One devout partner implored me to stop meditating (during my Zen & Buddha kick) because she didn't want me to succumb to Satan. Another believer partner educated me about ghosts (tl;dr: they're every where). A coworker told me my cancer was caused by negative thoughts and that germ theory was a conspiracy.
Whaddya gonna do?
My fear is that I'm unknowingly harboring some wildly irrational beliefs.
A friend once told me that meditation allows demons to take over your mind and make you crazy. This guy has a physics PhD, and not only believes this but also that global warming is an evil communist conspiracy designed to steal our freedoms. Not precisely his words, but close enough.
A good friend was told by his girlfriend that she couldn't marry him unless he converted and joined her church. Another of my friends was a member of that church, and won't talk about his time there (he's really messed up, and if you touch him accidentally he almost loses it) but tells me that it's all about control and power.
> My fear is that I'm unknowingly harboring some wildly irrational beliefs.
I have very much the same fear. I know I have held stupid beliefs ("depression isn't real, harden up!" was particularly ironic, as I was depressed, didn't know it, and that attitude was a result).
The beauty is, that makes you uniquely able to identify and eradicate them.
I've said some bullshit things before, people have called me out on them. I usually defend them for way too long. That's called being human.
When people keep calling me out, with facts, I don't always immediately concede but I do think about it, and sometimes I realize I'm being an idiot.
It would be nice if I was constantly afraid my beliefs were stupid. Conviction requires additional convincing.