9 Things Patriots Should NEVER Do!

By Tim Gamble

1) NEVER give up your personal sovereignty. You are responsible for yourself and your family. Never look to the government to protect you or save you, even in a major crisis. Especially in a major crisis. Remember the political saying "Never let a good crisis go to waste." Don't be naïve about politicians and bureaucrats. Don't trade your freedoms for the promise of security or safety.  

2) NEVER get on the bus. Figure out now how to survive future chaos without going to the FEMA camp or other facilities meant to "help" you. Anywhere with fencing, razor wire, and armed guards is a prison, no matter what excuses they use or what they actually call it. 

3) NEVER blindly follow the "authorities." Remember the old slogan "Question Authority"? It is time to bring that slogan back. Politicians, bureaucrats, scientists, educators, business leaders, and even religious leaders, should never be considered automatically right just because they have some mantle of "authority." Authorities can be biased, make mistakes, have ulterior motives, and otherwise be just-plain-wrong. Learn to think for yourself, and weigh the dictates of authorities for yourself before deciding to follow them or not. 

4) NEVER let government raise your kids.  YOU must be your kids' parent, not the school system, not TV or pop culture. You are responsible for their upbringing and their education. Homeschool if possible. Or consider a good private or parochial school. Send them to public school only as a last resort. But whatever you do, you must be the ultimate overseer of your kids' education. Pay attention to what they are being taught, look over their homework, read their textbooks. talk to their teachers, be active in the PTA, be vocal at the school board meetings. Run for the School Board yourself, or support like-minded patriots when they run. 

5)  NEVER think of yourself as a victim. Don't look to government to "make life fair" or to "get even" with people who may be richer or more successful than you. One of the most successful tactics of the collectivists is to convince people that they are victims, and need government to protect them and make things right. Victimhood is in a strange way empowering, in that it means you are not responsible for your own crappy life. It is always someone else's fault. And if you vote for the right people they will protect you. But, of course, they won't. 

6) NEVER think you are entitled to anything without having to earn it first. We are entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and that is it. All else must be earned through our time, talent, and effort (hard work). 

7) NEVER give up your ability to defend yourself. Self-defense is a God-given right that neither government nor society has the right to take away from you. This includes the right to the tools of self-defense, such as guns and knives. Strongly support the Second Amendment, and resist all attempts to curtail it. Avoid situations in which you are required to disarm (such as flying or entering a government building). Learn to defend yourself with your hands and improvised weapons in case you are ever forced to disarm.

8) NEVER stop improving yourself and your situation.  Never stop learning new skills. Never stop practicing old skills. Never stop adjusting your plans. Never stop developing your homestead or bug-out retreat. Never stop building your supplies. Even highly-experienced experts need to keep learning, keep practicing, keep planning. and keep preparing.  The more prepared we are, the more self-reliant we are, the less control government will have over us. 

9) NEVER worry about "fitting in" or what others think of you. Ultimately, you answer to God ONLY. He is who will judge you. And it is His judgment you should fear, not your friends', not your boss', not your children's, not your mother-in law's, and not even your spouse's. Do what is right in His eyes, and the rest will eventually sort itself out. If that means you lose that relationship (your boss fires you, your friend denounces you, your parents uninvite you to Thanksgiving dinner, whatever), then I suggest you are better off without those people in your life. Find new people. 

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A brief essay on the proper relationship between the Citizen and Politics

I originally wrote and published the following essay back in 2014. In light of our current circumstances, I feel the need to republish it. I believe the concepts within the essay are worth revisiting, because so many of our fellow Americans have forgotten them. Please read this essay thoughtfully, paying special attention to those ideas in bold. 

A brief essay on the proper relationship between the Citizen and Politics.

By Tim Gamble

This essay isn't about which candidate or party to support with your vote, money, or time. In that sense, this is a non-partisan essay. Rather, this essay concerns itself with how a prepper, survivalist, Christian, or any other American for that matter, should approach politics.

First, let's get one thing straight: politics affects everyone. You can ignore it, but you can't hide from it. Politics affects everything from the health of the economy, to whether or not government respects your rights (government doesn't give you rights - those come from God - but government often tries to deny you those rights). From zoning laws to EPA regulations, sales taxes to the education system, directly or indirectly we all are affected by politics. For better or for worse, and it seems too often to be for worse, politics affects your life everyday, and in many ways.

Therefore, you must deal with politics. But how? There are many ways: One response is to simply try to ignore politics as best you can. But you will still have to deal with consequences of politics, whether you want to or not.

Another response is to try to manipulate politics to your advantage (the elites in big business and the political class are masters of this manipulation). Most people today choose one of those responses, at least to some degree. I suggest a third - respond as a true Citizen of the Republic.

Before I define how a Citizen  of the Republic responds, let me say this: Politics will not save us. What is wrong with America goes well beyond politics and economics. It is a spiritual sickness which infects the USA. No politician, no election, no piece of legislation, will cure spiritual sickness. We must appeal to a Higher Authority for that kind of healing. 

The United States of America is a Republic, NOT a Democracy

The first thing a Citizen of the Republic should realize is that the United States is NOT a democracy. It is a Republic, and that is a very good thing. Democracy is Evil. It is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to eat for dinner. In a democracy, rights come from government, and therefore are subject to change with the passing whims of the times. The rights of individuals, even basic rights such as the rights to life, free speech, free exercise of religion, and even self-defense, can be ignored or even taken away by the government or a simple majority vote of the people.

In a Republic, Rights are external from government. Rights come from a Higher Authority (God, the Creator, Natural Law, Nature and Nature's God, or whatever one wishes to call that Higher Authority). Since Rights don't come from the government, government cannot take away or change those Rights. Not even by majority vote. 

Those Rights from God (or whatever you wish to call the Higher Authority) are therefore "unalienable," literally un-a-lien-able. A "lien" being a legal claim on something belonging to another (a lien on a house, for example, where someone other than the owner, typically the government or a bank, claims an interest over the house, typically over money owed). Something being unalienable means that no one can claim an interest over it other than the owner. In the case of unalienable Rights, no one - not even government, not even a majority of voters - can make any claim against those Rights. Well, they can and do try, but those efforts are immoral, unjust, and not valid under a Republic.

The United States was intentionally created by our Founders as a Republic, not a democracy. They knew and feared the dangers of democracy, and wanted to protect themselves and their fellow Citizens from it. Sadly, since the early days of our founding, the United States has slowly been slipping away from a Republic, and into a democracy. In recent decades, and even more so in recent years, this process has been greatly accelerated. Today, we stand on the brink of becoming a full-fledged democracy, with the last remnants of the old Republic slipping away. This is the source of most of our nation's political problems, and has made the people little more than slaves of a government which demands ever-increasing control over our lives, rights, money, and property.

Note: The word "democracy" does not appear anywhere in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, or the Bill of Rights. Nor does it appear in any of the fifty state constitutions. We were never intended to be a democracy. 

Limited Government

The way our Founding Fathers protected the Citizens of the Republic from democracy was through the concept of Limited Government. They created a government limited in both size and power by the Constitution, with our unalienable Rights guaranteed (not granted)  in the Bill of Rights. 

The Constitution establishes and limits the scope of the federal government. It sets up a system of checks-and-balances intended to keep government and politicians from exceeding their limits of power as set forth in the Constitution. The Bill of Rights specifically guarantees that government will respect the unalienable Rights of the people. In other words, the Constitution and Bill of Rights intend that the Citizens of the Republic be more powerful than the government that represents them.

It has taken more than 100 years for the elites in the political class to successfully re-interpret our Founding documents to subvert the Republic into a democracy, and to successfully dumb-down the American people to accept, and even applaud, the evils of democracy. 

Amendment X of the Constitution: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Respond as a Citizen of the Republic

Democracy is mob-rule. It is divisive, and based in emotion, selfishness, and greed. It is easy to manipulate. Reason and logic, and an unwavering belief in the Higher Authority, are the cure to democracy. Think; don't react emotionally. Consider the consequences, both intentional and unintentional, of your words, actions, and votes. 

To enable you to think with reason, not emotion, you need to learn real history, real economics, and real civics, rather than the pro-democracy and pro-collectivist propaganda taught in public schools over the last several generations.

Be independent of government. Do not look to government for hand-outs, freebies, or special favors. Be self-reliant. The less dependent on government you are, the less power government will be able to exert over you.

Don't look to government to "make life fair" or to "get even" with people who may be richer or more successful than you. One of the most successful tactics of the collectivists is to convince people that they are "victims" and need government to protect them and make things right. Don't ever think of yourself as a victim.

Don't look to government to redistribute the wealth of others. Holding a gun to someones head and demanding they give you money is theft. Having the government hold a gun to someones head, demanding their money, and then giving their money to you, is also theft. Don't ever think you are entitled to anything without having to earn it first, other than your God-given Rights.

Realize the sole legitimate purpose to government is to protect the unalienable Rights of its Citizens; to protect Life, Liberty, and Property. The role of government is not to protect individuals from their own mistakes and bad choices. 

But what about helping the poor, widows, orphans, and others who cannot help themselves? Shouldn't we help them? Isn't that what Jesus' taught? Yes, He did. The role of government is to protect the Life, Liberty, and Property of all, especially those who cannot help themselves. But, help beyond that is the proper role of the Church, charities, and individuals. When Jesus, and later the Apostles, taught us to help others, it was always a command to us as individuals and as His followers (the Church). Never did Jesus or the Apostles teach that such help was the role of the government. On the contrary, we are expected to help each other. 

Work hard to elect candidates to public office who realize that we are a Republic, not a democracy, and who understand the difference. Look for candidates who are pro-Constitution, pro-Bill of Rights (all of them), pro-Free Market Capitalism, and pro-Liberty. This is important on the federal level, but also and especially on the state and local levels.

In considering politicians, character matters, especially integrity. If a politician or candidate is dishonest, you cannot trust them to keep their word to respect the Constitution and our unalienable Rights. Liars rarely keep their word.

Pay attention to what your elected officials actually do, and hold them accountable. Not just in DC, but in your state and hometown, too.

Beware of politicians using a crisis to enact laws taking away our liberty, even "temporarily." Realize that temporary laws, such as the income tax was supposed to be, are never temporary. Once government successful takes on an expanded power, it never willing lets it go. Government doesn't care about you as an individual, or about your rights. Government only cares about expanding and protecting its power.

Politicians and government officials often use crises, real or imagined, as the excuse to expand government power. By definition, government power can only be expanded at the loss of individual liberty.

"We must pass this law (or this tax) in order to stop terrorism, stop crime, stop climate change, win the war on drugs, and protect the children. If you are against this law or this tax, then you must be a potential terrorist, or a criminal, or hate children." -- any politician, anytime, wanting to pass a new law or tax

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Boy Scouts go even more WOKE. Here are five Conservative and Christian alternatives.

The Boy Scouts continue to get more and more woke. In their latest move, the Boy Scouts are embracing Critical Race Theory (CRT), as exposed by The Federalist article by Spencer Lindquist: Boy Scouts Announce New Critical Race Theory Requirement. I encourage everyone to read his article so you can understand what is going on. This article, however, is about conservative and Christian scouting alternatives. 

A former Boy Scout myself, back in the day before the Scouts acquiesced to the feminist and LGBT agendas, I am a firm believer in the benefits of scouting. The values, skills, and experiences traditionally taught by scouting programs are a very important in raising boys into real men. But the Boy Scouts of America isn't the only way to train boys into men. Here are five alternatives to the woke Boy Scouts for you to consider:

Trail Life USA (website: https://www.traillifeusa.com/) was started in 2013 as a Christian alternative to the Boy 
Scouts. Today, there are an estimated 26,000 members, called Trailmen. Trailmen programs are broken down into four age categories: Woodlands Trails (grades K-5), Navigators (grades 6-8), Adventurers (grades 9-12), and Guidon (ages 18-25).

It is worth noting that the sister organization to Trail Life USA is the American Heritage Girls (website: https://americanheritagegirls.org/), which is a Christian alternative to the Girl Scouts of America. They have an estimated 52,000+ members. 

Pathfinders (website: https://www.clubministries.org/pathfinders/) is a scouting program of the Seventh-Day Adventists, although it is open to boys and girls ages 10 and up of any faith. It has an estimated 1.5 million members worldwide. The Pathfinders place great emphasize of developing the spiritual faith of their members. 

Royal Rangers (website: https://royalrangers.com) is a scouting program of the Assemblies of God open to boys in grades k to 12. There mission is to "evangelize, equip, and empower the next generation of Christlike men and lifelong servant leaders."

Christian Service Brigade (website: https://csbministries.org/), founded in 1937, is a Christian non-denominational father-son organization open to boys ages 4 through college. Its programs are divided up into several age categories. Its emphasis is on "building young men into Godly leaders." 

The DIY Option is often overlooked. There is no need to be associated with any larger scouting organization. A father with his sons, or a church with its youth, can do their own scouting program. You can use the boy scout handbook (current edition on Amazon) or even the original 1911 edition (also available on Amazon), making any modifications you see fit. Just don 't call yourselves "Boy Scouts." Of course, it won't be official, but the lessons and the fun will still be real.  

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Book Recommendation: Why Social Justice Is Not Biblical Justice

I recently bought the book Why Social Justice Is Not Biblical Justice: An Urgent Appeal to Fellow Christians in a Time of Social Crisis, by Scott David Allen. I want to recommend it to my readers, as it does an excellent job of explaining the difference between politically-correct "social justice" and true Biblical justice. Social justice has creeped in modern churches, which have become weak as they seek to embrace worldly acceptance. Sadly, most church-goers today don't understand enough about social justice, or Biblical justice for that matter, to see the dangerous distortions embedded in the concept.

From the Amazon write-up: "Prepare yourself to defend the truth against the greatest worldview threat of our generation.

In recent years, a set of ideas rooted in postmodernism and neo-Marxist critical theory have merged into a comprehensive worldview. Labeled “social justice” by its advocates, it has radically redefined the popular understanding of justice. It purports to value equality and diversity and to champion the cause of the oppressed.

Yet far too many Christians have little knowledge of this ideology, and consequently, don’t see the danger. Many evangelical leaders confuse ideological social justice with biblical justice. Of course, justice is a deeply biblical idea, but this new ideology is far from biblical.

It is imperative that Christ-followers, tasked with blessing their nations, wake up to the danger, and carefully discern the difference between Biblical justice and its destructive counterfeit.

This book aims to replace confusion with clarity by holding up the counterfeit worldview and the Biblical worldview side-by-side, showing how significantly they differ in their core presuppositions. It challenges Christians to not merely denounce the false worldview, but offer a better alternative—the incomparable Biblical worldview, which shapes cultures marked by genuine justice, mercy, forgiveness, social harmony, and human dignity.

The paperback edition is available from Amazon for under $15 at the moment. A tiny percentage of purchases made through these links helps support this website at no extra cost to you. Thank you!

Legal Help for Patriots

 Note:  I am unaffiliated with all the following organizations. I cannot guarantee that they will be willing or able to help you with your particular legal issues. I am providing this list of possible sources of legal help for your reference only. Please contact those that seem appropriate to you and discuss your situation with them. Good luck. 

Legal Help with Freedom of Religion Issues

American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ)
Legal helpline: 1-757-226-2489
Website: http://aclj.org/

Christian Law Association (ALC)
Telephone: 1-888-252-1969
Website: http://www.christianlaw.org/

Liberty Counsel
Telephone: 1-407-875-1776
Website: http://www.lc.org/

First Liberty Institute
Telephone: 1-972-941-4444
Website: https://firstliberty.org/

Alliance Defending Freedom
Toll Free: 1-800-835-5233

Website: http://www.adflegal.org 

Legal Help with Second Amendment Issues

Gun Rights Attorneys
Website: https://gunrightsattorneys.com/
   Listings by State: https://gunrightsattorneys.com/attorneys/

NRA Attorney Referrals
**The NRA keeps a list of attorneys who have identified themselves as willing to consider firearm related cases. This list is available free of charge to NRA members only. For assistance in obtaining a referral from the NRA, please call (703) 267-1161. To join the NRA, visit their website.

Legal Help with Homeschooling Issues

Home School Legal Defense Association
Website: https://www.hslda.org/
Telephone: 540-338-5600 / fax 2733 

Legal Help with Other Issues Concerning Patriots

Already mentioned under Religious Freedom, the Alliance Defending Freedom may also be willing to help with other legal issues, such as Free Speech. They also have an interesting page on their website with information for dealing with various Covid mandates. 

Alliance Defending Freedom
Toll Free: 1-800-835-5233

Website: http://www.adflegal.org 

***** If you know of other organizations providing legal help for these issues, please let me know in the comments section below.