shoot the messenger

Do not forget the terror that many people have for the truth that could set them free. You may think it is an exaggeration to say that people fear truth above all else. They have an emotional, psychological, professional, social, and physical investment in their cherished delusions. In such cases the slightest hint to such a man that he is not, for instance, the separate self he believes he is can make him terrified and full of rage. Telling him this can threaten many things within him, including his sense of identity, superiority, self-concept, and his profession, mode of interacting with others, and even his world view and entire philosophical/intellectual underpinnings. More often than not, the result is “cognitive dissonance,” by which the mind rejects information that does not reinforce its perpetually self-sustained mode of thinking. This can also trigger a violent reaction against the imparter of such alternative perspectives, giving rise to the impulse to “shoot the messenger” and the admonition of Christ: “Cast not your pearls before swine [stubborn incomprehension], lest they trample them under foot and turn again and rend you.”

Source: The four bodies