Militant Atheism?

[SuperSentient]

I take issue with echo chambers and lack of critical thinking that can come from this, but at the same time, it's not really all a free speech issue. Many communities require strict moderation to continue existing as they do or they just get overrun by dissenters. If a feminist space tolerates angry men coming on to debate and as a result, women just leave because they don't want to deal with it, then the quality of your unique community is degraded. 

That sounds reasonable, but at the same time if a feminist debate space is intolerant of dissenters it's only real purpose is to promote intolerance. As clear as some controversial subjects are I think there should always be debate. When I go to a forum I check out their rules, and they're pretty much universal, and I make a conscious decision to respect those rules. I may slip up, I may bend the rules slightly if that is the norm or I may decide not to only when I see blatant hypocrisy and bias in enforcement.

There's a difference of course between a "debate space" and a dedicated space for like-minded people. Some will desire to have a safe space to talk about their beliefs and experiences without constant barrage of criticism, debate, and mockery that often comes with debate. Also, like-minded communities can be helpful in elevating the quality of engagement in debate by collectively bouncing arguments, research, and ideas off each other. They aren't necessarily in contrast to promoting freethinking and rational discourse.