Free Being Me
Crusader
I do not agree. If you let goofy beliefs go unchecked and unchallenged out in the wider world, and they develop enough of a following, they start to creep their way into the mainstream. Quack medicine works like this, and it kills, injures and defrauds thousands each year.
And eventually the goofy fuckers get powerful enough and bold enough to attempt to force their views on the mainstream. And sometimes they come pretty damn close to succeeding. 6 to 4 is a pretty fucking scary vote total.
Yes indeed, beliefs are powerful perceptions and can be easily manipulated. Witness the Elcon/tek defenders/apologists who get so touchy about beliefs insisting beliefs don't mean anything ... yet believe in a con man and his mind control.