Fools, Fanatics, and Flunkeys

The dodo bird cheered, swaggered, and strutted away.

     The dodo bird said to the tiger, “The grass is blue.”
     The tiger replied, “No the grass is green.”
     The discussion heated up, and the two decided to ask the lion, king of the jungle.
      The dodo bird began to shout, “You Highness, is it true that the grass is blue?”
      The lion replied, “True. The grass is blue.” 
       The dodo bird continued, “The tiger disagrees with me and contradicts and annoys me. Please punish him.” 
      The king of the jungle declared, “The tiger will be punished with four years of silence.”              
      The dodo bird cheered and swaggered and strutted away. 
     The tiger accepted his punishment but asked the lion, “Your majesty, why have you punished me? After all, the grass is green.”
     The lion replied, “Yes, in fact the grass is green.”
     The tiger asked, “So why are you punishing me?”
     The lion replied, “It has nothing to do with the question of whether the grass is blue or green. The punishment is because it is not possible for a brave and intelligent creature like you to waste time arguing with a dodo, and on top of that to bother me with such a question.”
      The lion continued, “To argue with a fanatic fool who does not care about truth or reality, but only about the victory of his beliefs and illusions, is hopeless. These people have no capacity to understand — no matter how much evidence is presented to them. They are blinded by ego, hatred, and resentment.”