20 Diversion Tactics Highly Manipulative Narcissists, Sociopaths and Psychopaths Use to Silence You

From "20 Diversion Tactics Highly Manipulative Narcissists, Sociopaths and Psychopaths Use to Silence You", Shahida Arabi, 30 Jun 2016.

1. Gaslighting.
2. Projection.
3. Nonsensical conversations from hell.
4. Blanket statements and generalizations.
5. Deliberately misrepresenting your thoughts and feelings to the point of absurdity.
6. Nitpicking and moving the goal posts.
7. Changing the subject to evade accountability.
8. Covert and overt threats.
9. Name-calling.
10. Destructive conditioning.
11. Smear campaigns and stalking.
12. Love-bombing and devaluation.
13. Preemptive defense.
14. Triangulation.
15. Bait and feign innocence.
16. Boundary testing and hoovering.
17. Aggressive jabs disguised as jokes.
18. Condescending sarcasm and patronizing tone.
19. Shaming.
20. Control.

Is Trump Nathan Jessup?

-

Trump, for a lot of voters, is Jack Nicholson's Nathan Jessup from A Few Good Men. He's the one willing to stand on the wall and do not just what others are politically unwilling to do but what others' (Christians) values do not necessarily permit them to do. (FB Post, Jacob Jul 2016)

-

Just As Ready To Die

I love this quote from Joseph Smith about religious liberty for all.

If it has been demonstrated that I have been willing to die for a "Mormon," I am bold to declare before Heaven that I am just as ready to die in defending the rights of a Presbyterian, a Baptist, or a good man of any denomination; for the same principle which would trample upon the rights of the Latter-day Saints would trample upon the rights of the Roman Catholics, or of any other denomination who may be unpopular and too weak to defend themselves. It is a love of liberty which inspires my soul — civil and religious liberty to the whole of the human race.
—Joseph Smith, 1843 

Be it ordained by the City Council of the City of Nauvoo, that the Catholics, Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, Latter-day Saints, Quakers, Episcopals, Universalists, Unitarians, Mohammedans [Muslims], and all other religious sects and denominations whatever, shall have free toleration, and equal privileges in this city ... 

—Ordinance in Relation to Religious Societies, City of Nauvoo, [Illinois] headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, March 1, 1841 (Quoted by MormonNewsroom.com, 8 Dec 2015)

I would add Muslims, Buddhists, Atheists or the church of the widgets to the list of denominations.

It is in harmony with what George Washington wrote to the Hebrew congregation at Newport, August 21, 1790.

May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants — while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid. 

May the father of all mercies scatter light, and not darkness, upon our paths, and make us all in our several vocations useful here, and in His own due time and way everlastingly happy. ("Letter to the Hebrew Congregation at Newport", George Washington, 21 Aug 1790)

-

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist. 

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist. 

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew. 

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me. 

(Martin Niemöller, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came_...)

There isn’t a road to Rationalia

-

There isn’t a road to Rationalia. There are billions of them, negotiated by individuals and institutions dozens or hundreds of times a day, every time they make a significant choice. Government programs are, by their nature, centralized, unitary, and static attempts to impose a rational order on complexity beyond the understanding of the people who would claim to manage it. Obamacare is an excellent example of that: No one intended for premium prices to skyrocket and for millions of people to lose their policies or for the majority of the American public to be unhappy with the program and its results, but that is what happened. The architects of Obamacare weren’t stupid, but, being ordinary mortals (albeit reasonably bright ones), their intellectual capacity was insufficient to the problem at hand: Small brains, big problems. ("The Road to Rationalia", Kevin D. Williamson, 30 Jun 2016)

A Wall of Separation

(Jefferson's Letter to the Danbury Baptists: The Final Letter, as Sent, Thomas Jefferson, Jan. 1. 1802)

From a post I made, I love this comment,

The wall is one-way. Government shouldn't control or affect religious practice, but our Founders believed that the churches and the morality of a righteous people absolutely MUST influence this government for it to survive. 

No intellectually honest person can look at how religious our government was (Issuing calls to prayer & fasting, and speaking of the Lord *CONSTANTLY*) and suggest our government was designed to be devoid of religious influence. (FB Comment, Timothy Allen, Jun 22, 2016)

-

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints holds to the doctrine of the separation of church and state; the non-interference of church authority in political matters; and the absolute freedom and independence of the individual in the performance of his political duties. …
We declare that from principle and policy, we favor:
The absolute separation of church and state;
No domination of the state by the church;
No church interference with the functions of the state;
No state interference with the functions of the church, or with the free exercise of religion;
The absolute freedom of the individual from the domination of ecclesiastical authority in political affairs;
The equality of all churches before the law. (In Clark, Messages of the First Presidency, 4:153, Quoted in "Section 134 Earthly Governments and Laws", Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual, (2002), 344–347)