Mind Siege: The Battle for the Truth

by Tim LaHaye, David A. Noebel

New York Times best-selling author Tim LaHaye and author David Noebel give a wake-up call for Christians to fight the tide of popular beliefs and win the battle for your mind. Two basic sources of reasoning determine the thoughts, ideas, beliefs, values, aims, morals, lifestyles, and activities of mankind-the wisdom of man and the wisdom of God. According to Tim LaHaye and David Noebel, life is mainly about the battle for your mind: whether you will live by man's wisdom, from the likes of Marx, Darwin, Freud, and Nietzsche, or God's wisdom and those who gave it, such as Moses, the prophets, Christ, and the apostles. Your choice will affect the way you live now and ultimately where you will spend eternity.

Genres: Christian, Religion, Nonfiction, Christianity, Faith, Christian Non Fiction, Spirituality

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Timothy "Tim" F. LaHaye was an American evangelical Christian minister, author, and speaker, best known for the Left Behind series of apocalyptic fiction, which he co-wrote with Jerry B. Jenkins.

He has written over 50 books, both fiction and non-fiction.

Reviews

[Tamra · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yeah, yeah, yeah - what shock that I didn't like this blathering bit of fundamentalism. It's just too difficult to understand how something that is so idiotic could be taken seriously by anybody with even an iota of sense. But since I hit all five of their evil, evil categories - atheism (which apparently includes any kind of humanism), evolution, amorality (i.e. any morals different than theirs, which, of course, isn't amoral at all...), autonomous man, and globalism - I can't really be trusted in my review. I'd write more, but it's time for my shift at the socialist-feminist abortion clinic/porn store, and I still have a bunch of stuff to check off on my homosexual agenda. We atheistic satanists are a busy bunch after all.

[A]

This is the worst book I have ever read.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this author. The way he expresses everything, the way he just execute the whole thing is great. I'm not a big fan of non-fiction, but this one, I couldn't put down.

[Rabbit {Paint me like one of your 19th century gothic heroines!} · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is hateful trash. As a lesbian feminist ex-Christian, it pretty much stated all I hate about bigots. This book is the straw that broke the camel's back when it came to me leaving the faith when I was 16. It was a birthday gift from my evangelical step-mother and biological dad, who disapproved of my homosexuality and feminist ideals. Just remembering this book is making me angry.

[Frank Kool · Rating 1 out of 5]

Okay... we've got a lot to cover here so let's dive right in and take this step-by-step, shall we?

INTRODUCTION: LaHaye envisions a hypothetical near-future (2010 AD) where people are indoctrinated by liberal godless dogma and - we kid you not - literal SWAT teams arrest teenagers who pray in school. At this point the reader may be forgiven for thinking this is satire, but that illusion will not last long. The persecution complex that will dominate the next 300 pages is established right here, as is LaHaye's burning hatred of subtlety in writing. Also present is LaHaye's peculiar fixation on the UN, thinking it to be some instrument of world domination rather than the bureaucratic paper tiger it actually is.
Though I'll give the Devil his due and grant LaHaye one thing: he had a point about the rise of identity politics in academia. That's why this book deserves its one star.

PART 1: THE CONFLICT
1. Your incredible brain, your magnificent mind - The book kicks off with some (mostly wrong) statistics about how complex the human brain is. It quickly becomes apparent that LaHaye has less than a layman's understanding of neuroscience, which is evident even before he claims that "the will is the third characteristic of the brain". He also claims that violent/pornographic media will cause teenagers to become criminals but we know now that, despite the spread of the Internet, crime rates have continually declined since the mid-nineties. Here's something else that's bugged me for years: why was the myth that "we only use 10% of our brain" so popular among evangelical christians?

2. God's Wisdom – The chapter presents a contradiction: LaHaye slams humanism for having no values, yet constantly decries the bad values of humanism. In other words: he labels amoral what he then judges to be immoral. He also claims that any rational and freedom-loving person would want to live in a society build on Judeo-Christian ethics, which has its basis in the Old Testament. Anyone who has ever read through Leviticus knows that this theocracy would be a totalitarian nightmare where people would be taken outside the community and be stoned to death for the smallest offenses. Work on the Sabbath? Death. Rebelled against a parent? Death. Are you a fornicator, or do you weave clothes with two different fabrics? Death, death! It's also odd that LaHaye claims that only Judeo-Christian ethics can objectively condemn rape, because under Mosaic law the consequences of rape is that the victim has to marry the rapist after he pays compensation.

3. Man's Wisdom – This chapter is preceded by a quote from Romans 1:42, a verse championed by angry christians the world over because it calls unbelievers fools. It then outlines the main thread of the book, which are the five tenets of humanism: atheism, evolution, amorality, human autonomy, and globalism. We can summarize this chapter by as follows: everything everywhere always is a conspiracy against good old decent Christian values. You’re welcome.

PART TWO: THE SITUATION
4. America's Christian Heritage – One part of the book that almost send my eye-brows into orbit is right here where LaHaye quotes an 19th century author who praises the US as a great place to, among other things, "catechize sailors, Negroes, and loose women." The chapter goes downhill from there.

5. Secularizing American – Carrying on with the recurring theme of what LaHaye smugly calls “I-dolatry” we are presented with some scary statistics about the exponential rise of crime, divorce, STDs, and the like. Again, it’s feelings over facts: crime was in steep decline when this book was published, and it has continued to decline ever since.
This part made me laugh though: "The Renaissance obsession with nude art forms was the forerunner of the modern demand for pornography in the name of freedom." But perhaps it takes a humanist to look at a naked body as something aesthetic instead of erotic.

PART THREE: THE TRUTH
6. The Humanist Bible – Not even halfway into the book it is already starting to repeat itself so much that I suspect you could randomly swap chapters around without noticeable effect. Humanism = atheism = evolution = amoralism = one world government… We get it! Can we go now?

7. Humanism is Unscientific – In this chapter LaHaye comes off as someone who has just learned a new word and now seizes every opportunity to use it. Humanism is unscientific. Amoralism is unscientific. Health experts remaining silent on the hazards of sexual promiscuity is unscientific. Evolution, paradoxically, is “not only bad science but also unscientific" (you can’t have it both ways, Tim). Then again, this verdict means little coming from a man who thought that the proof of evolution hinged on scientists finding the so-called "missing link", or that science shows that homosexuality is a choice.

8. Humanism is a Religion – If you’ve read the title you know just as much as when you read the entire chapter. But here’s a nice zinger if you think that a snarky comment is enough to win an argument: “Secular humanism is brain dead even as its heart continues to pump energy into all of our institutions”. For all his complaints about Foucault and postmodernism, LaHaye understands very well that people's minds and world views are largely shaped by power relations in language and academia.

9. Humanists control America – LaHaye carries on the "us vs. them" diatribe and turns it up to eleven. The chapter is essentially a long list of organizations and people, loosely connected through anecdotes as being the all-out humanist attack on christian values. The continuous comparisons with the Soviet Union become more and more egregious once you see the eerie similarity in the rhetoric of Marx and LaHaye: both try to convince their audience that they're part of the oppressed class and history demands that they rise up in resistance. In The Communist Manifesto the oppressors are the bourgeoisie who own the means of production, in LaHaye's manifesto the oppressors are the humanists who own the means of education and entertainment. The fearmongering of this moral panic reaches its zenith in the following quote: "In fact, we (...) predict that if the homosexual juggernaut is not stopped, pederasty (man-boy sex) will be declared normal and legalized within twenty years" (p. 193).

10. The Big Lie – If LaHaye was condescending before, here he is outright malicious in his treatment of his fellow human beings. Here's how he talks about a godless liberal who advocated the use of birth control to teenagers: "As liberals often do, she concluded with an emotional appeal, asserting: 'I am dying of AIDS' [she has since expired]" (p. 209).

PART FOUR: THE CHALLENGE
11. The Pro-Moral Majority – More repetition on the evils of humanism, more hammering on that topic on which Jesus famously never said anything: homosexuality. Most of the chapter is devoted to reconcile the ideas that society is drenched to the core in humanism while the majority is still a morally decent christian.
One segment is particularly interesting, considering the emphasis on objective truth: LaHaye brings us an anecdote of his days in the Air Force. He found out that his compatriots were Catholic, Mormon, and Southern Baptist. "We could not talk about theology without dispute", he writes. It sounds like the set-up for a joke: "Four moral objectivists walk into a B-29... and discover that they all have their own version of the truth." LaHaye neutralizes this contradiction with yet another platitude: "We were all Americans interested in preserving our country's freedom."

12. Summer soldiers and sunshine patriots – Present once again are the comparisons of humanism with communism, now with the clumsy metaphor of "the Iron Curtain surrounding our education system" (he seems to confuse the Iron Curtain with the Berlin Wall: the former divided, while the latter surrounded). Again the assertion that Stalin was influenced by evolutionary theory, an accusation which flies in the face of the fact that Darwinism was actually persecuted under Stalin for its supposed capitalist undertones (don't ask) and was replaced with the pseudo-science of Lysenkoism.

13. Waking the sleeping giant – Another chapter, another worrisome anecdote. I bet you didn't know some museum reclassified Homo sapiens so that it now shares its genus with chimpanzees? But mankind already shared its genus (Homo) with other primates since the foundation of our taxonomy system was first established in the 18th century by the Bible believing creationist Karl Linnaeus.
The chapter ends with LaHaye passive-aggressively expressing his grievances by means of a dreadful poem called The New School Prayer (ironically bewailing both gun control and school shootings), part of which I do not want to deny you:

Our hair can be purple or orange or green
That's no offense, it's the freedom scene

14. What can we do – The rhetorical high-light in LaHaye's manifesto on the war for America's spiritual destiny is a battle cry to expose secular humanism "for the cancer it is".

15. Time to choose – Just one more chapter to wrap it up. The chorus of the ills of "secular humanism" and "the homosexual agenda" are repeated several times over. We also encounter that beloved pet of all demagogues: the plea that "it is time to take back our country". You know, from them, they who mock us, they who are conspiring against us using our tax money! Even the very last line of the book is a stab at the other side: it's a quote from a poem calling bystanders "cowards".

In conclusion, this book is very a product of its time. Present are the fears of moral decay and atheistic thought, still lingering is the scare of communism, noticeably absent is the next moral boogieman that would dominate LaHaye's books in the 21st century: militant Islam.
Good thing we had another God-fearing Republican in office in 2001, right?

[Steve Clem · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Grave Influence and it was a great update concerning the pressures that secular humanistic and other non-Christian proponents are trying to exert onto Christianity so that it begins to conform to the ideals in the three Humanist Manifestos (and in many cases the desire is to shut down Christian influence).

Mind Siege, fills in more details, and is a must read for any Christian thinker who wants to clearly understand the subtle and blatant attacks which atheistic thinkers are using to force change on not only Christianity, but also on society. In it's own right, this book is up to the task and confirms to me what other sources also reveal. Any Christian leader who wants to steer the flock to maturity in Christ must recognize when the wolf comes in and what strategy the pack uses to pick off the weak and uninformed.

I never thought of Tim LaHaye as anything other than a fictional writer (Left Behind Series). However, this book reveals a very clear thinking Christian. If you want to be better equipped to protect your Christian family and hold fast to the faith, this is the book you should read and add to your arsenal. Protect the sheep from the wolves who have already infiltrated the church. I do not, bowever, buy into Tim's idea that we become militant. In addition, it is interesting to note how much has changed since Mind Siege and Grave Influence both were written (by different authors). The eight to ten year interval reveals that a few high visibility clergy are not up to the task of living pro-moral, though they obviously talked a hypocritical game. The Catholic and Protestant sex scandals are evidence of this and have really hurt the cause of Christ. Notwithstanding, I still believe that there is valuable information in both books which will help Christian thinkers be stronger in their faith and Christian worldview.

Finally, the attacks against Christianity go beyond freedom of religion, as humanist thought claims to be tolerant to religious liberty. However, their tactics are anything but benign. They promote tolerance while censoring Christianity from society. Not only do we recognize them as a threat, but they recognize us as a threat. But alas, we are not a threat to them. It is God Himself, whom they oppose and deny. And maybe, they will be given grace to meet Jesus, on the road to Damascus.

[Barbara · Rating 2 out of 5]

LaHaye is a fundamentalist, and his beliefs seep through every page of this nonfiction book. He does make valid points about secular humanism (I was surprised to learn that it holds the same tax exempt status as do mainline Christian churches) and moral relativism in American culture. However, his valid points drown in a sea of seemingly mindless Christian rhetoric.

Mr. LaHaye, take note of how Jesus Christ preached to the masses. He did not make cheap emotional appeals or call for his followers to take political action. He used simple logic and reasoning when teaching his followers. You could do the same.

[Neo · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found this book at goodwill and I'm glad I bought it because this book is now off the shelves and into my hands, where no one can read this insanity. If you're reading this review, I agree with the majority of the rest of these reviews. It is a terrible book full of panic and hatred towards people. It blames non-Christians for the issues in America, including issues that don't actually exist. If you really want to read this book, go ahead, but don't be surprised when the book goes downhill in the first 30 pages.

[Candace · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very sad to see Christianity represented this way. If you think this is a good read, contrast this with the Christianity represented in The Hiding Place (something that has actually happened). That is what Jesus preached.

[Jacob Ritenour · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Mind Siege" by Tim Lahaye & David Noebel was a book chalk-full of history and information on Humanism and Secular Humanism, and how it is everywhere. because it is an informational book there are a few problems with the book in that the information is clearly biased toward a specific ideology. the writing is excellent and the text was very informative, but it was focused to much on politics and how humanism and it's many forms are taking over the political world, which is not what the book was supposed to be focused on. although there were quite a few mistakes in the writing, it was an exceptional book, and there are many great things about it as well.
throughout the book, many historical leaders of the humanist "theology" are referenced, such as Paul Kurtz and Tim Turner, which is helpful for understanding how many people have supported it and held it up. the book also gave time periods in which these leaders and founders were sharing their ideas, which to my amazement started all the way back in the 14th century in Europe. although the history was accurate and valid, the facts were overpowered by the opinions given from the authors having to do with their own religion. although the book was written by two Christians, it is awfully biased toward Christianity and one of the biggest problems with this book is also that many of the arguements are left open and without answers, which makes it hard to understand or fully follow.
Lahaye and Noebel are both skilled authors with almost 70 years between them, and they did a great job of writing this book, but there are a few problems with the writing. the biggest problem with the writing is that many of the author's arguements are not completely followed through, but instead are left open in many places. being a Christian myself, I feel some of their answers to fighting the humanist "regime" are a bit world-based. I believe that instead of actually fighting humanists, we need to stand up for our faith more and represent Jesus the way we truly should. I think that these two authors did a terrific job of writing this and I wouldn't want anyone else to write it, but I do think they could have improved some things.
although Lahaye and Noebel have several fallacys throughout, it remains a very informational book and has many positive things about it as well. one thing the authors do exceptionally well is explain the processes that modern humanists use to persuade others into unknowingly following the behaviours of the Humanists. it also does a great job of showing the real enemy in the modern world that is destroying or economy and ruining America's government. the evidence they use is backed up by several sources, but they biggest one they use is the bible. when they use the Bible they reference very relative quotes and people to prove their point.
the most striking part of this book was definetally the content, because of a few reasons. first, the language used by the authors was extremely helpful to getting their points across, and without it i would not have gotten the same feeling from the book. also, the history they provided was useful in understanding the "Story" of humanism and it's beginnings. overall this was a nicely written book, with some flaws here and there, and i would definetally recommend it for readers interested in learning what many christians are viewing as an "epidemic".

-Jacob Ritenour

[Rachel Grepke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rarely is a book written that explains things perfectly, precisely and honestly. Even though this book is several years old now and could be updated a bit, it still rings true. We as Christians need to understand the world in which we are living and how we can impact it. Too often we don't raise our voices or get involved, but are the first to complain about things. We need a new kind of revival and it begins with each one of us. Great read, excellent writing and a must for every believer to read and pray about.

[Karen Stidham · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think everyone who cares about America, and the country that it will be for our children and future generations, should read this book. It is packed full of quotable truths! Since it was written in 2000, it simply proves its validity, due to what has happened since that time.

[Patrick Mashal · Rating 1 out of 5]

its great...MUST READ.

[Jason · Rating 1 out of 5]

No comment...

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great look at what is going on in our country and world. If you find yourself wondering "how did we get where we are now", you need to read this book. If you're looking for ways to change what is going on in our country and world, you need to read this book. The overarching theme through this book is that we, as Christians, cannot hide and assume everything will get better on its own. We must pray and we must get involved!

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sad but relevant

[Anne Rutt · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have so many questions and concerns...also, he needs fact checked.

[Kristy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not quite sure what I think of this book. I liked it, yet it was pro right wing and anti left wing government. I personally have a problem with issues on each side. Here is an interesting quote from the book: "The religion of Baal and Asherah promoted worship of nature and sex and celebrated child sacrifice. The same kind of worship today is called radical environmentalism, sex ed or Sangerism, and is celebrated through abortion. The religion of Pan and Caesar worshiped the state. The same kind of worship today is called statism, Big Government, Big Brother, one-world government or the coming new world order. Stoicism and Epicureanism promoted the religions of pantheism and atheism. The same kind of religion exists today through New Age teachings, liberalism, Scientific Humanism, Secular Humanism, Marxism, cultural Marxism, socialism, or postmodernism."
The book talks about Humanism and how it is a religion. Humanism is based on 5 tenets: atheism (humanism tends toward a naturalistic metaphysics where anything supernatural is a myth), evolution, amorality (destruction of our moral foundation), autonomous man (self-worship not God-worship), globalism (a one-world government).
Secular Humanism is blamed for the change in America's standards. The Christian founded basis of America has been removed from schools, etc..and America is more depraved than ever before. It seems to me from what I read that the Humanist agenda has infiltrated our school systems and society so much so that we are being forced to listen and read their religion. So in essence Christians are being subjected to the same sort of thing as they were by making God part of our schools, etc. The book does also talk about Secular Humanism being a religion.
We are reminded that to make changes in our depraved society, we must vote! "Voting and politics are simply placing one's privately held values and beliefs into the public arena." If we want to make a stand against our society which is saying that there is nothing wrong with abortion, pornography, homosexuality, adultery, etc...then the best thing we can do is to become aware of our political world and vote people into office who are pro-moral. I do want to say that the book is also saying that we need to love and care for people that fall into these sort of things. The thing I took away from this book is that I need to become more aware of my environment.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Mind Siege" by Tim Lahaye and David Noebel is a reworking of an older book, "The Battle For The Mind." This edition has been updated with current information. The copy I have was printed in 2000. "Mind Siege" is very informative about Humanism and Secular Humanism. Lahaye shows that Humanism is unquestionably the established state religion in America and that this religion is observed and honored throughout the government, public schools, big business, entertainment, and news media, etc. In short, it’s everywhere.

Lahaye also discusses the fervent indoctrination practice of Humanist adherents. They have an extremely aggressive program of brainwashing the general public in order to create good world citizens after their own image. This book is a real eye-opener and should be read by every Christian in this day. Unfortunately, we do not seem to understand who the enemies are and what the battle really is.

The only weakness to the book is that the author’s conclusions are somewhat lacking. Some of the solutions offered are not necessarily in line with spiritual warfare and the Christian commission. We have powerful weaponry in Jesus Christ and we should not abandon it to try to fight the world on their terms. While the practical applications could be more biblical and thorough, this is still a very worthwhile book. We have to know what the problem is before we can begin to address it. On that score, this book is helpful.

[Christopher Hutton · Rating 2 out of 5]

The text, by any standard, is what most Christians and conservative pundits would use to promote their own agenda. The book is supposed to be an updated version of Lahaye's Battle for the Mind, which was published in 1980, the same time of the Moral Majority. And from the reviews I read of Battle For the Mind, they sound surprisingly similar in rhetoric.

From a content standpoint, the book itself is nothing special. I had read all of the arguments, rhetoric, and evidence before. Were they new arguments as of 2000? I don't know. I doubt this book is going to hold its historical value compared to another text, like Schaeffer's How Then Shall We Live, or Noebel's original text Understanding the Times (which I will read and review later on)

As to Noebel and Lahaye writing the book, I'm actually not sure who wrote what. Was Lahaye the main author, while adopting some of Noebel's arguments for his part? Did Noebel contribute research in the way that Dave Sterrett's books were written by Sterrett, but primarily rely on Josh Mcdowell's research from Evidence that Demands a Verdict"? I couldn't figure it out. All I know is that Noebel got a place in the author line, as well as a prominent position in the video series accompanying this book.

But what about the arguments? Well, I'd recommend going over to Liter8.net, to get a look at my longer-review of the book and it's arguments, both the good and the bad.

http://liter8.net/?p=213

[Christopher Boynton]

Mind siege was a boring book for me because it mostly talked about how different religious groups think different form each other and how our brain is like a sponge and absorbs information. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone unless, your into this kind of stuff.

[Jenny]

Like One Nation Under Man...need to re-read

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good. however I thought it could hvae been written better. how I don't know. I also don't remember if I read the entire thing.

[Lisa]

Mind Siege : The Battle for the Truth by Tim LaHaye (2003)