Heterodoxy

What is heterodoxy? These new words are keeping my brain hopping.

From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterodox)

Heterodoxy includes "any opinions or doctrines at variance with an official or orthodox position". As an adjective, heterodox is used to describe a subject as "characterized by departure from accepted beliefs or standards" (status quo). The noun heterodoxy is synonymous with unorthodoxy, while the adjective heterodox is synonymous with dissident.

Gr. hetero - other, and doxa - teaching

Some Synonyms (from http://thesaurus.reference.com/browse/heterodox)

agnostic, apostate, athesitic, differing, disagreesing, dissenting, dissentive, dissident, freethinking, heterodox, iconoclastic, idolatrous, impious, infidel, misbelieving, miscreant, nonconformiat, revisionist, schismatic, sectarian, skeptical, unbelieving.

I realize that some of these words are powerfully negative, but they are synonyms nevertheless.