I am old enough to recall when saying anything positive about LGBT people was considered impolite, immoral, and heretical to the social norms of good and decent people. The enormous gains we have seen in the rights and acceptance of out LGBT friends and family and neighbors was because we lived in an environment where people were willing to commit heresy. There was a time when women's birth control was unacceptable as a discussion topic because all good and decent people "knew" that such a thing would destroy the very fabric of our society. Brave voices spoke in dissent and (slowly) changed our minds and our world for the better
Earlier today I was called "shameful" during a discussion of tax policy. I wasn't called shameful for taking one position or another on what policy position we should pursue, I was called shameful for simply explaining what a specific bit of tax policy currently is.
We should all worry less about agreeing with each other and more about understanding each other.
The piece below is a great discussion on the value of heretics.