I think it is.
We See What We Want to See and hear what we want to hear [0]
Francis Bacon said in 1620 that "the human understanding when it has once adopted an opinion … draws all things else to support and agree with it. And though there be a greater number and weight of instances to be found on the other side, yet these it either neglects and despises, or else by some distinction sets aside and rejects; in order that by this great and pernicious predetermination the authority of its former conclusions may remain inviolate." [1]
Biased processing and confirmation bias are most likely to occur when people feel threatened in their beliefs[2]
[0] - https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/kidding-ourselves/20140...
https://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/i-only-hear-what-i-...
[1] - www.constitution.org/bacon/nov_org.htm
[2] - http://psy2.ucsd.edu/~mckenzie/nickersonConfirmationBias.pdf
Thanks for the book suggestion though.
I'd like to add to your post that anyone looking for interesting writing on this subject should have a look at Jonathan Haidt's The Righteous Mind. (Based on the language of you post I think you might have read it?)