Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.

When every external authority has been consulted, something still has to do the deciding, and that is your own judgement. Keeping it intact means not talking yourself into positions for the sake of belonging, and not letting a group’s certainty substitute for your own examination. This holds whether you take your bearings from a faith, a tradition, a profession or nothing in particular.

Watch for the small surrenders, since that is where integrity is actually lost. Agreeing to something you do not believe because the meeting is nearly over. Repeating a claim you have not checked. Reversing those is undramatic, and it is the whole of the practice.