What do sci-fi movies such as “The Matrix” and “The Thirteenth Floor” have in common with some schools of Buddhism and some fundamental Christian beliefs? It’s the notion that the world is not what we suppose it to be. To use another movie reference, it’s like an expanded version of “The Truman Show,” where we are not the audience, tuning in to watch. Rather, we are the watched victims of countless lies that distort our understanding of – and our interaction with – reality. And whether it’s the product of lies we tell ourselves or lies we are told by others (or by Satan), the sense that we are being manipulated by lies grows stronger by the day.

Jesus said: “Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:42-44).

Call me crazy, but is it beyond imagination that Satan and his surrogates hold the politics of this world in one hand and its economics in the other? Just consider for a moment what lies we’ve been told to make the greedy even richer – at the expense of what once was a relatively well-educated, relatively comfortable middle class. Satan is described as a liar, and therefore a murderer. To catch the meaning of this description, just add up the deaths caused by these liars and murderers:

. Cigarette executives lied for years when they claimed cigarettes didn’t cause cancer and heart disease. Millions died as a result.

. Bush and Cheney lied about terrorism and weapons of mass destruction when they took us to war over Iraqi oil. How many have died as a result?

. The government lies to the poor and elderly when it fails to weigh the increasing costs of food and fuel in the equation for calculating inflation-rate increases to Social Security. The lives of thousands may be shortened by the resulting deprivations.

. The pharmaceutical industry continually lies to doctors and the public about the efficacy of marginal and dangerous drugs, even as patients die from lethal side effects.

. Politicians in the pockets of industry lie when they claim pollution standards are adequate, even as cancer rates, asthma and heart attacks are rising as a result of environmental poisons.

. Many have bought into lies about the nature of soul life in order to condone the termination of children in the womb. (“The word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.'” Jeremiah 1:4-5.) How many have died as a result?

. Agribusinesses lie about the safety of “Frankenfood” – food made through manipulation of genes in our most essential nutrients – risking poisoning the world for a few dollars more profit.

I could fill this newspaper with the deadly lies our society is built upon, but you’ll find them there already, every day. “The Matrix” described our world as a fantasy inflicted on the mindless millions by powers beyond their control. When you understand the fabric of reality as it’s presented is truly a construct of lies, then the nature and influence of evil in this world becomes apparent. We have taken God’s great gift – creation – and turned it into a den of thieves. It’s time we storm the temple like Jesus did and throw the money-changers out.

Today, as the consequences of our worldwide squander come home to roost, there is renewed interest in the end-times prophecy of the Book of Revelation, and the end-times stories that are linked with the close of the Mayan calendar in December 2012. But this destruction, should it happen that soon, will be self-inflicted. It will be the result of our buying into the lies, the deceptions that always are dangled before our eyes. Will we continue to be that gullible, or will we finally just say “no”? No to the lies that manifest in bad food, bad pharmaceuticals, bad government, bad investments, bad TV and video games; no to the lies that manifest in pornography and consumerism, a poisoned environment, worthless wars, and crummy junk manufactured by Chinese prisoners who took our jobs from us.

The power, the strength to say “no,” comes with the recognition that we must say “yes” to God. That very act can clear the lies from our eyes and our minds, and bring what really matters, our love for God, the Earth, and one another – in other words, our love for truth – back into perspective.

Lee Witting is a chaplain at Eastern Maine Medical Center, pastor of the Union Street Brick Church in Bangor, and a doctoral candidate at Bangor Theological Seminary. He may be reached at leewitting@midmaine.com.