(September 7, 2015 at 1:30 pm)robvalue Wrote: There's also a big difference between criticising or indeed mocking a belief in general, and doing so in the face of someone you know holds such a belief. The first should remain completely acceptable for the good of everyone. The second is rude when unprovoked.
It is often rude even when provoked. But people do not have a right to stop others from being rude.
In the case of silly beliefs, if, hypothetically, you believed in leprechauns (I am purposely selecting something that I expect is really false, as I do not suppose that you, robvalue, believe in leprechauns), if you want to avoid being publicly ridiculed, the power is in your hands. All you have to do is keep your mouth shut, and we will not know that you have such a stupid, idiotic belief, and so we cannot mock you specifically for it. But when you choose to tell us about it, then we can mock you for it.
Public comments are themselves subject to public comment. If you don't want public comments about your ideas, then do not state them publicly.
Many people seem to have the false belief that they have the right to publicly blather on without others commenting on their moronic statements. They are just wrong about that.
Anything stated publicly is no longer a purely private matter. It is then a public matter.
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
