Caplan's Two Laws of Fundamentalism

here:

1. In any textual dispute between fundamentalists and moderates of the same creed, the fundamentalists are almost always correct.

2. In any substantive dispute between fundamentalists and moderates of the same creed, the moderates are almost always correct.

These claims work for all of the creeds I understand well enough to test them against: Christianity, Marxism, Judaism, Austrian economics, and Objectivism for starters.

I actually would disagree Bryan on the christian domain, given my own anecdotal interactions. Of course, in that case, the texts are either intermediated by clergy (Roman Catholicism) or discounted (mainline Protestantism). So disputes are a lot like agnotheistic debates, i.e. lose the texts. Disputes between the President and Congress usually dispose of the Constitution, with the same lack of honor.