Devious indeed. Much like the assertion that the Holy Bible is the one and only Word of God and only source of truth, when those same scriptures describe God as speaking Creation into existence. This, to me, shows that Creation, our physical world, is literally the Word of God. Seems devious to limit one’s belief in truth to only one collection of books rather than God’s actual words, which He is still speaking because we still exist.
The one who seeks to control is the one with something to hide.