Dogs bark at what they don’t understand.
~ Heraclitus
No rights have ever been taken away, no brutality winked at, no injustice rationalized, without the armor of dogma. When we hear ourselves state an opinion as if it is a fact, a universal truth, we’re dogma barking. Dogma is the virus carried by labels.
I’m a Libertarian. I’m a Democrat. I’m a Catholic. I’m a pacifist. I’m an anti-vaxer. Intelligent design. Moslem. States’ rights. Pro-choice. Pro-life. MAGA. Atheist. Recovering addict. Communist. Progressive. Incel.
A label engulfs as it solidifies through dogma. No questions, no counters, no nuance or uncertainty deserves consideration. So the barking dogmatic need never examine nor explain, only recite.
How’s about this for the process:
- There’s something we don’t understand.
- That makes us uncomfortable.
- The turning point: We’re less concerned with understanding than with the discomfort.
- We immerse ourselves in a dogma, rote-learn talking points, and are protected against discomfort.
- Anything (or anyone) that challenges, or even does not align precisely with, the tenets of our belief is now false, bad, and of unworthy people.
I myself hold, and I cherish, some strong beliefs. As Sol Gordon suggested, “Everyone has a right to my opinion.” And I can frame my truth with “I believe” . . . “I see that differently” . . . “Here’s another possibility. . . ” My truth. Worthy of examining and questioning. I try to keep out-of-bounds the implication that my truth extends beyond my metaphorical fingertips. I can choose instead to focus on the tantalizing discomfort of exploration.
There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments, and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance—that principle is contempt prior to investigation.
~ Herbert Spencer (from William Paley)
Finally, I suggest that the most powerful label to adopt, one that is fearless and enviable, is simple:
I am curious.
