Are you dogmatic?  I am.

From Jonah Goldberg, a not-particularly-religious commentator:

I like dogma. The problem is that liberals don’t recognize or acknowledge their own dogmatism. They think they are free thinkers, empiricists, fact-finders, and pragmatists.

Conservatives have dogma, too. And that’s a good thing. The difference is that we know where ours comes from. It’s the difference between a devout orthodox Christian and a person who “doesn’t believe in religion” but is passionate about “spirituality.” Both have dogmatic convictions. But the Catholic knows their source: Church teaching, scripture, tradition, etc. (emphasis added). The self-proclaimed spiritualist floats through life, like a jellyfish in the ocean, scooping up the bits and pieces he needs, bending to the circumstances, riding whatever currents he finds himself in, collecting magical anecdotes that confirm what he already believes.

For us, our source of dogmatic conviction is the Bible, while for the Roman Catholic (as Goldberg states) Church teaching and tradition are theoretically equal (and in practice often higher) authorities.

What I mainly appreciate is his point that everyone is dogmatic.  They have things they believe, things that are non-negotiable.  They exalt their own intelligence, science, a political philosophy, a moral philosophy, their emotional feelings, SOMETHING is their absolute authority — and they are dogmatic.

I’m dogmatic, too — about the Scriptures.  I believe they are 100% true, my absolute authority.  Tradition?  As one of my professors said, “Tradition sometimes reflects the wisdom of the ages.”  Tradition has its value — but it holds no authority.  For the Bible-believing Christian, God’s Word is, well, God’s Word, and He will not share His glory with another.  There is no authority except that which is drawn from the Bible.  I’m dogmatic about it.