Something surprising happened earlier. I encountered blind and inflexible truth on the internet, Twitter actually. I know I shouldn’t be surprised, but I really am. I am amazed at the quickness and severity of the reaction, and by the tell-tale misinterpretation, over-interpretation, and suddenly aggressive response. I haven’t seen anything so amazing since I was a regular on AOL.

What amazes me the most is that I was attacked by someone purportedly espousing the value of holism, by which she meant her understanding of Ayurveda. It doesn’t reconcile to me that someone so focused on congruence and understanding the causal relationships between things would react so forcefully and blindly when confronted by a belief different than her own.

I suppose it actually makes a lot of sense in some ways. If your whole sense of self and well-being is bound to a single strict dogma, self-preservation may demand that you reject dissenting thoughts out of hand.

I can’t help but wonder what it’s like to be that person. The Ayurveda specialist who believes it is the only true healing modality. The Christian man who feels his rights have been violated because someone mentions a different faith in his presence. The moral conservative who believes so blindly in his morality that the rest of the world should be forced to comply with it.

I get the impression that it feels righteous. That it takes away your fears and questions. It’s almost tempting, except I’m afraid that without those questions I’d lose the capacity to reason. I’m afraid that without those fears I’d cease to consider the consequences of my actions.

I’ll stay uncertain, thanks.