Internal Housekeeping - Clearing Out Dogma

When we think of dogma, we often think of the bad parts about religion—the inflexibility, the rules created by “authorities”, a focus on ceremony and tradition at the expense of the essential. But dogma can happen to any of us at any time, and we can forget to watch out for it.

This year, 2020, has been a year of upending the status quo. We have questioned our belief systems, our economic systems, our government systems, our healthcare systems. We have faced the dogma in each of these, the inflexibility of physical systems as well as the inflexibility in our paradigms. We have seen enormous divisiveness in politics and how those political divides have separated us in so many other ways: whether or not to wear a mask to protect ourselves and others from a harmful virus, whether or not to impose or abide by stay-at-home orders with the same intention as the masks, whether or not to even believe that the virus is real, and more currently, whether or not to trust and/or take one of the vaccines that’s been approved.

As someone who has spent the last 3.5 years completely fascinated by health and the body, who has a history of feeling let down by doctors, who continues to wade into the waters of alternative and functional medicine, I think of myself as knowledgable about the body and good at listening and learning with a critical mind to a field that has vast differences in scientific outcomes and conclusions. For example, I’ve read books by doctors and researches who promote a whole food, plant based, high carb diet. Likewise, I’ve read books by doctors and researches who promote an all meat and animal protein diet, with none or hardly any plants. I’ve heard that fasting is great for you, that it’s not great, that sugar is the worst food in the world, that oil is the worst food in the world, that fruit has incredible health benefits, that fruit has too much sugar, and on and on. All of these experts are smart, accomplished, and well-meaning people, whose opinions about health are based in science, yet they all promote different opinions, different dogmas. My favorite doctors and researches are ones who limit their dogmatic thought, who remain open to varying viewpoints and new research, as well as to the possibility that each person has their own perfect cocktail of what is right for them and that it can change over time as our bodies change.

And while I try not to be dogmatic myself, I have noticed that this year I’ve slipped into dogmatic thought myself. I could feel that something wasn’t quite right, that I was feeling energetically stuck, that my thought became locked instead of curious, that I was beginning to seek confirmation rather than truth.

I think a lot of this comes from the climate of our culture right now. The vaccine conversation is particularly triggering and confusing for me. While some people are anti-vaccinations, I believe that most people who are labeled “anti-vax” are actually just people who think critically and don’t readily accept the status quo of current mainstream western medicine. I’ve noticed an inflexibility and unwillingness in many this year to hear anything outside the mainstream narrative. This is understandable. There’s a new virus that has spread globally, has killed many, and has caused bad and lingering symptoms in others. Most of us aren’t virologists or doctors and don’t understand how our bodies work. We’re under a lot of stress as everything around us has shut down, travel has been limited, and we can’t see our friends and family. It’s a lot to deal with, and I understand the desire for a leader (in person or in organization) who will help us get out of this and a disdain for anyone who questions the story that we think will save us. At a time of great uncertainty, more uncertainty isn’t always the most welcomed thing. In my viewpoint, this is a great disappointment and it makes me sad. When uncertainty reigns, I have always found it best to live in the question, to gather all the data, to be open to new wisdom, and to acknowledge the limitations in any one viewpoint. But clearly that is not how everyone responds, and as far as I can tell, most people have doubled down on whatever their beliefs happen to be.

This year we saw the bizarre destruction that Q Anon caused, leading people down rabbit holes and twisting the truth to create a satanic villain out of America’s rich and famous. It’s a nice and satisfying story, and it hints at some unspoken truths, but in twisting and spinning things in such a false and dramatic way, it actually took those who follow it further away from being able to solve the problems they’ve come to care so deeply about. But along with conspiracy theory, we also got a big dose of mainstream medical and pharmaceutical propaganda. If Q Anon was on one side of the river, those who bought completely into what we were being told about the virus, how to protect ourselves from it, and what the best course of action was to handle it were on the other side. To not question the authorities in power, who have something to gain and who are paid off by large and financially powerful industries like the pharmaceutical, chemical, and agriculture industries is as big of a mistake in my opinion as believing that Democrats drink the blood of trafficked babies to stay young. They’re both misinformed ways of engaging with the information, and they both require a paradigm shift.

While I am not against modern western medicine and feel that it’s extremely good at some things, I do recognize its immense limitations and downfalls. Viruses, in my opinion, are particularly tricky in this conversation because they fall somewhere in between what holistic functional medicine can offer and what modern western medicine can provide. On the one hand, it’s important to understand that our bodies are whole organisms that have the capacity, when healthy, to fight off pathogens. We might ask the questions: What does our body need in order to do that? In what ways are modern living preventing our bodies from being at peak health and how can we change these things to be in better health? These are enormous questions with complex answers dipping into everything from capitalism to agriculture to education to nutrition and beyond. But on the other hand, a safe vaccine could be incredibly beneficial and allow us to return to our lives and move out of this stressful state of fear and constantly being careful.

Since March, I have advocated for a more holistic approach, for taking a step back and looking at all the data, which, to be honest is kind of hard to find. I’ve listened to varying opinions of naturopathic and functional medicine doctors and of course it’s impossible to avoid the mainstream conversation. I’m wary of the pharmaceutical companies and keenly aware that our medical industry is a profit-driven business. So I’ve defaulted to the side of a holistic approach when it comes to the virus.

But about a week ago, as vaccines started rolling out, I started noticing my response to the news: skepticism, concern, mistrust. While I don’t think these responses are invalid, considering this type of vaccine has never made it to the market and we don’t have long term studies on safety or effectiveness, I began to recognize that dogmatic part of me emerging. I am not anti-vaccine, but I don’t know that much about them and haven’t looked into both sides of that argument. I’m not one to rush to take meds or to take a doctor’s word without doing some more research and getting multiple opinions. I’ve never gotten the flu shot. But I do hope the vaccine works and I do hope it doesn’t have many or long-lasting side effects. The truth is, we just don’t really know yet. But while my dogma has me assuming the worst, my curiosity has me, well, curious! And I think this is a more helpful way to be.

While this post was mostly about medicine and health, what I really want to drive home is the part about dogma. Dogmatic thought is something we have to constantly check in about, to clear away the same way we would clear dust or cobwebs that build up in our homes. We are all prone to our ideas solidifying in ways that keep us stuck, but we can always self-assess and return to curiosity and openness. This requires a great deal of humility and sometimes a bit of grief, but if we’re going to maintain our ability to adapt and learn, we must be willing to do what it takes to stay flexible.