Member Training – Critical Thinking Part 3

Member training from May 26th, 2025.

This presentation, Critical Thinking Part 3, In this final session of our three-part training, I guided participants through a deep dive into the critical thinking roadblocks that hinder our ability to discern truth and act effectively for liberty. We began with a solemn prayer for guidance, followed by a reminder of our mission—not to be the most informed people in bondage, but to become a principled resistance to deception. I outlined six major obstacles to sound thinking: prejudices and passions, conformity, loyalty to individuals or groups, ideological or political allegiances, personal biases, and wishful thinking. Using vivid real-world examples—including congressional hearings, viral videos, and personal stories—I showed how these traps distort our reasoning and make us vulnerable to manipulation. Throughout, I emphasized the necessity of evaluating ideas on their merits, not their source, and of aligning logic with revealed truth. We concluded with a spiritual reminder that reason alone, apart from God’s word, can lead us astray, and that only by anchoring ourselves in eternal principles can we effectively counter the lies of our time and defend true liberty.

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TRANSCRIPT

Dear Heavenly Father, we thy sons and daughters, sons of the Republic and daughters of the Republic, come before thee in prayer, thinking for the opportunity we have to gather on this Memorial Day. And we thank you for the blessings that we have to live in such an amazing and interesting country and such an incredible time in history where all darkness is being revealed. And it's many elements and people that are involved and what we can do about it and how we can overcome it. not only in our individual lives, but in our public lives as well. Father, we ask that all sins of protection and guidance and inspiration upon him and his team, and that will help him to speak clearly the words that thou would have him to share with us. We pray for thy will to be done in all things, and that our will be done. And we pray for thy love, counsel, and protection, according to our faith, in the sacred and holy name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

We're done talking. But during the presentation, during the training, if you have a question, feel free to go into the option to raise your hand and we'll call on you. But if you can, just keep that to questions only. Then we'll do comments, general comments again afterwards. So let's go ahead and get going over here. So again, I don't ever want it to be like vain repetition, but I do. want us to remember what we're thinking about while we're going through training, that we are trying to build understanding of the principles that have built Free Nations, that we are working to expose the satanic conspiracy and that we are building this. We are building an effective resistance to that conspiracy. We are not here to be the most informed person in the concentration camp. We are not here for a simple exercise in debate. This is about building this understanding so that we can expose. and build the effective opposition.

So I pray that this purpose is understood and remembered by all as we go through the training and so that we can make sure and have that as our mindset as we do this. And that after this last class that we're finishing tonight, these three trainings, you will now have the basic fundamental skills to evaluate claims and avoid the conspiracy's efforts to distract you into solutions and issues that are lies, that are ineffective, And that will lead you off into paths that will help lead you to actually parroting or implementing the conspiracy's agenda. So I would encourage you to go back and refer to these three classes regularly. Do you want to move over here, Mo? Okay.

Now that we've done musical chairs, we're going to talk about critical thinking roadblocks. This is something that I come across all the time. We're doing something that we know, like a class that we know. on the principles of the constitution principles natural law that we know that nobody's gone through before nobody's gone over before it's just nine 99 of people have not done the stuff that we're covering but people think that they've watched a glenn back video or they went through hillsdale college course on the constitution so they you know that's all they don't need anything more they're done they now they just need to go vote harder and everything's good and so you know this is one of those critical thinking roadblocks that we have in general is that we think we already know something when we don't. So that's just something that I come across often. I want to go over these roadblocks in general and go through each one. So the first one is prejudices and passions, right? Hatred of something, fear of something, envy, greed, conformity. We just want to go with the flow to do the popular thing that's being done rather than thinking things through. We want personal commitment to an individual. We have an affinity or a loyalty to a particular individual or a particular organization. We have an allegiance to an ideology or to a political party. Personal biases. Where we are giving credit or discredit by appreciation or symbolic connection. rather than on merit. So we're just like, we already have a preconceived notion on something.

And so we're going to either dismiss it or accept it just based on our previous interactions, as opposed to addressing the specific issue being addressed at that point. And then wishful thinking, where we're being guided by our own desires and conveniences rather than by evidence and argument. Okay. So those are the six roadblocks that we're going to be covering. this evening. And the first one being prejudices and passions, right? Somebody's screaming there, I'm not emotional. And this congressional hearing is just the epitome of this meme on the right. It's something that we see often, especially in discussions on religion or principles of liberty. Do you know what we're here for? you know we're here i don't think you know what you're here for well you don't want to talk about i think your fake eyelashes are messing up i do have a point of order and i would like to move to to take down miss green's words that is absolutely unacceptable how dare you are your feelings her words down oh oh girl baby girl oh really don't even play baby girl i don't we are gonna move and we're gonna take your words down i second that motion so you agree to strike your words yeah okay miss green agrees to strike her words i believe i'm not apologizing i am not apologizing let's go come on guys It's me. Ms. Crockett. I'm just curious, just to better understand your ruling.

If someone on this committee then starts talking about somebody's bleach blonde, bad built, butch body, that would not be engaging in personalities, correct? A what now? Chairman, I make a motion to strike those words. I don't think that's a part of it. I'm trying to find clarification on what climate. Chairman, motion to strike those words. I have no idea what you just said. We're not going to do this. Look, you guys. This is in Congress. These are grownups, right? These are adults. These are individuals over the age of 18. that's just like it's it's the epitome like nobody nowhere in the art in that insanity was anybody saying anything about you know principles oh you're a tyrant it was all about their fake eyelashes their butch you know hair build and just like jerry springer from the 1990s oh no you didn't type language I mean, this is the epitome of what most online discussions break down to. Only these people are supposed to be the so-called adults in the room.

We just like clarity on how much you suck. It's just crazy. Okay, so we need to be, this is, now here's the scriptural type of, you know, what we need to be like in a discussion. So we saw what Babylon engages in discussion. This is what the scriptures say in how we engage in discussion. The apostle Peter says, be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is within you with meekness and fear. There was no meekness nor fear of God in any of those statements in the previous video. But this is the example that we need to use for ourselves. James says, Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. Can you imagine how different that video would have been if they took this into consideration all by itself?

Avoid foolish questions, contentions, and strivings about the law, for they are unprofitable and vain. I've talked about this in trainings in the past where you have... the example you know of the individuals arguing about the color of grass and you know the these two individuals go to somebody else and you say you know that this grass is isn't green it's purple right and they're like yeah it's it's totally purple and the guy that says it's purple you know left and the guy that was left and said it wasn't purple says why did you say it was purple you know it's not purple and he's like because you don't argue with people that are going to argue moronic things you just Move on. Just don't waste your time. Don't be stupid. And so you avoid arguments like we just saw that were really we want to spend time arguing about fake eyelashes and looking butch and having bleach blonde hair. That's what we want to argue about. No, no, not at all. Is that what they were arguing about?

Yeah, they were just yelling at each other about their looks. I couldn't tell what they were saying. The floor of, you know, in a congressional committee hearing. They were just screaming at each other about their looks. Oh, dear. Oh, gosh. So now we get into the idea. Oh, sorry. Go ahead. No, that's okay. Go ahead. Okay. So we're going to get into conformity, the principle of conformity, the reason why we thought we go along with something, whether we have thought about it or not, whether it makes sense logically or not.

We're not even thinking about it if it makes sense logically. were just going along with the flow right you had individuals that wore the mask because they wanted to conform and now you after you wore the mask everybody's going to start yelling at you about making sure that you wear the that you get the vaccine right you are you don't want to go against uh the crowd because you don't want to be a part of a controversy you you don't want everybody yelling at you anymore so the desire for acceptance and the pressure to conform override common sense and our ability to ask questions that may result in us going against the norm.

Conformity also shows up in our commitment to ideas that are popularly accepted by our peers, right? We don't want to ruin so-called relationships and so we just say, oh yeah, whatever you say, I agree with that. I don't want to argue with you because, you know, I'm... We're friends, and I don't want you to think less of me because I think differently than you. And so we just conform. Mark, yes. Yes, I have a question about all these roadblocks. Yeah. We talk about roadblocks. Can you define or clarify further, describe what the roadblock is, too? One thing, as you're mentioning, is sound thinking, logical thinking. Is there more to the block? Now, you also mentioned principle, but there's also there's good principles, good ideology and bad ideology. So can you define what their roadblocks to? Yeah, thank you. I appreciate that.

Yes. So, yeah, it's so sure it's a roadblock to critical thinking. But what is critical thinking for? It's to coming to the truth. It's coming to correct ideas. And so these are roadblocks to coming to the truth, to coming to correct ideas. because we are stuck in these things that blocked us from thinking and that stopping us from thinking stops us from coming to correct conclusions. Well, can I follow up a question on that? Yeah, please. So the leftist status often embraces... ideology like altruism and self-sacrifice, so forth. So is it solely to find the truth? Or as we talked about, I think maybe last week, truth is a means to something else. Is it not the means to something else that we're compromising? I mean, there's several different. I'm not sure which one you're maybe thinking of right now, but every idea, everything that we... come to understand that we learn about and that we come to the truth of, that should be the next step is you take that information to take correct action.

You don't want to support, say, the Patriot Act because everybody else was doing it. And now you've supported something and you've gotten behind the spying on American citizens because you didn't want to go against the flow. And so it's to make sure that we take effective action that will lead to liberty as opposed to. action that will lead to tyranny well that's the word i was looking for that's the standard that's an ideology liberty uh so truth that uh that does not prevent us from compromising through these roadblocks uh right the ideology and the support of liberty absolutely thank you so rather than take a position on an issue based on careful consideration of all the relevant information people often adopt the position of their peers so we saw that so much right of course in 2020 to 2022 where people were just going along because they didn't want to lose their job or they didn't want to look weird to other people or they just wanted to be able to go shopping and so they just went with the flow and adopted the position of everyone around them and so this results because we want to fit in we don't want to stand out we don't want to look weird we don't want to be thought of as you know lesser than by um our friends and family and co-workers and and whatnot and so to fit in we just go along with what we think everybody else is doing we kind of pause when something new is coming on we are coming up we look around for a second and we think oh what's everybody else doing and then we just go along with what the majority is doing and so this you know when we do that then we just like this this image right here we'll We will inject ourselves with the poison. We will dehumanize ourselves and others.

And we will cause harm to the development of children just because we are going along with the flow. And so it's not just because you're wrong. It's because by doing this, you actually harm yourself and others. And so it's essential that we avoid conformity. And this is, you know, sometimes like people talk about, you know, how peer pressure is bad and bullying is bad. And I think that there. is a time where um the so peer pressure by itself in and of itself isn't bad just like what mark just said a minute ago about self-sacrifice you have people that are evil that self-sacrifice self-sacrifice isn't a virtue in and of itself it's only a virtue in the pursuit of righteousness and so when we use our influence to encourage others to do the right thing then we're helping to make popular that which is right.

But if we're on the other end where we're just looking around and we're not trying to be an influence to others for good, we're just looking to see what the flow is and we're just gonna be passengers on the boat of life and we're just gonna conform to everything, then we are going to do harm to ourselves and we're going to help in the harm of others. And so just going along to get along is very dangerous. to our our bodies and our minds but also to our souls any questions on on conformity before we move on okay feel free to just put stuff in the chat as well let's go on to loyalty to a person or a group so this is a children's song about uh loyalty to an individual uh that is the head of an organization in that in that song there was no uh carmen real quick did you because you didn't hear the last video were you able to hear that yes okay good i just want to make sure there wasn't didn't understand what they were saying okay gotcha so in that video there was no loyalty to principle there was no loyalty to it wasn't about um it was about personalities over principles right and so you right Yeah.

There was no involved in, you know, was he actually a leader of God's people up there? That's totally a leader. Was he placed there by God? That's the, that's the question. I do whatever Mal says. So it's, it's important for us, right? We, we grow up maybe as this kind of group think where we are loyal to a group or we're loyal to the head of a group. And instead of actually, you know, critical thinking going through and saying, Is what that individual said accurate? Is it true? Is it something that God would have me do? Does it coincide with what the scriptures say? It's important for us to be able to see like that. That is, I would say, an extreme example of groupthink or loyalty to an individual or the head of an organization. But it is, even though it's an extreme example, it is. very common amongst the populace to treat an individual or the head of a group in that way. And instead of thinking about what they are saying, you just automatically go along with it because they're that individual. Mark, yes.

I just want to be sure everyone knows that what you're saying is supported by God himself when he's not a respecter of persons, a person each. He's a respecter of his law, and that's what we need to be respecting, not people. And that example was even more than personality. It was an actual person. So I think we need to be emulating God in that respect, not to be respecters of a person above God's law and God himself. Thank you. I agree, Mark. So we see that in cases. kind of going over this principle is that many people are unwilling to critically evaluate an idea or truth claim if it is presented by a close friend a parent or someone whom we are emotionally bonded or a religious or political leader behind this obstacle lies the desire to be loyal and or supportive of those we are close to rejecting their ideas or truth claims they it feels like a betrayal of the relationship Thus, it's easier to simply accept a claim without much consideration for the sake of the relationship.

We're not even going to think about if the claim is accurate or not, because to think about the accuracy of the claim is going to jeopardize that relationship. And so why think about it? Because jeopardizing the relationship is off the table. So let's not do anything to jeopardize that relationship. Yes, Pamela. Yes, that warning about putting our trust in the arm of flesh. Absolutely. So we must learn to evaluate claims based not on loyalty, but upon principles. If I say something wrong, you should A, call me out on it, and B, ignore it.

Just because I said something, that's irrelevant. You need to look at the merits of the thing that was said. So now we go to political allegiances, such as being a good Republican, a good conservative. uh that's probably what would apply most to people here others we're going to be you know democrats liberals whatever means sticking to the party of your favorite politician or radio talk show host or the party lines i apologize so the party lines so they'll say you know i'll hear um for example sean hannity he'll say well i'm not a republican i'm a member of the conservative party in new york as if you know i'm i'm being principled well Everything that he says and does is the party line of the Republicans or the Republican president. And so it's that he's sticking to the party line. So if that person, if a person affirms claim a, then I trust it implicitly and will defend it with zeal. If my favorite radio host says this, that means it's true and I'm going to defend it no matter what.

Because question is seen as being seen as supporting the other team. or the terrorists right i remember vividly in 2002 to 2009 where if you oppose the patriot act you that meant you wanted to um that you wanted the terrorists to win or you know if you don't support another program that means you want the libtards to win you know that kind of stuff and so uh we we turn off the thinking cap And we say, if we don't agree with this individual, all of a sudden, that means we support whatever bad guy you want to put in there. Yes, Samantha, if we she's saying if we were. a person who represents an important group or principle, then we wrongly feel that we're betraying the principle or the truth itself. So we need to separate individuals from principles, individuals from truths. Example A, this is a personal example.

My grandparents, they are multi-generational Democrats. And when I joined the John Birch Society, they went to their stake president and they asked if I should be excommunicated from the church, from the LDS church. Because going against socialism to them was seen as apostasy from the religious institution because they had held those political beliefs so strongly. They held to FDR and the socialist state to such an extent that it became a religious dogma to them that if you went against socialism, it meant you were going against God as one example. So another example for me personally. I have a lot of family members that are school indoctrinators for the government. And when I started homeschooling as a family, it was seen as a betrayal to them personally.

And so they lashed out and accused me of abusing my wife for having her teach our children at home. So you can, you know, it becomes, it goes back, you know, you can kind of, your political allegiance can often merge with the other roadblock of emotions where you're not, you're not actually. Talking about the subject and logically and with facts, you're throwing in emotions in there to be able to shut down any opposition to what you're saying, because if you do X, that means you hate God. Well, you know, and so you're like, well, I don't want to hate God. And so therefore, I've got to stop believing what I believe. Or, you know, I'm of course, I'm against abusing my wife. And so I better stop homeschooling because that's if that's spousal abuse, I better stop homeschooling.

And so we throw logical thought out because of emotions. And emotions based on our allegiances to a political dogma. So here's an example of political allegiances put into a dogmatic form by both the so-called left and the right. These are clips from... two different videos you have these anthems to these political leaders and you saw you had the emotion and you had the the group think and especially in the first one but you can see a lot you know you have the crowd there as well where you have allegiances to individuals um political individuals and um and then after they the kids sang the song so you indoctrinate them young again just like that other religious song um and so and then the the The parents embracing the children with with love and with, you know, just hugs.

And so it was you're equating the love of your parents with the support of a political candidate. And so you're just mixing all of these different roadblocks together into one to make it very difficult for an individual to be able to overcome that roadblock and actually engage in critical thinking because they have all of these emotions tied into the support of that individual. You know, these kids right here, of course, being praised right here for their, you know, on the stage as well. So similar types of praise and community for engaging in worship of an individual instead of principles or, of course, God. And then we will also, they put loyalty to two groups together, loyalty to either a religious leader or to a political leader. And they'll put them together into one idea, as we saw in this, what's it called?

Not town hall meeting, but press conference with the governor of Utah back in 2021. This is, as I've said many times, a pandemic of the unvaccinated. It's hard. Someone wiser than me said that one of the problems with... with people who believe conspiracy theories is it's not just enough to stop believing the conspiracy theory, but often it takes you away from your community, the people around you that believe the same way that you do. We love you. We care about you. I promise I'm not part of some grand conspiracy theory.

If you don't believe me, if you're... If you're a religious person, if you're a Catholic, listen to the Pope who said that this is a moral imperative for everyone to get vaccinated. If you're a Latter-day Saint, listen to the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who said that this is not just a godsend, but a literal godsend, literally sent from God to bless us. If politics is your religion, then believe Donald Trump, who was so instrumental in getting this vaccine to us, who got the vaccine himself and who has encouraged others to get the vaccine. So again, he even said itself, if politics is your religion, then listen to Donald Trump.

And so they will use these loyalty to these groups to get you to turn off your brain, right? He didn't say, look at the studies to show, look, these studies show that the vaccine is super safe and it does a fantastic job of killing that pretend virus and so you know look at it just makes sense just take that because it makes sense no he said don't listen to i'm not a part of some great conspiracy theory whatever that means i'm not part of a conspiracy if you don't believe me you know listen to the pope listen to the president of the lds church listen to your favorite president don't listen to the data don't listen to the facts listen to these individuals that you have an affinity to that you have a loyalty to because I'm not going to present the data to you because, A, there is no data. And any data that there would be, of course, would show that it was dangerous.

He is not part of the conspiracy theory. Yeah, as Moses says, he's not part of the conspiracy theory. He's part of the conspiracy fact. He's part of the conspiracy. You get closer if you're going to say something. Go and say it. My favorite part is when he says, I'm not part of some grand conspiracy theory. Because, like, conspiracy theory is the buzzword that... have to use to engage that portion of the foolish mind. Right. And so he can't just say, I'm not part of some conspiracy. Right. Because that won't trigger the moron to suddenly, whoa, whoa, yo, I don't want to be a conspiracy theorist. And so, because it's like he literally can't decide whether he's part of a conspiracy theory or not.

He can decide whether he's not part of a conspiracy. I mean, he definitely is part of a conspiracy. but I could say anybody can be part of the theory if somebody's together a theory you're up for that theory yeah like even just right there it's self evidently factually untrue that he is part of some conspiracy theory he is part of a conspiracy theory somebody's got a conspiracy theory about him I know I do Mark you had your hand up you gotta unmute yourself Mark That's analogous to saying there is no fact information ever garnered from science. Science is only theories. There is no, as you were saying there, it's conspiracies that we're pointing out, not theories.

And one last point on that is, you know, detectives in many crimes that, you know, are black and white, they start with a theory. conclude with a conspiracy if a conspiracy exists. And the same thing in science. They start with theories, and then they prove or disprove the theory. This is just a disinformation tactic to call it theories. And one last point is when somebody calls you a conspiracy theory, okay, I think it's important to say you got the name out. Now, let's get down to the facts about the issue we're talking about and the reasoning. concerned just ignore them because it's nothing more than name calling for most able purposes yeah yep thank you mark it is so now the next one is our personal bias this is another one of those roadblocks that stops us from coming to the truth to take effective action for liberty you know somebody's asking you if you shared something on social media before you posted it and then your response was i don't need to it agrees with my preconceived views and biases so it must be true So, and that's definitely one of the easiest things to do because it's really easy to say, oh man, I knew it.

I knew it was true. And so I'm going to, it was on a meme. So I'm going to share it because it proves what I've been thinking for a long time. And so, yeah, it's very easy to do, but it is wrong. It is something that we can get ourselves into trouble for doing because it can end up being false. And so it's important for us to, of course, look into the data before we share it because. If we share something that ends up not being true, it can get people to do the wrong thing. It can make us lose credibility because it comes out that we promoted something that was completely proven false. And so now we become the boy that cried wolf. And so we need to make sure that we don't fall for that personal bias. So personal biases have a tendency to adversely affect objectivity, right? We're not going to look at things. objectively because of our bias.

So we need to kind of, it is virtually impossible to get rid of all biases. And so it's important that we're aware of our biases to hopefully overcome them if need be. While it is important to understand that nobody can escape their own personal biases completely, being aware of them and their potential to override objectivity helps a critical thinker minimize their effect. It's a sign of maturity and thinking to be able to critically evaluate even those ideas we hold dear, or at least willing to say, okay, you know, I haven't heard this before, but it challenges my view. Let me find out if this new idea is true or not and evaluated based on the facts.

And then when we fail to think about these things, we often find ourselves recycling ignorance. It's an important thing to recognize. And so I wanna show a short video that gives some descriptions and some examples of personal bias. Information bias is the tendency of people's minds to seek out information that supports the views they already hold. It also leads people to interpret evidence in ways that support their preexisting beliefs, expectations, or hypotheses. People easily accept new information that is consistent with their beliefs. but are skeptical of information that contradicts their beliefs. In one study, teachers were told that certain students were especially promising, even though the students were really chosen at random. Based on this false belief, teachers gave more praise and attention to the chosen students, who improved more because of the teacher's expectations. In other words, the confirmation bias can create self-fulfilling prophecies.

In fact, this bias often helps people prove themselves right. For example, when physicians have an idea about a patient's diagnosis, they may focus on evidence that supports their theory, while they undervalue evidence that supports an equally plausible alternative diagnosis. As Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman warns, even scientists who commit to a theory tend to disregard inconsistent facts, concluding that the facts are wrong. not the theory. So the confirmation bias can easily lead us to reach inaccurate and even unethical conclusions. It's essential to recognize our vulnerability to confirmation bias and actively guard against it by being open to evidence that is not consistent with our beliefs and theories. So I think personal bias might be the hardest one for the average person to, I don't know, they all have their difficulties, I guess maybe for me.

I'm pointing out my own personal bias on which one is the hardest one to overcome. But I guess you look at you observe other people and I would say that it's harder for other people to overcome maybe religious or political biases. So the group think. But that can be a very difficult one. So let's go to wishful thinking as one of those. Right. We have somebody that's playing lottery tickets because they've got a feeling about this is the one. Right. I've just I've got a feeling about this. And then but of course, the odds of winning the lottery are astronomical, of course, because lotteries are not charities. And we get in our mindset that vibes is vibes are more important than than the actual facts or math. Right. Here's another example. We have Trump here. Actual quote. I've seen the video. I like taking guns away early.

Take the guns first. Go through due process second. And then you have somebody that has that political affinity and he says he's not perfect, but at least he loves this country. Right. You have no idea how many times I've heard somebody say that. And so they ignore the facts because they've got a good feeling about this guy. Right. They just we just got to keep the vibes positive. Right. We don't want to be negative all of the time. So wishful thinking is the tendency to focus exclusively on the positive. This can be very dangerous, of course, because we can find ourselves taking a position. We're adopting an idea that is detrimental to us physically, emotionally, or spiritually. Give you another example of wishful thinking. There's a book that was sold a few years ago. I don't know if it's still available.

Called The Odds Are You're Going to Be Exalted. Where we look at the scriptures say the gate is small, narrow is the way that leads to life, and few there be that find it. So the scriptures say that it's, you know, the odds are you're not. If we're going to make that a factual, biblically accurate title for a book, it's going to be the opposite of what that is. wishful thinking that leads us to incorrect thoughts or incorrect conclusions. So again, prejudices and passions, conformity, just going with the flow, the personal commitment, the loyalty to an individual or a group, ideological or political allegiances, a personal bias, right?

Giving credit for symbolic connection rather than on merit. or wishful thinking being guided by our own desires and conveniences rather than the evidence and the argument okay so these are some uh good tools that we've gone over the last three weeks or the last the three trainings that cover this topic but i also want to give a warning but so these are important these are important principles to keep in mind But I also want to caution against logic alone. Okay, I'm going to give some examples of what I mean by that.

This is a letter from Abigail Adams, the wife of John Adams, to Mary Smith Cranch in 1798. She says, I wish with you that I could see as great a change for the better in morals as in politics. But it is a part of religion as well as morality to do justly and to love mercy. And a man cannot be an honest and zealous promoter of the principles of a free government without possessing that goodwill towards man, which leads to the love of God and respect for the deity so that a proper appreciation of our rights and duties as citizens is a prelude to a respect for religion and its institutions. To destroy and undermine religion has been the chief engine in the accomplishment of this mighty revolution throughout Europe. So she's referring to the French Revolution led by the Illuminati Jacobins. We have felt no small share of the bale influence, beltful influence of the Age of Reason, but to have a thorough idea of the deep laid system. So the Age of Reason, right? The Enlightenment.

That was the religious philosophy behind the Jacobin Revolution in France. And so it was all about using reason. And we need to get rid of religion and the Bible for coming to the truth. We just need to use, you know, our minds to be able to come to the truth. And Abigail's warning about the effects of this and that getting rid of God and getting rid of religion and morality is what led to the bloody and satanic revolution that happened in Europe and later on in Russia. Her husband, John Adams, talked about the Enlightenment as well. He says that human passions unbridled by morality and religion would break the strongest cords of our constitution as a whale goes through a net.

And so if we're not going to bridle ourselves through firm, steadfast, eternal principles of morality and religion, then all of the safeguards of the constitution are worthless. The idea of a government without the principle of religion is idle to me. A letter that he wrote to Benjamin Rush. Okay. So there are immutable facts, immutable truths that we must conform ourselves to. And another principle, another individual that laid this principle out, Joseph Smith said that, how may it be asked, was this known to be a bad angel? by his contradicting a former revelation. So things that we know that are immutable, eternal truths can't be changed. And if somebody wants to come along and try to convince you that this eternal truth is a lie, then we know that they have come from the evil one to deceive us, as we covered in the previous classes of the Savior calling the Pharisees liars whose father was the devil. And we look at the scriptures that lay out this.

This principle as well. It says, And then another scripture we read, if we're thus our false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. And so to me, we see this point, especially right here in 2 Corinthians, Satan being the great deceiver. If we are relying solely on our intellect and our wit and our ability to be able to engage in logic, Satan can come as an angel of light, meaning the light bearer being full of knowledge and truth. And so he can, because he's got a lot more practice at debate than each of us have. And so if we are going to just stick to human logic and wisdom, it can come to a point where Satan can try to outwit you if we are not solidly planted in the foundation. of the scriptures, of the revelations of God's word.

And it is important, right? This is that wisdom that Solomon asked for wisdom. And that was wisdom from God. And so, yes, we have to use our intellect and our faculties, but to leave that alone in exclusivity outside of the revealed word of God, we are open to the logic of the evil one that comes as an angel of light that the Savior warned that the Pharisees were. And so to avoid deception, we must test our so-called logic against the scriptures.

And so I hope that doesn't come across as negating everything that I said before, but I hope that it shows you that it's the two mixed together that will lead us to the most effective outcome to being able to uh defend and promote and implement godly government so um let's go ahead stop the share so we just have a minute left so let's go ahead and just have a closing prayer and then we can go into the open forum and have any questions comments whatever you guys want to talk about either whether it's commenting more on this discussing the the training or getting into other topics but let's go ahead and um have I'm going to invite Pamela Allen, would you be willing to give us the closing prayer tonight?

You can unmute yourself if you're available. Sure. Thank you.

Our Father in heaven, we are grateful for the training to help us understand these difficult times that we're going through and to be able to know how to navigate the problems that we were faced with. It is such a challenging thing. So many of these views are so set in the minds of our friends and even ourselves. And we pray that we might be able to have... the gift of discernment to be able to study these things out and to understand the underlying principles and where the deceptions are. We're so grateful for the time that Ben has put into giving us this training to help us think about these things and to be able to see where we may have problems ourselves and to be able to learn how to deal with them, especially things that we have held dear for a very long time. And it is difficult to change these things, but once we are aware of them, it's very important that we act upon them. We're so thankful for this, and we're thankful for our covenant land, and we pray that we can do the things necessary, that we will not lose all of our liberties, and if possible, to return to the liberties that were guaranteed in the Constitution at the beginning. Thankful for this, for all the hard work that our founders put into it. And today, especially on Memorial Day, we're grateful for those who have stepped up, even though it was a very challenging time and perhaps a very inappropriate thing to do, but it was what was happening and they put forth. everything that they have in order to help our nation. And we're appreciative of this. And we say these things in the name of thy son, Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen.