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                            %EITHER/OR PRISON 971104      
                                                                                                                               
     "Either/or"    people   are   often   imprisoned   in                                                                    
assumptions,   convictions  and  beliefs  ---  which  they             
fear to examine openly and honestly in public ways.   They      
may think:                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                               
     1.  If  opponents  are   at  all right  in  what  the       
opponents say, then they themselves cannot be at all right    
in what they themselves are saying.    
                                                                                                                               
     2.  There  can be no common ground between what  they                                                                     
and their opponents are saying.                                                                                                
                                                                                                                               
     3.  Paradoxes are the work of the Devil.                                       
                                                                                                                               
     4.  Ambiguity and doubts must be eliminated.                                                                              
                                                                                                                               
     5.  They  are called by God to contend with those who                
disagree  with them;  to be contentious in contending  for                
God.                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                               
     6.  It is  heresy  and/or a sign of little  faith  to                                                                     
agree with anything which the opposition says or hints at.               
                                                                                                                               
     7.  It  is heresy to let-go of,  or detach from,  any               
of    one's     traditionally    cherished    assumptions,                                                                     
convictions, beliefs or practices.             
                                                                                                                               
     8.  Heretics   must be excluded from the inner-circle                       
of trusted friends and leaders.                                                                                                
                                                                                                                               
     9.  Everyone is  in  competition  for  scarce/limited                                                                     
resources such as love,  acceptance, inclusion, affection,         
intimacy, respect, honor; what one gets --- another loses.                     
                                                                                                                               
     10.  Only those who are the most trustworthy and best                                                                     
---are to be permitted to be included,  respected, honored                                      
and permitted to serve in leadership positions.                                                                                
                                                                                                                               
     11.  Security  is  achieved through one's own  faith,                   
dedication, discipline and hard work.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                               
     12.  Salvation   is  a  scarce  commodity  which   is                                                                     
available only to the select few who are the best.                                                                             
                                                                                                                               
     13.  The key to salvation is obedience.                                                                                   
                                                                                                                               
     14.  Conflict is inevitable; what matters is being on                                              
the right side of each conflict and helping that side win.       
                                                                                                                               
     15.  When in doubt --- be suspicious of  the personal                                                                 
and communal integrity of others.                                                               
                                                                                                                               
     16.  The  righteous  ones must defend the  purity  of       
their beliefs, faith, practices and community.             
                                                                                                                               
     17.  Righteousness  depends upon conformity to right:       
scriptural  choices/interpretations,  rituals,  doctrines,                      
prescriptions, proscriptions, confessions, and behaviors.                                                       
                                                                                                                               
     18.  People   are   (at  a very  fundamental   level)                                                                    
not worthy  of  trust  and respect --- due to original sin                                      
and disobedience.                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                               
     19.  There is only one narrow way to get into heaven.  
                                                                                                                               
     20.  Tolerance is intolerable to the most righteous.  
                                                                                                                               
     21.  We must get others to gather around and agree.                                                               
                                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                               
                         (c) 2005 by Paul A. Smith in      
                    (On Being Yourself, Whole and Healthy)  
                                                                                                                               
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