Month: August 2023

“COGNITIVE DISSONANCE”, big words that most people cannot clearly define. Obviously, we are speaking of issues that determine how and why the brain works. There is much we do not know about the brain. If we did, we could prevent Alzheimer, and cure dementia. How and why “COGNITIVE DISSONANCE” exists is a mystery. We can define it. We can recognize it. But finding a cure is illusive. We’ll start first with simple definitions. “COGNITIVE” – “. . . means of or relating to the mental processes of perception, memory, judgment, and reasoning . . .” (dictionary.com.) This sounds like a very positive state of being. “DISSONANCE” – “Lack of agreement, consistency, or harmony; conflict.” (Wikipedia.) This sounds like a very negative state of being. When the two words are put together, they seem to be somewhat opposing. Like two posts on a car battery, one negative, one positive. If you touch both of them together sparks will fly and you’re likely to get quite a jolt. Together, they function if used properly. It’s the Yin and Yang, “. . . a Chinese philosophical concept that describes opposite but interconnected forces.” (Wikipedia.) It can be similar to right and wrong, good and bad, love and hate. While not similar in meaning, they define opposing ends of the same spectrum.

For years we have wondered why some people feel strongly about one end of a particular spectrum, while others feel strongly about the opposing end. Is it brain chemistry or composition? Is it a brain defect or anomaly? While this may be true in some cases. as we explored in our series of blog posts on “TRANSPHOBIA” (April 3 – June 5, 2022), we believe that this may have to do more with early childhood development, teaching, training, experiences, and influence. We are more convinced each and every day that what we experience when viewing people on opposite sides of issues is more a form of the Stockholm Syndrome, where a hostage develops feelings and sympathy toward their captor. At first glance, this may seem to be quite a stretch, but let us explain. For example, if you are a student in a class, you are basically a “hostage” to the one who is teaching who has “captured” you for that class. If you are being taught a hard subject like calculus, over time you develop the same understanding as that of the one teaching you. You have learned calculus, and it becomes part of your mental makeup. You may or may not have chosen to take the calculus class, but the end result is the same, you have learned calculus. For a person who never had to learn calculus, but who was taught psychology, there undoubtedly will be issues they may not agree with the one trained on calculus, because how they were trained makes them approach issues differently. Much of what we believe has been part of our lived experience through many years. Some of that by choice, and some not. Our brains have retained those experiences, and we act and react to stimuli based on what we have mentally retained.

With a little background now as to why some people may not agree with your beliefs, we can now attempt to delve more deeply into the concept of “COGNITIVE DISSONANCE”. More examples are in order. People who smoke are, almost universally, aware of the dangers of smoking. You run the risk of personal lung and throat cancer, and if pregnant, smoking can have an impact on the developing fetus. Smoking can impact those around you in a negative way as well. The smoker KNOWS all of this and of the potential harms, but the pleasure derived from smoking outweighs the knowledge of the harmful effects. Similarly, a drug addict usually KNOWS of the harmful consequences of this habit, but for the perceived joy, pleasure, and respite from reality, they go against what they KNOW to be true, that doing drugs is harmful, not only personally, but to those with whom they come in contact. You don’t have to smoke or be a drug addict to experience “COGNITIVE DISSONANCE”. If your cholesterol is high, and measures to reduce it are directed by your doctor, you KNOW you should follow the doctor’s orders, but you may deny the professionally trained, reasoned advice since you love greasy, fatty foods. If you covertly slip some company pens into your pocket or purse at work for personal use at home, you KNOW this is stealing, but you rationalize this as maybe something the company owes you. Maybe you tell a lie. You KNOW this is not the truth, but in order to save face, or win your argument, you proceed anyway with your lie. You may have been told by so many of your social media contacts that something is true, that when you encounter opposing facts, even though you KNOW those facts to be true, you dismiss them as being false so as to not be shunned by your acquaintances. Jesus once said, “Keep watching and praying that you may not enter temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:41, NASB.)

Do you believe that you cannot teach an old dog new tricks? It is so much easier to stay in your “rut in life” once in it. Why take the effort to get out? It’s so much more comfortable in your “rut”. You are aware of your boundaries on your left and right. The road ahead has already been chosen for you. Besides, so many have gone before you in the same “rut”, so it must be the only way to go. When it comes to facts, truth, or even simple ideas contrary to your lived experiences, to not explore outside your “rut” is to be a “mental sloth”.

Our great Nation is in danger of collapse. There are those among us who inwardly KNOW the correct road ahead, but who have become accustomed to “COGNITIVE DISSONANCE” and find it easy to ignore options beyond their lived experiences. They have been so indoctrinated, that ingrained within them is their “rut”, dug out for them by elitists, oligarchs, Marxists, socialists and Communists. We believe there are some 34 percent of our Nation’s voters who have severe “COGNITIVE DISSONANCE”. We may never be able to dislodge them from the “rut” in which they find comfort, solace, and social acceptance. The only sure way to counter those who have “mental sloth”, is to out vote them, out work them, out fund them, and stop supporting them in any way possible. If we are successful in overcoming those with extreme “COGNITIVE DISSONANCE”, we can expect their anger, hostility, destructive behaviors, and aggressive conflict. Our Founding Fathers put everything on the line to establish our Nation, their fortunes, their reputations, their very lives. If you treasure your FREEDOM and LIBERTY, it is incumbent upon each one of us to do our part, to be counted among them as National Patriots, FREEDOM and LIBERTY warriors, to boldly and unabashedly proclaim truth, practice justice, and live accountable lives.

Most of our Nation’s citizens have become desensitized to the multiple ways we are hemorrhaging our FREEDOM and LIBERTY. This has not just occurred in the last two and a half years, but our FREEDOM and LIBERTY has been bleeding out for decades, and most of us have not a clue because it has happened so slowly over such a long period of time. We would like to wind the clock back several decades to see what life was like not so long ago.

Let’s take a historical trip back to the old west. Most of us can recall movies depicting life during the days of old. Maybe you have even seen pictures from that era. In order to see how far our FREEDOM and LIBERTY have slid away, we want to ask you a few simple questions. We’ll set the stage for our questions by allowing your imagination to take a trip back in time to the old west. You are viewing a scene where there is lots of open space, occupied only by some scattered sage brush, with nothing but a lot of dry dirt and revealing only what appears to be two parallel tracks on the ground about four feet apart. As you scan forward, this is what you see on those tracks.

An old wagon is headed west ahead of you. On the left rear quarter panel is a small wooden plank with some numbers and letters burned into it. This plank indicates where the wagon is from and shows the year and month proving the legality of this wagon to operate on those dirt tracks. The plank is proof that the wagon is properly owned, titled, registered, and of course that the appropriate fees have been tendered to the various government agencies authorizing the driver of the wagon to operate within his current area. Do you remember seeing in your movies, or pictures you may have viewed, these wooden planks on all wagons, coaches, stages or Conestogas? Probably not. Have you ever wondered why?

Still in your imagination, you see a man riding on a horse quickly approaching the wagon from the side. You know instantly that this must be a horse used by law enforcement. You know this because the horse has painted numbers and letters on the horse’s rear indicating it is an official horse. Being a method of transportation, the horse obviously has been properly titled, registered, and insured, naturally having paid the appropriate fees to the governmental agencies mandating such compliance. Insurance is required since there is always a chance two horses and riders could collide and significant injury or damage could result. As you draw near to the wagon, now stopped at the horse rider’s command, you notice the rider on the horse is actually a local sheriff. You know this because he is bearing a silver star on his breast pocket. The silver star assures you that he is the duly authorized authority, having completed and passed all course work in law enforcement at a prestigious college. He has a paper document hanging on his wall back at the jail, indicating he has paid all appropriate fees required by the higher governmental authorities who set those standards for becoming authorized to wear the silver star and conduct activities associated with law enforcement. Is what we have described so far been what you have customarily assumed when viewing what life was like back in the old west? Probably not. Do you wonder why?

You continue to observe the actions transpiring before you. The sheriff gets off his horse and struts over to the now stopped wagon. You notice the sheriff has a leather belt around his waist and suspended from it is clearly visible a shiny revolver. Your first thought is that he has been properly trained and certified, having passed his Concealed Carry course in case he has to wear his long coat covering his weapon during bad weather. Of course, he has paid the appropriate fees for his permit and has had his character image scratched into the documents at the government controlling agency. You also notice he has 10 bullets on his belt because he can carry no more than that at any one time. The regional authority has dictated that policy. Naturally, all of this makes sense to you because that is how it has always been. Right?

Still observing the interaction of the sheriff with the wagon driver, you notice the conversation becomes rather heated. It seems, from what you can hear, that the man on the wagon is carrying goods from a store that has not been properly obtained. The store in the city from which the goods were obtained failed to collect the prescribed city, county and state taxes. The wagon driver is attempting to explain to the sheriff that he traded his farm produce for the goods he is now carrying in his wagon. The sheriff draws his weapon and demands the wagon driver to disembark. The sheriff demands that the taxes be paid immediately, or he will be taken to jail. Those taxes are what keep the local and regional authorities flush with cash so that they can maintain a staff to administer all of the regulations. How else can mayors, commissioners and governors, along with their staffs, function unless the tax is collected to pay all of their salaries, fund all of their programs, and pay for the ongoing deliberations for additional governmental expansion? There is no doubt in your mind that this is entirely normal and expected, or is it?

We’ll take a respite from our story to consider for a moment what else you might witness in this old west from our Nation’s history. Do you think schools required shots and masks for admission? Do you think they paid for the water they drank? Do you think the oil for their lamps at work and at home were regulated to ensure each paid the appropriate amount so that no one could use more than was authorized or directed by the higher authorities? Do you think each person needed a special document in order to travel long distance from one place to another using the available, but highly regulated and controlled transportation? Do you think attendance at the annual barn dance needed a special document in order to enter, and that each person had to be searched? Do you think General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna’s forces were defeated at the Alamo in 1836, and that the drive of Mexicans into Texas and beyond were halted? Do you realize that our Nation was secured by the Foreign Benevolent Institution (FBI), the Cultural Interaction Administration (CIA), and the Dual Operation of Justice (DOJ), so that WE THE PEOPLE had limited power and control over our National affairs? If you thought, believed, and realized all of the above, then you are nuts!

Of course, none of the above story was ever widespread, or even contemplated, in the old west. On nearly every fictious part of the above story, we have over the years allowed our FREEDOM and LIBERTY to be slowly and persistently drained from the initial plan laid out by our Founding Fathers. Most of our current Nation’s citizenry have been so desensitized to the erosion of our FREEDOM and LIBERTY that they hardly notice at all what has taken place. This cancer eating away at our FREEDOM and LIBERTY must be stopped and eradicated. Will you get a ROUND TO IT, or will you rely on SOMEBODY ELSE to do the work? Review our blog posted July 23, 2023.

What is your breaking point? When have you had enough? Will you ever get to the point where you can take no more? If you can answer in affirmative the question, “ARE YOU TIRED OF THIS?”, what are you prepared to do to remedy the situation? Are you content to let the incoming waves of national destruction overwhelm you and destroy you? Do you care enough to take action, to stand in the breech, to take the incoming personal and professional attacks, to stand out in the crowd and let all know exactly where you stand? If not, maybe a review of some of the triggers over the last two and one-half years may chip away the ice that has kept you frozen in inaction. Following are some three-dozen remembrances that should rekindle a level of frustration and anger that should move you to action.

Do you care that millions of illegal aliens are breeching our southern border and avoiding the consequences of our established laws?

Do you care that these illegals are flooding our schools, hospitals and institutions, and consuming our tax-payer dollars?

Do you care that thousands of criminals are evading capture at our borders and have only the intent to do our Nation harm?

Do you care that it does more harm to our environment to harvest grain for gas ethanol additives and mine to extract minerals used in batteries in the push for electric vehicles, than to continue the use of fossil fuels?

Do you care that we have to buy oil from failing or failed nations, many who would welcome the demise of our Nation?

Do you care that radical religious nations are close to developing their own nuclear bombs having already publicly called for the destruction of our Nation?

Do you care that our Nation’s oil reserves, set aside for times of war, have been depleted to the lowest levels in decades, with no current efforts to refill it at increasing costs?

Do you care that many of our public schools fail to teach our Nation’s history from before its inception, and instead favor socialistic, Marxist, communistic doctrines?

Do you care that many in government have flaunted our established laws and are protected from prosecution and incarceration?

Do you care that the value of your dollar has diminished greatly in the past two-plus years as our Nation has chosen to print more and more money to expand more and more governmental programs?

Do you care that high inflation has made all commodities and services more expensive, and that those higher prices will most likely be here to stay?

Do you care that our inexcusable and untimely retreat from Afghanistan not only killed and wounded dozens of our Nation’s elite armed forces (as well as Afghan citizens), but also left billions of dollars of military hardware and equipment in the hands of and under the control of terrorists?

Do you care that thousands of Ukrainian and Russian soldiers and civilians are being killed in a war that could have been prevented by U.S. involved negotiations?

Do you care that many of our Nation’s highest offices are staffed not by those most qualified, but too often by those reflecting the application of quotas?

Do you care that those of religious affiliation are being targeted, arrested, and prosecuted at higher proportional rates than those who ransacked stores, participated in violent attacks on innocent citizens, and who destroyed hundreds of businesses and livelihoods?

Do you care that our current government is willing to prosecute those who oppose their agendas, and who run as opposing candidates?

Do you care that our current government disdains a balanced energy approach and is restricting fossil fuels, including natural gas and nuclear applications?

Do you care that the majority of our medicines and their ingredients are dependent upon a nation that has declared a war on our Nation?

Do you care that those who claimed the rising of sea levels are inevitable have chosen to live in expensive houses by the beaches at sea level?

Do you care that many who rail against gun ownership have security protection from those who carry weapons?

Do you care that our ability to speak freely, even if what we say is wrong or counter to the current government’s narrative, is restricted, banned, throttled, and censured?

Do you care that there is a greater push for college attendance than trade school attendance?

Do you care that some college students will have loans forgiven while others will not, and that colleges overflowing with cash do little to ease a college student’s financial burden while stuffing the pockets of tenured professors and their pet projects with cash?

Do you care that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is so advanced now that one cannot be sure of anything online is actually true, or is it simply an electronic concoction by an AI algorithm?

Do you care that governments are developing biological weapons that can target specific genetic qualities capable of killing up to 90% of those so infected?

Do you care that China will eventually take total control of the Panama Canal, and eventually Taiwan as well?

Do you care that nations that seek our demise have hypersonic weapons against which we cannot defend?

Do you care that billionaires (domestic and foreign) are allowed to contribute unlimited amounts of cash to fund political organizations and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)?

Do you care that voting machines and tabulators are hackable?

Do you care that billions of more dollars are being spent in a never-ending effort to defend the national border of a non-affiliated protectorate, than what is spent to protect the borders of our Nation?

Do you care that in an effort to produce products and chemicals to supposedly aid humanity, that we have created a chemical soup environment that over time has caused cancers and yet unknown impacts on fetal development and brain chemistry?

Do you care that foreign nations are allowed to buy our land, enterprises, and even infrastructures?

Do you care that foreign nations have compromised our political process through bribes, gifts, and quid pro quo, more often than not involving millions in cash?

Do you care that many of our age laws are preventing our youth from gaining job experience and that too often entry-level jobs pay exorbitant rates as though they were life-long employment jobs?

Do you care that the emphasis on global warming denies historical geology showing multiple heating and cooling cycles of the earth through the ages?

Do you care that there is too much emphasis taking the homeless off the streets instead of breaking their cycle of chemical dependency?

Do you care that many of our police forces have been decimated due to courts favoring the criminal instead of the victim?

Do you care that our Nation’s armed forces are having to lower standards to maintain recruitment goals?

Do you care that high interest rates make selling and buying houses more difficult and less likely?

Do you care that morality, facts, and truth mean less than doing whatever it takes to accomplish your personal agenda and goals?

Do you care that the belief in a Creator is taking a back seat to the belief that the created’s will is supreme?

Do you care that global elites are making attempts to make our Nation subservient to their will?

Do you care that the rich are getting richer as the poor are getting poorer?

Do you care that many of our Nation’s courts and their judges and justices seem to make greater effort in establishing new laws and precedence over correctly interpreting our established Constitution and Bill of Rights laws?

Do you care blah blah blah . . . . we could go on and on, but we are sure you get the point of our blog by now! ARE YOU TIRED OF THIS? What will it take to make you get up off your couch or recliner and get into the fight of our Nation’s life! Your FREEDOM and LIBERTY are at stake! Do not shirk your responsibility to do your part, however small it may seem to you. Any journey always starts with one step forward. Talk openly with your family, friends and neighbors. Get involved in school, city, county and state boards, and election processes. Do not be cowered into silence by fear of rejection or attack. Our Founding Fathers were not so timid. We stand on their shoulders to do the work they cannot. Those who follow us in life in this greatest Nation that has ever existed on this planet are depending upon your efforts and can only rest in our victories.

We often try to not get too “preachy” in our blog, but unfortunately conditions within this great Nation of ours dictates that we stay true to who we are as a Nation, and to Whom we are ultimately accountable. Of late, we have become a nation with an identity crisis. Proponents on both sides of the political aisle claim that “the Lord is on our side”, however each chooses to define who really is their “Lord”. Is it the Creator of the universe, or is it the thirst for power? Is it the Savior who did what any human cannot do, or is it the alluring power of riches and wealth? Maybe each side claims the same “Lord”, but maybe both sides are confused about how they are supported by that “Lord”. How does one determine if the “Lord” is on your side? Is it determined by the outcome of a particular court case? Is it determined by which side won a particular election? Is it even determined by a sports figure making a game-saving basket or touchdown? We have reason to suggest that most “believers” are often confused about “WHOSE SIDE IS THE LORD ON?”

Speaking for ourselves as well, humans are basically an arrogant species. We are too often mostly concerned with our own welfare and security. We have a deep desire for self-preservation and personal advancement. True, there are those few, and sometimes we find ourselves lumped in that category, who put others first and care more for them than ourselves. Unfortunately, there are many who never submit to sacrificial service. For those few, in everything it is always about them. For most of us, when times go south and the road ahead is difficult, only then do we seek refuge in a higher power and ask the question, “WHOSE SIDE IS THE LORD ON?” If we are fortunate enough to emerge safely on the other side of trials, we gladly and proudly claim that the “Lord was on our side.” But was He? We do believe in the power of supplicant prayer, but to assume the result of our trial was because the “Lord was on our side”, may surmise beyond our right to expect the “Lord” jumped across the fence and fought on our behalf. We are not saying that He did not intervene, but what we are saying is that expecting the “Lord” to play on our side of the field is to bring Him under our control and authority. We might be able to make our point a little clearer by looking at an event that happened around 1500BC.

We have recorded history found in the Bible book of Joshua. The “Lord’s” chosen people had fled Egyptian bondage by His power, and because of the insolence of His people, they wandered for years until all the doubters, troublemakers, and arrogant adults had passed away. The new generation, under Joshua’s leadership, were ready to enter the land promised to their father Moses. The formidable city of Jericho was their first obstacle preventing them from occupying their promised land. Joshua went out to the city to survey what it would take to overcome the city and came upon a man standing opposite him with his sword drawn (Joshua 5:13-14). Joshua did not recognize the man as either friend or foe and he asked, “Are you for us or for our adversaries”. Now listen closely to what the representative of the Lord said. He said, “No, rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the Lord.” This apparent representative of the Lord, the same Lord that had fed and clothed them for 40 years in wandering, the same Lord who brought them out of Egypt through the many plaques Pharoah could finally not endure, the same Lord that is faithful to the promises He makes, now, all of a sudden is changing sides? What are we to think of this response?

Have you ever seen a horse pushing a cart? We haven’t either, but sometimes we as humans tend to get the cart before the horse. When we claim that “The Lord is on our side”, we are getting the cart before the horse. As the created beings, when we ask the question, “WHOSE SIDE IS THE LORD ON”, we must be willing to recognize that “The Lord is always on His side!” We must be willing and able to submit to His Will and jump the fence to His side in order to claim His intervention.

We believe that those believers who knew the Lord, or knew of Him and His Message, often prayed fervently for relief from persecution under the reign of Nero, who burned many of those Christians as they hung on his crosses as he drove his chariot through his garden. We believe they prayed fervently to avoid being thrown into the Roman entertainment ring to be killed by lions. We believe they prayed fervently to avoid retribution, persecution, and annihilation. But for those who were killed, there came no relief. Not in this life. We must understand that however this life ends, it has no bearing on eternal life. The Lord did not heal all the sick in His short 33 years on this earth. He did not raise all the dead. He did not end slavery. He did not relieve all the poverty. His reign was not about the temporal existence, but about eternal existence. No matter what state we may find ourselves in, we must always strive “to be on the Lord’s side”, and not expect things to always go our way. For the ways of the Lord are far above our ways.

When we are striving to protect, defend and sustain our FREEDOM and LIBERTY, we must not be so naive as to believe we are always in the right, and even if we are, that it will always turn out in this life to be to our human advantage. Our race we run today is not for a better place in this temporary earthly form, but for a better home following death in this life. Do not mistake what we say to mean we should all simply recline in our comfy chairs and watch the world spin out of control, for we are all here for a purpose, not only to be redeemed from our faults, but to reclaim those around us who are teetering on the edge of unbelief. Yes, we need to continue to pray, but understand we need to put our feet to our prayers. We are His instruments for good, to make our very best efforts to overcome evil. If we are on “THE LORD’S SIDE”, whatever may befall us for good or ill, we will be able to say we did our best, and those that follow us in life will echo this in our heritage.