The Problem of Evil combined with the problem of Free Will

[The Grand Nudger]

Well, I'm not sure that's an apt example, as I was never told fairies were real.  I was told, however, or at least hinted at, as a kid, that Superman's home planet Krypton was real, and that if I went there I could get super powers like him.  The idea was never ridiculed, though.  I just grew up and naturally learned more about the nature of space travel and the nature of fiction.   And that's pretty much the process for every idea that I outgrew.  There was never a point where I felt that being ridiculed helped me on my path to learning more about the world, other than learning that some people are dicks.  

Okay, sure, you were never shamed out of anything.........

What do you mean by "cannot see reason"?  Do you mean they only respond to emotional  stimulus? What is this "applicability of ridicule" you're speaking of?  Silencing people from saying irrational things?  Is a person who avoids passing a law they believe in just to avoid ridicule really the kind of person you want in congress?

Sure, particularly if the alternative is a person who -does- pass that law because he is -not- ashamed to do so.  

I actually think that public shaming works incredibly well on politicians.  None of them want to be the idiot that everyone's cracking jokes about.  Not good for their careers. Plenty of people, congressmen or otherwise, love to hate the gays. It's only the fact that society will no longer view their hatred as acceptable that keeps them from exposing themselves publicly. Think of the lengths a homophobe will go to in order to argue that they aren't a homophobe? That's shame, that's the applicability and effectiveness of ridicule. '