Public Opinion

A friend of mine recently put the following post on his Facebook update " Medical statistics have revealed that one in four people living in Zambia today are suffering from some form of mental disorder.

Examine three of your close friends and if they are in good mental health then that person (with a mental problem) is yourself ! "

This Facebook post was of course meant to be a joke but it provoked me to think of how some people could use some tricks to influence other people's state of mind.

In any society there are some ideas that are considered to be acceptable just because the majority of the society is made to believe in them.

During the one party era in Zambia we were made to believe that the then ruling UNIP party was our only political solution. It took 27 years of our history to shake off this myth .

During the liberation struggle in southern Africa the freedom fighters were labelled as terrorists by the oppressing racists. It took many decades of destructive wars before this myth was blown off.

We have heard of the fairy story about a powerful King who wanted a special garment to be made for him. Since he could not be satisfied by what was being made. He was finally made to walk stack naked and his subjects were made to believe that he was wearing the most immaculate attire in the country ! It took the courage of one small child to point out that their King actually walking naked !

In this world we have a tendency of believing what the powerful in society are in support of.

Examine each situation that you find yourself in and make your own judgement. Believe in your God and forget about what evil forces what you to be subjected to .