Anon, thank you for that.
Intellegent, actually being narrow-minded can be more deadly. For example, you are narrow minded and decided that the only psak thats correct is your Rabbi. No wiggle room about it! Then he starts to slowly shift towards things that are anti-Torah, but you are stubbornly narrow-minded in thinking your Rabbi could never make a mistake. His opinion is the only one. Then, he turns into Shabtai Tzvi, but you still follow because you are not willing to look outside to see the difference.
Being open minded does NOT mean that you just agree with everything that anyone says. It means that you listen and discern that you are not always correct. Sometimes, another person just has a good thinking point, and while you arrive at the same conclusion, the journey of thought is still important. [from an online dictionary: Having or showing receptiveness to new and different ideas or the opinions of others]
Brooklyn, your former open mindness may have been from idiocy (per your post), but mine does not. My stems from maturity. I don’t see your answer as a waste of time because it may broaden my mind in a different way. As I said above, to me, the journey of thought it important.
gavra, according to the star-k, there doesnt seem to be a problem with bishul akum:
http://www.star-k.org/kashrus/kk-issues-bishul.htm
Is the star-k a pretty universal hashgacha? I know my family all holds by it. I also just ready an article by the OU that basically seems to find ways around the bishul akum. Hmm, so interesting!