The Folly Of Vague Encouragement For People To Stand Up For What They Believe In

I, like many others, have heard the phrase "stand up for what you believe in" said with almost no context or nuance.  It is easy for someone to say this with the intention of encouraging other people to be honest with themselves and others about their worldviews.  However, left to itself, this statement is sheer folly.  The implied concept that might not actually be stated outright is that simply believing in something makes the ideology worth fighting for (at least figuratively, if not literally) as one goes about life.  Not only is this not true at all because truth is a prerequisite for beliefs to deserve to be lived out or have ultimate significance, but this statement is selectively used to promote broad tolerance up until the person making the claim gets subjectively uncomfortable.

If standing up for beliefs is commendable in and of itself, then someone like Hitler standing up for what he or she believes in must also be encouraged, lest someone oppose another person's sincere beliefs about reality.  Ask someone if this kind of belief should be promoted, and watch how quickly most of them suddenly rush to clarify a pathetically vague statement and begin making exceptions to their own proposed ideas!  Acknowledging that beliefs are invalid unless they are rational and true is the only way to truly avoid extending the generic praise for people living out their beliefs to its logical conclusion, which is just another manifestation of universal tolerance born from irrationalism.

Rationality is incomplete apart from alignment with rationalism, and rationalism is intertwined with the objectivity of truth, something that inherently conflicts with this notion that all beliefs not only equally deserve to be expressed, but also are all valid in at least some way just because they are beliefs.  Perhaps no one truly believes this in a perfectly consistent manner, as any pushback at all against another person's beliefs indicates that someone does not actually think that all beliefs merit encouragement.  I have never found a single person, not even the most confused and unintelligent of non-rationalists, who truly wants everyone to "stand up" for their beliefs when relevant examples (like that of Hitler's Nazism) are given.

There is no rationality, depth, thoughtfulness, or serious authenticity in this, only the most superficial kind of vague encouragement for someone to stand up for their beliefs.  This idea is for fools too shallow to think competently about reason and reality beyond recognizing that different people claim competing worldviews.  If someone truly thinks that everyone should speak up and act upon their beliefs, they cannot make arbitrary exceptions based upon personal preference or alleged societal wellbeing--not unless they want to leap into the hypocrisy that is already present in the hearts of everyone who thinks tolerance and thorough rationality go together.