Chapter 11
The Deception of the World & Politics
What is our responsibility to this world, to our country, to society and to one another? To what extent should we labor to change the world, change leaders, right wrongs and support various causes? Although there are no hard and fast answers to these questions, and each Christian must learn to follow the leading of the Lord, there are some general principles. No generation in the history of mankind is as invested in the world and the things of the world as this one, particularly those living in the Western world. This is a central issue for the “end times” Christian as he struggles with the deception and the tremendously powerful influence of the world system.
If Christians are not clear on where their allegiance lies, they will be double minded. Most Christians today do not understand where their true citizenship lies or, at the very least, they believe they can straddle both worlds - have the best of this world and heaven. Some even think that, with enough effort, they can change this world and make it a better place. We have been so brainwashed by this present evil age, it is difficult to think clearly and from a Biblical and Godly perspective. Jesus never told his followers to revolt against the Roman Empire nor urged the slave to seek freedom. Why? Because He was ushering in a new kingdom that had nothing to do with a person’s position or possessions in this world. Only our generation has so much to lose, plus we have the hope that we can manipulate the world not realizing that, even at its best, it is a Satanic delusion.
In order to help us gain perspective, close your eyes and imagine that you are a first Century Christian living in the city of Ephesus in Asia Minor across the Aegean Sea from Greece. You are a weaver and just happened to know some Jews who became followers of Christ recently. They shared the “good news” with you and you accepted Him as your Savior and Lord. Your life changed radically. You no longer toiled from sunrise to sunset just to sell your wares in the market place. You have more to look forward to than the festivals and sacrifices to the Greek gods and goddesses. You now know the One true God and find yourself in a community of believers that goes from house to house in the evenings praying and praising God for your new found life!
The Roman rulers have pretty much left you alone in the past (except for taxes and token worship to Caesar). But now things are heating up a bit and the Romans are getting worried about the growing influence of this new religious sect that claims allegiance to no man. One day, they round up the leaders and ask them to bow and worship Caesar. They respectfully refuse and are beheaded on the spot. Then they come for you but you do not care for you have found something far better than what this world could ever offer. Do you care about the unjust Roman policies? Do you care about their discrimination, their human rights violations? Do you care about your retirement, your upcoming vacation to the ocean? I don’t think so. Do you care about the things you own? Hardly, you don’t have much any way – a few pieces of furniture, a one room hut, and your crude loom sitting in the corner on the dirt floor. The bathroom is the hole out back in the trees. The running water comes from the well down the street. You were never privileged enough to learn to read. Your world consists of a few blocks in town, plus the path leading to your in-laws house in a village by the Sea. Do you want to change the government and throw off your oppressors? No, you are finally free from your meaningless life and have found true salvation for eternity and community with other believers. Do you have something to look forward to after your pending death? You sure do!
Even today, does the Haitian widow with six children living in grinding poverty but loves Jesus care for more in this life? Or what about the North African family in a Muslim community that are branded, disowned, exiled or even killed for their new faith in Christ? Or what about the Chinese Christian who meets clandestinely in homes? Do they care about the things of this world? Do they dream about all the things they can own? Do they live with the hope that they can change their government? Maybe, a little, but they really don’t have much hope in this world so they long for eternity.
For 19 of the past 20 Centuries, life was pretty basic for most people, even believers. It was subsistence living, a simple social life with no newspapers, magazines, books, radio, TV or even mass transportation. Most people went to bed when it got dark. They didn’t care much about politics. Kings came and went, but life didn’t change much one way or the other. Those who knew the joy of salvation, found their real joy in their fellowship with the Lord and His children – an extended family of people born by the Spirit of God. They didn’t have much stake in this world or what it had to offer. What was their hope?
“But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, partly, by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. For you showed sympathy to the prisoners, and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and an abiding one.” (Hebrews 10:32-34)
“All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; fore He has prepared a city for them”. (Hebrews 11:13-16)
“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to the myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the first-born…See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less shall we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven. And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised saying, ‘Yet once more,’ denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things in order that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:22, 23, 25-29)
“For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.” (Hebrews 13:14)
It should be obvious that early believers did not have a stake in this world, in this earthly “kingdom” but in a heavenly kingdom. “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and are of God’s household.” (Eph. 2:19) “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us, we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God”. (II Cor 5:20)
Dual citizenship is the bane of today’s Christianity. Rather than citizens of this world, we are ambassadors from another. We seem to have forgotten the meaning of the old refrain, “this world is not my home, I’m just passing through.” We have put down roots in this world like never before in the history of mankind. Plus we live with delusion that we can change it.
“Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.” (I Timothy 6:17)
My grandfather was born in the 19th Century and came into the Oklahoma Territories to homestead the day it opened. He built his own home, rode a horse and in fact, was the county sheriff! He built an outhouse and dug a well, bought his first car, lived through the Depression and WWII, flew on a jet and finally died in his mid 90’s. What a change there has been in the past hundred years! What a change there has been in the past 10 years! The world has never been more enticing, held out more hope and despair all at once!
“The world lies in the power of the evil one”. (I John 5:19) It is Satan’s kingdom! He is the ruler of this world. (John 12:31) So why would we want to have a stake in it?…be invested in it? A new thought has crept into “modern man” and that is that we can be masters of our own destiny. We can use our vote and our organizing ability to control the course of our government. The problem with the western church today is that it is at home in this world! It no longer sees itself as “in the world but not of it.” (see I John 2:12-17) We see ourselves as not only “in the world” but as primary change agents to transform the world and even bring the kingdom of God down to the earth. Does Notre Dam in Paris, St. Peters in Rome, the Crystal Cathedral or Saddleback Church created by the Disney theme park architect or any of today’s “Churches” reflect heaven or earth? What kind of kingdom are Christians into?
A Christian with one foot in the world or even a worldly “church” will be a prime candidate for deception. A double minded man who thinks he can have the best of both worlds is already deceived! If you think your action matters and can change the course of events, you are deceived. If you think that the American government is any better or worse than other governments, you are deceived. What deludes today’s “endtimes” Christian is the thought that we can change the world, especially if Christians can mobilize and back the right candidate! What a deception!
I would challenge you to go into the Bible and study for yourself. Yes, the Bible says to honor and obey your leaders and pray for them, but that applies to all leaders whether good or bad. If your leader happens to be the Roman Emperor Nero, Adolf Hitler, Winston Churchill or Saddam Hussein, it doesn’t matter. You don’t have one standard for “good” leaders and another for “evil” leaders. As far as the Bible is concerned, they are all the same. They are put here by God to keep order and should be respected. But to us, it shouldn’t matter because our citizenship is in a different country. We are merely ambassadors, strangers and sojourners in this world.
Down through history saints have not been clear on their true citizenship. Well meaning Christians supported “divine right” monarchs, popes, and governments as representatives of Christ on the earth. They have also supported presidential candidates and political parties as if they were more “right” and righteous than the others. A candidate supporting “traditional family values” is perceived as okay even though he may be “in bed” with corporations who are pillaging the earth and cheating investors for their own gain.
This is not just naïve. It is blind! Every man is fallen. We are all sinners. There is none good – not one! Outside of the transforming power of Christ within us, we are all not only capable of sin, we are all in sin. No matter how good our intentions are, a person that is not transformed by the Spirit of God, is just flailing! No man apart from the transformation of the Spirit working in his life is trustworthy.
As Americans, we are taught that we can affect change in society. We have trite sayings such as “if good men do nothing, evil will prevail” as if they came from the Bible! We are taught to be proactive, to vote, to organize, to work for change. True, we can tweak the world system here and there and make it look like progress, but you can’t change the world. It is like the Titanic. It isn’t supposed to sink but it is taking on water and the only hope is to get into the lifeboat and bring as many with you as possible. If you are into a “cause”, no matter how good, how Biblical, how wonderful, you may be a candidate for deception. We are called to “die to ourselves and live in Him.” We are not called to get onto every bandwagon that comes along – whether anti-abortion, family values or “save the whales.” We are called “to take up our cross daily and follow Him.” (Matthew 10:38). If the apostle Paul were alive, I would imagine asking our generation the same question he asked of the Galatians: “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:3)
I would submit that there are more committed Christians in Africa and China than there are in America. Those Christians in Islamic regions of Africa meet at the peril of the lives and livelihood. Those Christians in the underground church in China have no stake in this world and what it has to offer. The more accepted “Christianity” is in a society, the greater the deception that is possible! The American institution we call the “church” is falling in line with the Administration in the war on the “axis of evil” and “godless Islam.” They have declared a holy war to bring Christ, capitalism and democracy to the world. When the “Church” gets on the patriotic bandwagon and supports a government which is supposedly bringing “truth, justice and the American way” to the rest of the world, watch out! We have another crusade of the most dangerous kind.
You may say I’m just another America basher. No, I just realize that from God’s point of view, all the nations of the earth are in Satan’s kingdom. Some may appear “better than others” whatever that means – more free, more prosperous, but these are all the kingdoms of this world, not the kingdoms of our Lord. Christians should not be affected one way or another no matter where they live. In fact, Christians seem to be thriving in repressive environments such as China, Africa and Indonesia than they are in post-Christian Europe or so-called “Christian” America. I’m not an America basher, nor an Iraq or Iran basher. I’m a stranger and a pilgrim, a citizen of a heavenly city.
How the World System Manipulates
In times past, the town “crier” would broadcast what news he had by shouting out loud in the town square. Later, there may have been a newspaper, but news traveled slowly. People lived their own lives with very little influence from the outside. Today, we live at the speed of light.
In this day and age, it is easy to create mass deception, mass hysteria and mass thinking. The whole world is connected through CNN, Fox News, the networks and the internet. You can get the masses, and that includes you and me to believe just about anything. All they have to do is say it often enough, with enough authority and enough experts behind it. A good example is all the pronouncements that the economy is just great and we are in a recovery. (see http://www.the-tribulation-network.com/newsletters/economic_deception.htm ) People apparently believe it and the market, housing and debt are surging forward like there is no tomorrow. The pundits speak of recovery, recovery, recovery. Time will tell.
It is possible to present the same facts and come to two completely different conclusions. This happens in practically every story presented in the news. The difference is the way they spin it. When reporting on the Middle East, for example, we view the story as presented from a western point of view – we see a bunch of wild suicidal terrorists trying to kill us by issuing threats from their tent in the desert. Or you can see people with little hope in the world who have been oppressed, deprived and driven to such desperation that they see more hope in the statement they make in being a suicide bomber than living in misery. You can read the same story and see the facts or the anti-facts that allow you to come to the opposite conclusion. Most people don’t go that far in their thinking. We accept the so-called facts and the conclusions drawn. In Israel, the Jews and Palestinians see the same news and interpret it completely differently depending on how it is presented and their frame of reference. Why can we be so easily led to believe one way or the other?
First, is our cultural frame of reference and second has to do with how we learn. There are two types of knowledge: personal knowledge and public knowledge. If you ask a housewife about cooking or raising children, she can answer from personal knowledge. A jeweler will tell you how a watch works because he has intimate personal knowledge. But if someone asks you what you think about Iraq, Bosnia, global warming, the economy or any other current issue, you will fall back on the information you have on the subject – probably the news (TV or Newspaper) – Bill O’Rielly, Rush Limbaugh or whoever you listen to. We have definite opinions about all kinds of things that are in the sphere of “public” knowledge. If it weren’t for what we are told or read, we would have no opinion.
How could you possibly know first hand about far flung controversial subjects? You know what you have been told and probably conclude what they want you to conclude. “Public” knowledge is “dumbed” down so the masses can understand it. Everyone has strong opinions about global and national problems but it is empty reasoning. The real experts are aware of the complexity and innuendos. A real expert realizes how little he knows and is often less opinionated than the man on the street. He sees the grey – not just the simple black and white. It should be no surprise that the mass of mankind can’t understand or complex and obscure concepts. Yet the average person thinks they can understand complex issues and solve difficult world problems as easily as finding their way to the store. They believe they can solve Iraq’s problems but can’t even find it on a map!
The masses can easily be convinced to believe almost anything. As individuals, we understand our immediate world. We know how to navigate around our own little community. We get into trouble when we try to extrapolate from the world we know to the one we don’t know. Self-styled experts will try and explain the complexities of the problems in Middle East or the environment and we think we get it, especially if the expert is able to take an infinitely complex problem and relate it to us in simple terms we can understand. Mob thinking is different than individual thought. An individual deals with the immediate world around him that he can understand. The mob can believe almost anything because the “facts” can be fed to them and conclusions drawn by the experts.
Our “public opinions” are constantly held up by the media, the government and churches and reinforced by repetition. Although we know that 15 of the 18 hijackers in 9/11 were Saudi’s and not one was an Iraqi, by the time the government was through with its disinformation campaign, nearly three quarters of Americans believed that Iraq was behind 9/11 and not one weapon of mass destruction has been found. The fear of terror permeates the airwaves as we move from one threat level to the next. As Michael Moore pointed out in his recent book, “Dude, Where’s My Country?”, not a single American citizen died at the hands of a terrorist in America in the years prior to and after 2001. In 2001, the chances of being killed by a terrorist were one tenth, the danger of death by suicide – so why doesn’t the government spend billions protecting us from ourselves? We are at far greater risk getting in our cars and going to the store than we are from being attacked by terrorists. Yet, the government hypes the fear with yellow, orange and red alerts and urges us to by masking tape and other supplies just in case. You are much more likely to be struck twice by lightening! Forty thousand people die of pneumonia every year but when five die of SARS, we send panic through the airwaves. Don’t you see how we are being manipulated by fear?
Group Think
If you have accepted the line society and the media have fed you, you will find yourself agreeing with most people because you are just one of the mass. Group-think is powerful. You don’t have to look into issues or think for yourself. You just accept what you are told by the media and your friends. Until the 20th Century, man’s ability to understand issues and get into trouble was limited to a few contacts, the strength of his voice and the number of people in the village who could hear his rantings. Thanks to modern communication – railroads, automobiles, airplanes, newspapers, radio and television, satellites and picture cell phones, the range of one voice spans the world. For the first time in history, the entire world can enter into mass hysteria and collectivized thinking. How do you think Hitler got the German populace behind him?
Prior to the 19th Century, the monarch ruled by divine right. No one questioned him, and he didn’t get that much into their lives. Taxes, regulations and services were miniscule compared to today. As de Tocqueville noted, the king’s power was absolute and dangerous, but his armies couldn’t be everywhere. His reach was short. And soon, the mobs learned it wasn’t that hard to lop off the king’s head.
Collectivized thought began to take different forms – communism, democracy and fascism. All put down individualism in favor of the greater good – the state. Democracy invites all the people into the governing class and turns them all into agents of the government, and eventually their own oppressors. Democracy has the illusion of control by the people as they go off to vote every few of years and then go back to their lives. But don’t you see how the parties use polls and focus groups to hone their message to get the support of the masses. In a democracy, you can cheat, lie and steal as long as you get 51 percent of the vote. It is legitimized. The more we exercise our liberty by voting, the less real liberty we seem to have. The democracy that is supposed to make us all rich results in paying taxes ten times higher than under the European monarchs of old and more controls and regulations than Henry VIII could ever conceive of.
Where once the King was theoretically responsible for his subjects welfare, the individual was really on his own and depended on friends and family. In today’s collectivized world (whether communist or democratic), the government is now responsible for redistributing wealth through taxes, providing health, education and welfare and retirement we call “Social Security”. The system provides cradle to grave protection. Oh yes, it is also here to protect us from our enemies, including the ultimate enemy – terrorism! The good thing about this enemy is that they can be lurking anywhere so now they can look in your house, your business or your bank account just in case (without any due process, just suspicion). They will bring back the universal draft of men and women. The law is written. They are just waiting for the best time to introduce it – probably early in 2005. They will send your sons and daughters around the world to protect you from the big “T”, alienating the rest of the world in the process, creating more new terrorists which creates more enemies to go out and kill. Of course, they let out billions in contracts to their favorite corporations such as Halliburton, Bechtel, and various oil companies.
One more terrorist event like 9/11 (please see links at http://www.the-tribulation-network.com/News/current_articles.htm ) and the government receives carte blanche to not only prosecute war but to pursue and persecute enemies – any who would dare to oppose them. What do you think “Homeland Security” and the TIPS program are all about? This is a national “neighborhood watch” program to flush out dissenters and the disloyal. There is no more powerful emotion than patriotism. Patriotism causes young people to go blindly and cheerfully off to war. Collectivized mass thinking has led otherwise good people to round up and send Japanese and Jews to camps, believing they are doing the state a service. It will raise its ugly head once again in post-terror America.
Avoiding Deception
Because the world is infinitely complex, the closer you look at it the harder it is to really understand. Our only hope is that God gave us an “owner’s manual” – an instruction book, if you will, about the nature of man and his affairs. The more you understand things from God’s point of view, the better able you are to filter out the truth. He also gave us a human spirit and His Spirit leads us to the truth. The human condition is that we have depraved minds (Romans 1:28).
“This I say therefore, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the darkness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality, for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth.” (Ephesians 4:17-24)
Please notice that they are urged to no longer walk, no longer act and no longer think like the gentiles (those who are not saved, whose spirits are not made alive). That clearly indicates that it is possible for “Christians” to walk, think and act as if they were never “saved”. And unfortunately, few Christians have a “renewed mind”. They are more affected by the things they are told, the things they see and read than they are by the Spirit of God. The major issue for the “end times” Christian is this: if their mind has been renewed, God will protect them from the coming deception. If their mind is not renewed but just goes along with the crowd, deception is a certainty. The renewal of the mind is a process of many years:
But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ. But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; but whenever a man turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit and whever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. (II Corinthians 3:14-18)
Please notice, our minds are hardened by nature. We don’t understand the things of God. We don’t even understand the true nature of the world until the veil over our heart is taken away. Transformation comes from spending time in the Lord’s presence.
On the other hand, if you spend your time absorbing uncritically everything you read, see and hear, your mind will be molded by the world system. If you listen uncritically to your pastor, or read the experts from your local Christian book store, you could just as easily be falling into deception. How could I make such a radical statement? How could I be so judgmental? Because the Bible clearly says that the Church in the “last days” will fall away.
Please don’t get mad at me for being negative, but this is what the Bible itself says. If you are living in the spirit and following Jesus and not loving your life, people will hate you. Other so-called Christians will hate you. If you go the broad way”, you will be loved and accepted. But if you stand as one whose citizenship and hope lie in another country, you will be hated and delivered up. That is a promise. You can count on it. For those who aren’t transformed, deception awaits them. And the verses above make it very clear that “Christians” can be misled and turn against their own. Why would they turn against us? Because we oppose the final move of God on the earth, the great revival, the “Christianizing” of the heathen world and the government and nation of God!
The Church and Politics
Much has been said about the “religious right” and I would refer you to the many excellent articles at the site of The Institute for the Study of Religion and Politics, which was started by Steve Shearer and myself about ten years ago. There is an incredible body of literature that examines the entrance of the American church into the political arena. One might say the “church” has moved on from just trying to influence politics to actually taking control of politics through the Republican Party and the apparent “born again” President in the White House today. I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to say that nine out of ten evangelical Christians today believe that “God’s man” is finally sitting in the Executive chair. They believe it is “God’s man” who has so decisively declared war on evil in the world and is making war against it. It is “God’s man” who has drawn a line in the sand against all evil.
Is this man, is this government truly of God or a really good counterfeit? I’m not going to argue the point here. That is for you to decide. All I can say is that the average “born again” Christian is so energized by finally having a “Christian” President, who stands boldly against evil, that they see hope that the Church may really be able to bring the kingdom of God to the earth! If you are excited, then you have put too much hope in this world. You have been blinded if you believe that
But even more, you have been blinded if you can’t think beyond the messages fed to you by the media, the experts, the pundits, and sadly, even some of your pastors. If you see any hope in this world apart from Jesus Christ and His Return, you have probably made this world your home, and are comfortable sitting in front of your TV, planning your vacations and retirement. You are pretty happy about going to church once, maybe twice a week to see your friends and do your religious duty and listen to the weekly sermon.
If we are living in the “last days”, the church will fall away, brothers will turn against brothers and mothers against daughters and they will deliver us up thinking they are doing God a favor. We will see the worst persecution in the history of the world. It will make the Spanish Inquisition look like a tea party! These aren’t my words. These are God’s Words. The economy will get to the point where you can’t buy or sell! A political leader will arise that the world will follow as if he were the messiah and Christians will be deceived. Not maybe! They will!
The only way to be ready is to not have any stake in this world. Throw away your dual citizenship! Forget about making it a better place by installing so-called “Christian” politicians (is that an oxymoron or what? – not to deny the possibility of a miracle or two). Truly, we are living in the last days Babylon (see Revelation 17 and 18 ). The U.S. still is a third of the world’s economy, consuming two thirds of the energy, and other goods and services. We live like kings. We have never been conquered! Never suffered! Never even invaded! We are the chosen nation with a “manifest destiny” – plucked out of time and history to be used by God to bless the world! We are rich and have need of nothing!
Can you see something wrong with this picture? We have more things, more distraction, more consumption, more debt, more entertainment, more toys – so much to lose…more to lose than any generation to have ever lived, more than any country on earth today – more cars, more houses, more boats, more TVs – more of everything per person than anyone ever!
But there was another Babylon long ago, a city so spectacular that it has been called one of the seven wonders of the world. There was a powerful king and a young man in his court who like no other in the Bible was the one who brought us more visions of the last days than any other. Daniel could have been corrupted and defiled by being in such a lofty position,
“But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s meat or with the wine which he drank; so he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself.” (Daniel 1:8)
As a result of Daniel’s stand, Daniel may have been in Babylon but he certainly wasn’t of it. God gave him vision, the strength to stand in all adversity. He passed the tests and God used him to unfold the secrets of the last days.
Now we have an opportunity if we will purpose not to let this world stain us, drag us down and absorb us into the evil world system. Either we will be people of the “light” or people of the “deception” growing like a shadowy specter over the inhabitants of the earth. If we join with the ranks of the Hebrew 10 and 11 saints quoted at the beginning, with a clear vision of our citizenship, God will be with us, as he has with the persecuted saints down through the ages. Truly, we are about to enter the most difficult time the world has ever seen. But we will either be a part of the lampstand or be enveloped by the darkness. The choice is ours to make. May God have mercy upon us.
Continue to Chapter
12
Economic Deception
Are you ready for Meltdown
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