Defending Beliefs!

[The Reality Salesman01]

I got into a huge debate yesterday over the importance of getting married with my Girlfriend's newly engaged friend. She couldn't tell me why marriage was SOOOO important to a long happy relationship, yet she KNEW and BELIEVED that it was. As a comparison, I asked her to tell me why I should brush my teeth, she gave me 5 or 6 good reasons right of the bat. I asked her-"If marriage is so important, why can't you give me a good reason for it? You had no problem coming up with reasons to brush my teeth." After a long while, she finally came up with what she thought was the best answer. She told me it was part of her religion, and that was why it was necessary. I wasn't about to explain to her how that reason is just as bad as everything else she offered. I mean, she was willing to argue with me for 20 minutes over ONE belief she had no reasons to support, I wasn't about to start another one! I'm not saying that marriage can't have benefits, but it was clear that she didn't have any of those things in mind, yet it was a belief worth defending for her. My guess was she wanted to get married to so she could have a big ring, and a fancy party. I couldn't get that out of her yesterday, but I still considered it a little victory

It made me think though...What are some other beliefs that people rigorously defend without any reason? Debating marriage with that girl felt like debating religion. She had ZERO reasons for why marriage was a necessary requirement for her and her fiancée to have a long happy life together, yet she insisted that it was. I was just sick of her pressuring my girlfriend at work to get married and thought I'd take the opportunity to grill her for a minute

I was curious if anybody could think of something else that people reactively defend without stopping to consider whether or not it's a belief worth actually having. A beliefs people hold without good reasons, yet they are beliefs they get defensive about when challenged.