. New Statesman, 15 Sept 1978
3 Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) German dictator. Mein Kampf
