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                    %DEFENDING THE RIGHT TO BELIEVE 861230

     Members  of Jack's community believe and  defend  the
right  to believe anything which seems right.    They  are
committed to defending each other's rights to believe what
they  choose to believe.   They defend their own right  to
believe anything which they believe is right.   Anyone who
questions   this  right  is  rejected  and  literally   or
figuratively cast out of the community;  e.g.  in terms of
where they may live,  in what kinds of houses, and in what
way their income is computed.

     To  question  someone's  dearly  held  belief  is  to
threaten  them and their system of beliefs;  to  undermine
their paradigm.   They become fearful and defensive.  They
ask their friends to come to their defense to defend their
right to believe what they want to believe.   The  friends
most   likely   to come to their defense---are  those   of
like  belief.    They are likely to defend the  challenged
beliefs,   as  well as each  other's  right   to   believe
whatever  they  want  to believe.     They  drift  towards
defending   their   common beliefs against those  who  are
defending  a  complementary set of  threatening   beliefs;
and  away from defending all members of the community  and
their right to believe whatever  they want to believe.

     Not  all  experiences support all  possible  beliefs.
Some experiences threaten some beliefs.  To call attention
to such experiences  is  to threaten some  beliefs and the
people who share such beliefs.   If they believe that they
have  the right to believe what some experiences threaten,
then  they are likely to believe that they have the  right
to  be  protected  from  awareness  of  experiences  which
threaten  their beliefs.   They say that you have no right
to point  to,  discuss,    write about,   speak regarding,
and   otherwise communicate  your awareness of experiences
which   threaten their  beliefs.    Your right to  believe
what you  want  to believe  stops where it threatens their
right   to  believe what  they  and  their  friends   want
to   believe.     Your communication  rights   stop  where
they   engender  fear  in others---who have beliefs  which
your experiences threaten.

     A collusion is a game of mutual self deception played
by  people who believe that they have the right to  defend
any beliefs which they choose in any way they choose, even
to   the  extent  of  undermining  personal  and  communal
integrity.
                                                                                                                               
                         (c) 2005 by Paul A. Smith in      
                    (On Being Yourself, Whole and Healthy)  
                                                                                                                               
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