To me, the idea that beliefs should be challenged is a very basic and fundamental ideology I subscribe to. First of all let me seperate opinions and claims of truth from merely claims about preference. You can like a band. I can go apeshit and say that's not logical but we all know how subjective music is in its very nature; but more importantly we also know what music one likes is relevant to the listener only. In other words, nobody cares what you feel about music and it will never negatively impact the world in any way.
On the other hand, unjustified beliefs about the nature of the universe, about morality and ethics, that is something else. We all know a truth claim must be held to the highest scrutiny based on its category. Beliefs inform our actions. The very fact that I'm sitting here typing this post out rests on beliefs about my circumstance. If I believe my house will collapse in 60 seconds, I won't be here typing this. What is the likelihood that a person who believes God condemns homosexuality will vote against gay marriage should the person vote? Pretty much 100%.
If our mind is all we have, then basing what we know and understand and think about and believe on realty must be chiefly important. What IF the god of Abraham is real and I've been oblivious to him the whole time? What if he left evidence, but I simply never found it even though it was staring at me? Those could be huge problems. That would change the course of my life forever. And by forever I mean, literally, forever as heaven would last quite a while I'd imagine.
So when people go on Facebook, like a page called 'Rationalist' and dare post homophobic, anti-science, anti-common-sense, anti-evolution posts, people are free to fire at will on those guys. They may THINK they are rational, that they DO INDEED have god on their side. But what are your beliefs worth without justification? Jackshit. Probably less than that. Wasn't the Declaration of Independence written by a bunch of free-thinkers, many of whom were deists or atheists? Wasn't the entire spirit of the country a spirit of debate, of new ideas, maddening ideas, challenging ideas, and then finding the best answer? Now we're all fucking lazy, we don't want to debate, we don't care what is true, or maybe... and for me even worse... we think we are right when we are dead wrong. So if America was founded on the clashing of different ideas... isn't this what it means to have a society of free speech?
You may spew out all the nonsense you want, that is your right. It is my right to refute them one-by-one or just troll you into tomorrow. Why the hell is it ok to say your opinion if it's not ok for me to say my opinion? Your opinion could be, you think gays ought to burn in hell. My opinion is, you're a religious, uneducated, close-minded, homophobe that doesn't know SHIT. That's my opinion. You may disagree. But quit playing the victim, where you say stupid shit and get burned for it. It's free speech. Get used to it. If you don't like it, then shut up, nobody wants to listen to your homophobic rants about how 911 was caused by gay people anyways. Welcome to the new world, it's the same as the old world.
We can partially thank religion for pushing this idea... that challenging one's beliefs is something people ought not to do to be polite. What's not polite is thinking a friend is incapable of handling a conversation or possibly even a debate without ruining your friendship. That's quit belittling. Do I want irrational friends? Probably not. I really don't understand this mentality, that "all answers are ok". No they are not all ok. In math, 1+1 is fucking 2. If you were to answer the question by writing "sausages" in the answer column, GUESS WHAT SON? You'll get the question WRONG. In life some things have a right answer and any other answer is just plain ol' wrong. Some other questions are less linear in this fashion but many are. Did the God of Abraham as describe by the Bible exist? That's a yes or no question about the nature of the universe. And if your answer is not justified, why must I accept it? Would you sincerely accept an answer from anybody no matter how looney it sounds, or even just respect it? What if a mentally ill patient walks up to you and spews out some ridiculous conspiracy theory? Would you accept that as well? If you answered yes, you're fucking insane and you need to follow the guy back to the mental hospital after showing him the way. If the answer is no, then clearly you do not accept all answers. If you don't accept the crazy person's opinion but you accept all other people not officially diagnosed with mental illness' opinions, then you are judging which opinions are worth respecting. Which is what I'm doing.
When you're not sure if you're right or wrong, what do you do? You verify your arguments and facts. You debate and discuss until you're more certain what you think has some sort of basis on reality.
Hey, I ain't saying I know it all. I'm not saying all of my positions are 100% rational 100% of the time. At least I get to say I'm trying, Are you?
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