What do you believe in and live by?

That looks like a soul question I’m asking you today…

You’re surprised?
You didn’t guess I’m part preacher?
Wait’ll you hear my fire and brimstone!

Yes, I mostly write about the mind.
Being a psychoanalytic thinker,
that’s what my ideas are mainly about,
even when I write about political or spiritual matters.

But I don’t write just to reach your mind.
I write to reach your soul.

I want your soul to know its worth.

So…
What do you believe in and live by?

Are you willing to explore this with me?
Let’s DO this!

What do I believe in and live by?

OK.
I’ll go first.

I believe in forgiveness, and I live by it.

Forgiveness of my mother, my father, my brothers, my beloveds,
my children, my friends, my enemies, the whole world...and myself.

That’s a tall order, but I work at it every day.

Why?

Three reasons: one spiritual, one psychological, one political.

My spiritual reason: I am a Christian.

Jesus said as He was dying on the cross:
“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”

This is, to me, the essence of Christianity.

My psychological reason: Not forgiving makes me sick.
It keeps my mind in a destructive and victimized state.

My political reason: I am seeking to build unity in my beloved America.

When I forgive others and myself, I become a more merciful person.
I seek to understand rather than to judge people who see things differently than I do.
I seek to become a builder of freedom.

What about you?

What do you believe in and live by?

Your beliefs are your own.

I am not an evangelist.
I express mine so you can decide whether to read me.

If you don’t want to consider the ideas of a psychoanalytic patriotic Christian
you can simply say adios to my Solutions.

This is the beauty of living in a free society.

We all have different beliefs

If your beliefs are different than mine and you are living by them,
that’s wonderful.

As long as we are always willing to explore and question our own beliefs
and renew them as we grow in our awareness of life, we will be fine.

If you have no beliefs you are of no less value than someone who does.

But living without beliefs can be very hard.
It can also make you vulnerable to groups who will see you as a prospect.

Some groups use indoctrination

Hard line religious groups, as well as political groups on the far left and far right,
can’t wait to draw you into their little sect.

They attract people with calls for justice or repentance, but function like a cult.

Basically paranoid in their outlook, they are full of conspiracy theories.
Half the country is always doing something terrible to the other half.

They will try to convince you of all kinds of things you are guilty of —
your ideas, your beliefs, your background.

You must make amends with complete acceptance of their ideas.

No questions allowed

The primary way you will know that these folks are bad news is:
NO QUESTIONS ALLOWED.

In order to join, you must check your independent mind at the door.

The people running these organizations don’t want any questioners in there.
They already have the complete and final Truth.

And they will force you to accept it or be shunned and expelled or re-programmed.

To them, everything is black and white.
They are Absolutely Correct in their analysis of society
and you and everyone else are Absolutely Wrong.

Such people are actually very weak.
The idea of Absolute Truth attracts weak people.

They join in order to have the illusion that now they are powerful.
Because now they see The Truth.

Not like those ignorant Republicans or Democrats or Jews or Muslims or blacks or
whites or or or ________(fill in the blank.)

Becoming immune to indoctrination

To become immune to indoctrination, you must never stop asking questions.

The more questions you ask, the less these stoneheads will want you
to join them!

So go ahead!
Get some practice!
Throw your best questions at me!

I will take every one seriously.
I will THINK about your questions.
And I will LEARN from them.

In my letters, I will always throw my best questions at you!
Solutions is a two way street.

The goal

The goal is to become impossible to indoctrinate.

Unwilling to allow anyone to overpower your own independent mind.
Utterly immune to anyone coming to you with some crazy dangerous idea.

Your immunity is essential to your freedom.

When you are immune to indoctrination, no force can control your mind.

No person, no leader, no organization can take you over.

If you are taking part in a peaceful demonstration,
no one will ever be able to convince you to take violent action.

You will not follow crazies into an insurrection or worse.

You will abide by the Constitution.
Our Constitution is there to protect us.
It protects the freedom and balance of power in America.
It protects us all from tyranny.

You will be a leader and a builder.
Building the thoughtful, reasonable, kind and sane center
that holds America together.

That is why I am asking you today:
What do you believe in and live by?

So you will take some time and think about it.

So you will never let anyone answer that question for you.

Question:

What is the most beautiful thing you believe in and live by, and who taught you?
I would love to hear.

Dr. Hall