When I moved to Chicago, I was beflummoxed when I met a far-left liberal on social issues that wasn't a vegetarian. Groups do tend to cluster around sets of beliefs, and it takes real guts to stand up for what you really believe if you disagree wtih the group at some points.

When I was in High School, one of my teachers had a book left over from the Flower Power days called "How to be a non-conformist."

It told you to grow your hair just-so, to wear this kind of clothes and shoes, to like this kind of music, to go to these kinds of events, and to believe exactly these things.

"There!" it exults on the last page, "Now you're a nonconformist too!"

One last thought,

If two people agree on everything, one of them is doing all the thinking.

(shades of Justice Clarence Thomas?)

Alex