Patriotic Correctness and Taboo Questions

There seem to be certain taboos in society lately. If you break them, you're labeled unpatriotic or, worse, liberal. I think of it as the "Sshh! The troops might hear you!" attitude. When you ask hard questions about the war, even angry questions (an anger I think is justified), some people have a knee-jerk reaction to stop you that second. It's the old belief that dissent is unAmerican, when you come right down to it. The line of thinking goes, you're questioning the reasons behind the Iraq invasion and casting doubt on the troops' presence. So you're undermining the morale of our brave fighting men and women! How dare you?

This unspoken attitude reminds me of an argument I had once with a very religious friend. She said if I wanted to find the truth, there was no need to read books written by non-Christians. I asked, "Why?" and she got an edge to her voice, saying only Christians had true wisdom. That was the most circular reasoning ever. Why shouldn't you look at other perspectives? Because only Christians are right. Why? Because only they have true wisdom. Why? Because they're Christians. 'Nuff said.

One reason I'm getting more interested in science is that, unlike in politics or religion, science welcomes questions. Scientists try to find the answers to questions, instead of shaming you for asking them in the first place. I like people who go on honest, open searches for truth. Anything else sets off my bullshit detector, which is getting more and more fine-tuned over the years.