How Sacred Values Shape Our Suffering — and How to Reclaim Our Cognitive Freedom

Introduction: The Unseen Prison of Belief

Why do some people cling fiercely to harmful ideologies while others fall headfirst into them? Why do we call those on the other side of a debate irrational, immoral, or even insane — and why does it never seem to help?

At the heart of this paradox lies a hidden process in the human brain: the way we respond to sacred values — beliefs so deeply tied to identity that our brains will protect them at all costs, even if they cause harm. These values can offer meaning and cohesion, but when misunderstood or hijacked, they can also create division, suffering, and rigidity.

In this article, we’ll explore how sacred values are processed in the brain, why they’re so hard to challenge, and how two different groups of people — those who rigidly defend their values and those who feel alone and vulnerable — may both be victims of unconscious mental processes. Most importantly, we’ll explore how to re-engage the brain’s higher functions to move beyond division and toward growth, healing, and shared humanity.

What Are Sacred Values?

Sacred values are beliefs that are considered non-negotiable. Unlike core values — which help guide behaviour and can shift over time — sacred values are treated as inviolable, even in the face of evidence, cost, or social pressure.

They are often moral, cultural, or religious in nature:

• “Human life is sacred.”
• “My faith cannot be questioned.”
• “I must defend my people, no matter what.”

When these values are threatened — particularly by people we perceive as outsiders — our brains do not respond with logic or compromise. They respond with defense.

The Neuroscience of Sacred Beliefs

Studies in moral cognition and neuroimaging have revealed that three key brain regions are involved when sacred values are challenged:

1. Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex (vmPFC)
   • Maintains emotional and moral salience.
   • Processes sacred values as self-defining truths.
   • Keeps the value linked to identity and meaning.

2. Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (dlPFC)
   • Responsible for deliberation, logic, and trade-offs.
   • Goes offline when sacred values are engaged — shutting down critical evaluation and compromise.

3. Inferior Frontal Gyrus (IFG)
   • Acts as a cognitive gatekeeper.
   • Blocks out conflicting input, especially from outgroups.
   • Helps suppress internal doubt and reinforces belief rigidity.

Together, these regions form a kind of moral firewall — shielding the sacred value from influence, even when change is desperately needed.

Two Faces of Vulnerability

Understanding this neural circuitry helps us see that suffering isn’t always about what we believe — but how our brain processes those beliefs. And it helps explain why two very different groups may both become trapped in psychological patterns that block growth and fuel division.

1. The Rigid Believer

This person may be:

• Devoutly religious or dogmatic,
• Nationalistic, ideological, or politically extreme,
• Emotionally reactive to criticism or perceived betrayal.

Their sacred values are so tightly bound to their identity that any attempt to question them feels like an existential threat. The dlPFC’s reasoning power is suspended, and the IFG aggressively filters out opposing perspectives. The result? A closed loop of certainty, righteousness, and often — alienation from those who think differently.

Even when their values no longer serve life, health, or peace, the brain’s protection mechanisms keep them trapped inside.

2. The Isolated Seeker

This person may be:

• Lonely or disconnected from a supportive group,
• Lacking identity anchors (e.g., after trauma, migration, social loss),
• Open to extreme beliefs that promise belonging and purpose.

Here, the cognitive firewall is weakened. Without emotional reinforcement from the vmPFC or strong social ties to uphold values, beliefs become porous. The dlPFC becomes reactivated — not for balanced deliberation, but for survival-based weighing of options.

Into that vulnerable space, any ideology offering certainty, identity, and acceptance can slip in — even if it’s harmful. The person doesn’t adopt beliefs because they’re true, but because they promise relief.

The Tragic Mirror

At first glance, these two groups — the rigid protector and the open vessel — seem worlds apart. One is inflexible and defiant. The other is impressionable and unsure.

But neurologically, they are responding to the same sacred value system. The only difference is which circuits are dominant, and which are offline.

And here’s the real tragedy: each group sees the other as irrational, immoral, or dangerous — when in fact, they are both victims of the same unconscious processes. They mirror each other’s vulnerability — one in over-protection, the other in lack of protection.

How Conflict Becomes Entrenched

This understanding sheds light on why our global landscape is so polarised:

• In the US, MAGA supporters and progressive Democrats accuse each other of lunacy and treason — both defending sacred values with moral intensity.
• In Europe, debates over immigration, nationalism, and identity are no longer political — they are sacred battlegrounds.
• In the Middle East, the sacred values of land, history, and justice are defended with blood, while each side views the other as evil or insane.

In all these cases, the vmPFC holds the emotional flame, the IFG blocks out empathy for the “other,” and the dlPFC — the region that could help find shared ground — remains silenced.

Reclaiming the Power to Think and Grow

The good news? These brain systems are not fixed. We can learn to recognize when sacred values have hijacked our cognition — and begin to re-engage the dlPFC for growth, insight, and connection.

Here’s how:

For the Rigid Believer:

• Practice values reflection: “Is this belief helping me live fully — or just protecting me from doubt?”
• Notice emotional reactions. Ask: “What am I defending here?”
• Introduce micro-doubt — gentle curiosity rather than confrontation.
• Connect with people who share your core values, but differ in beliefs — to create safety while loosening rigidity.

For the Isolated Seeker:

• Focus on belonging first, belief second. Find community through shared humanity, not dogma.
• Explore core values — flexibility, compassion, honesty — before aligning with any ideology.
• Engage in activities that restore self-agency: volunteering, creativity, helping others.
• Use journaling or therapy to ask: “What do I stand for when I’m not trying to be accepted?”

The Only Sacred Group Worth Defending

In truth, the only group the IFG should be guarding is the people of Earth.

Because if we could all step back — even briefly — and see that the same neural machinery shapes our beliefs and theirs, that our brains respond not to truth but to threat, we might begin to soften. We might access the higher reasoning of the dlPFC. We might remember that we are not enemies, but kin — all trying to survive, to find meaning, to matter.

The sacred value we need now is not nationalism, ideology, or certainty. It is compassion.

Final Reflection

Sacred values can give life meaning — but they can also trap us. When misunderstood, they lead us to cling or collapse, to divide or despair. But when examined with honesty and supported by self-awareness, they can become pathways to wisdom.

We each have the capacity to rise above the automatic circuits of belief and fear. And when we do — together — we become something sacred ourselves.