I know of no country in which there is so little independence of mind and real freedom of discussion as in America.

–Alexis de Tocqueville

The Only Orthodoxy is a forum for those who believe people can reason together about important issues in the areas of culture, morality, religion, science, and politics, and, through reasoning, come to conclusions that are better than those they started with. When we say “better,” we mean “wiser” or “more likely to be true.” We believe there should be more to a discussion than a group of people stating their opinions–that a discussion should involve an active, rational, effort on the part of all involved to reach increasingly correct conclusions. This belief drives the format and the discussions here, and is the source for “The Rules,” which you can view by clicking the tab at the top of the page. This isn’t to say that we’re in the business of actually claiming to have captured Truth. The best we can do is to reason towards it, and hope that our efforts of today bring us closer than we were yesterday.

So why do we call this place “The Only Orthodoxy“? Because the market of ideas in which we all live, work, and study is governed by an array of petty, informal orthodoxies that the writers on this site (and, we hope, many others) resent. Often referred to as “political correctness,” these orthodoxies, such as “You musn’t make any claims about truth; only about your preferences,” “You musn’t pursue any line of thought that might lead to the conclusion that another cultural value is bad,” and “You mustn’t bring your religion into a discussion,” to name only a few, destroy any possibility of meaningful discourse. These orthodoxies create false compartments of knowledge within individuals–your scientific knowledge resides in one compartment, your cultural knowledge in another, your religious and spiritual knowledge in yet another–and forbids them ever from interacting. The result is that, as long as these orthodoxies are followed, useful conversation cannot occur on any of these topics. No one is permitted to do more than state his opinion, then remain silent while others state theirs. And, when everyone has spoken, all that remains is a pile of opinions, none of which can challenge or inform the others.

This site is our attempt to escape from the petty tyranny of this climate. We banish those orthodoxies from this virtual space, and replace them with only one–use reason. We take it as a matter of faith–literally–that reason has something to do with absolute truth; with a true reality that exists unaffected by and indifferent to our opinions or perceptions. By exercising reason together, we hope to come a little closer to these truths. This project is not merely abstract–by inching closer to true conclusions, we hope to change for the wiser our religious, cultural, social, and political actions. Of course, as the “Reason and Reality” page suggests, even our orthodoxy is open to some forms of challenge, albeit only on its own terms.

So welcome, and, if this explanation appeals to you, feel free to participate. Read “The Rules“, read some of the excellent essays posted by our writers, then use the “comments” links to join in the discussion and help us inch our way down the long roads to truth.