Outside of those associated with religion, what are some examples of dogma?

How about political persuasions. . . or environmental inclination

the tenets by which you live your life (unless dictated by religion) would qualify.

Socialism is evil. The rich have no concern for the poor. All life is sacred. You deserve better. Global warming must be stopped. Yo mama.

Terrorists attacks happen because they hate our freedom

We’re fighting in Iraq so we don’t have to fight them here.

From wikipedia

“Dogma is the established belief or doctrine held by a religion, ideology or any kind of organization: it is authoritative and not to be disputed, doubted or diverged from.”

So personal beliefs don’t count unless they are mandated by an institution whose dogma a person accepts. I could see a possibility of dogma in politics, but just having a political view wouldn’t constitute dogma.

As such the above examples aren’t dogma, they’re just personal beliefs.

Reaganomics :

“A government can best promote growth by providing incentives for persons to produce goods and services…by maintaining low tax rates so that investors and entrepreneurs may use their money toward production. Maintaining low tax rates on the wealthy is one of the most important…aspects of supply-side economics; ..well off persons have the capital available to produce goods and services and thereby create jobs and grow the economy.”

I agree that political parties could be counted. Also what about groups in which you have to fit certain standards to be a part of them. Even a country club would apply would it not?

@fundevogel religious precepts may start as personal belief too – they become dogma when they are institutionalized.

When a jingoistic slogan is used as a talking point by many members of the same group from the top down to the man on the street, it looks like dogma and smells like dogma to me.

Political propaganda could fall under “dogma.”

Political and economic beliefs, whether propaganda or not.

I think education as a field has its dogma; perhaps also medicine.

We’re fighting in Iraq so we don’t have to fight them here.

No we aren’t.

@Grisaille it turns out that if you repeat a lie enough times, people will accept it as true. It’s genius, really.

Oh, I see. Aha.

@nicobanks I think that’s the most spot on example so far since it is state sponsored opinion. Thanks everyone.

Communism

The principal dogma of Communist theology is “dialectic materialism.” As expounded in the “sacred writings” of Karl Marx and V. I. Lenin, the dogma holds that the physical world of things which can be seen, felt, weighed, and measured is the only reality that exists. All talk about a spiritual dimension to human experience is nonsense.

Communist dogma goes on to state that economic forces — not human aspirations for freedom, nor other political ideals — are the real shapers of history. In particular, the determining factor in the evolution of society is the class struggle — the inevitable conflict between the exploiters and the exploited, the capitalists who own the tools of production and the workers who use them.

And what is the state of Communism in the 21st Century? Fortunately for the world, its presence and forces are no longer considered threats to sovereign capitalist republics. Their followers have dwindled and even citizens of communist countries, such as China, are enjoying the pleasures that capitalism brings.

@njnyjobs I think maybe you need to differentiate Marxism from Communism. Yes, Marxism is based on communism, but they are not the same.

Marxism includes the inevitability of the class struggle and advocates violence to reach the ultimate state.

Communism is a simpler, far more benign concept – from each according to his ability to each according to his needs. Everybody contributes to the barn raising, everbody shares the food.

As always though, the devil is in the details. Few societies have managed to perpetuate anything like that for more than a couple of generations or to extend it to more than a few hundred people. One bad apple seems to make mangoes of the whole barrel.

Capitalism seems to me to be heartless at it’s core – survival of the fittest. That of course does not prevent capitalistic societies from taking care of their weak and timid. It’s just that the guiding principal of capitalism – greed is good – makes it so easy for the self-centered with power to make their self-centeredness into government policy.

So the powerful have a vested interest in perpetuating economic inequality. Hence the dogma associated with communism in capitalist countries is so over the top: they want to take our children away, they want to take our religion away, they want to take our choices away. The irony is that the capitalist world increasingly offers few choices to the majority while the minority rich get more and more.

@6rant6
I’m merely trying to provide an answer to the question on this post…and not to argue the merits or demerits of the answer. The question did ask for examples of dogma outside of religious association, and the answer I provided, IMHO, does fit the question.