FIRST, DO NO HARM
In a very real sense, truthtellers are like doctors for whom the slogan “first do no harm” is often considered to be their guiding mantra. The slogan is generally attributed to Hippocrates. Here is what he actually said:

“I will follow that system of regimen which, according to my ability and judgment, I consider for the benefit of my patients, and abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous.”

“The physician must be able to tell the antecedents, know the present, and foretell the future — must mediate these things, and have two special objects in view with regard to disease, namely, to do good or to do no harm.”

These should be the mottos of truthtellers who hope to be productively engaged in the delicate surgery of changing hearts and minds of Christian Nationalist. With that perspective in mind, the following is a good checklist of things truthtellers should do to sanitize the environment in which the surgery will be done.

RECOMMENDED THINGS EVERYONE SHOULD DO

Think of yourself as a member of a community of people who share the common feature of being human.

In your mind, writing and conversations, avoid using labels that identify you according to your membership in racial, religious, social, ethnic, economic or political subgroups.

In thoughts, words and behaviors, treat others the way you would like to be considered and treated.

Think of yourself as being on the same moral and spiritual level as all other people.

Whenever possible, disassociate yourself from organizations that tend to do the RECOMMENDED THINGS EVERYONE SHOULD AVOID DOING.

When, in your heart, you feel like you should share these recommendations of things that should and should not be done, take a chance and share them with others in a secure location.

Tell your family and friends about this list of things people should and should not do and give them permission to correct you if they observe you violating these suggestions.

Make voting decisions based on character first, then policies, then leadership experience.

Disconnect from all partisan organizations.

Make decisions on who you vote for based on character as well as policies.

Limit your political activism to voting and encouraging other to vote.

Share these recommendations and this website with your elected representatives.

Question everything you read and see in media that report on government and politics.

Learn to recognize truth from lies.

When you read or hear something that might be a lie, but you are not sure, discover the truth yourself by researching several trustworthy resources until you are convinced one way or the other. Another thing you can do is ask someone whom you trust to teach you how to discern truth from lies.

 

NOTE TO READERS: This is not a definitive list. Readers who have ideas about additions to this list are encouraged to send those ideas to paul.borene@thewaywesee.com. Ideas that fit with the concept of spiritual warfare will be included in these lists.

It is reasonable to call this list of things to do “spiritual warfare” because they are invisible. Only the truthteller knows when these things happen. When we choose to do things we might normally be in the habit of doing, we create, or at least preserve, an invisible spiritual environment in which truth can be told sometime.

When a truthteller chooses to adopt these behaviors instead of continuing to do unproductive things that might otherwise be in their repertoire of behaviors, that is spiritual event. This shows that their hearts and minds have changed for the better — for the good of all Americans — and they are not just acting out their historical pattern of pursuing their own self interests. This exactly what we hope will happen in the hearts and minds of Christian Nationalists.

This change is an example of personal spiritual warfare that must occur in the hearts and minds of truthtellers who choose to enlist in the war against Christian Nationalists. Such internal warfare in the hearts and minds of truthtellers must precede efforts to change the hearts and minds of Christian Nationalists. It recognizes that truthtellers have also been part of the division problem in America.

If truthtellers are not willing to change their attitudes and behaviors, they do not have authority to tell truth to others. It is the “judge not lest you be judged” principle. Truthtellers must remove the speck from their own eyes first. If they are unwilling to change, they still contribute to division.