If you experience discomfort or awkwardness in defending what you believe or shut down conversations when your beliefs or views are challenged, you could be suffering from an echo chamber, or you don't know enough about your beliefs.

I'm a conservative Christian. I have conservative views on abortion, gender, homosexuality, and marriage. However, I do know that I don't know enough about some issues to perhaps comment on them to command some respect on them.

For example, on the issue of gender, I find the social construction view of gender – which serves as the basis for transgenderism and same-sex marriage – to be rationally absurd. However, I haven't read enough on the topic to really speak authoritatively on the subject, and so it has limited my ability to charitably interact with others.

On a similar note, I am aware that I probably suffer from an echo chamber. An echo chamber is an environment where one surrounds oneself with primarily (or only) those who agree with him on most or all issues.

Let's be very frank about this. Leftists, liberals, moderates, and conservatives who talk about metaphysical, ethical, and theological issues are all – though not necessarily to the same degree – susceptible to being in an echo chamber. One fundamental reason for this is because we all find it comfortable in that environment and might occasionally feel distressed when challenged on different things.

I'm guilty of this myself. I myself have an initial reason to believe that gender isn't constructed by individuals or culture, but if I were challenged to explain why, I honestly would be stumped. I think it's extremely crucial to have carefully thought through and read enough on an important issue to have a blossoming conversation with a friend who disagrees.

On the other hand, many times it's very easy to build an impenetrable bubble around certain fundamental beliefs we have and to shun, silence, or exhibit condescension toward those who might challenge those beliefs.

It's very easy to do this when we define our views from our emotional attitudes about the issue or when we reduce the issue to a matter of values. We inevitably make it about people vs. people as opposed to ideas vs. ideas. You can then paint others who disagree with you in evil lights or even demonize them.

This is both unacceptable and downright hypocritical for anyone claiming to care about truth, especially for those who claim to champion "diversity of views." If you care about truth and living life in accordance with universally true and binding moral principles, then you have a moral obligation to know what you believe and why and to know other contrary views well before you criticize them.

So I challenge myself, other conservatives, liberals, and leftists who have various views on abortion, feminism, same-sex marriage, transgenderism, and gender, and who suffer from an echo chamber and don't know enough about their beliefs about those issues:

First, take some responsibility and actually take the time to know the reasons why many people disagree over important issues.

For example, I once challenged an argument for abortion rights that clearly begged the question (assuming ahead of time that the unborn aren't human beings with a right to life) because it basically appealed to privacy.

This is a very bad argument because it assumes that the unborn aren't human beings with a right to life without demonstrating the truth of that assumption. It would never be used to justify infanticide or strangling one's toddler. The pro-choice advocate has to justify his/her claim that the unborn don't have a right to life.

My comment was deleted when I challenged her comments. If you delete someone's comments or cut off the conversation simply because they challenge your claims, you have an insecurity issue because people who know what they believe and why have exposed themselves to criticisms and have become comfortable with it.

People tend to cut off conversations when they feel uneasy, distressed, and exposed, and they tend to flee rather than face the challenge head-on. This is a typical human reaction. But it's rooted in fear and lack of knowledge rather than courage and virtue.

The humble thing to do is man up (I don't have a corresponding expression for women; oh well) and read up and familiarize yourself. That is both admirable and courageous.

Second, read and expose yourself to people in real life who disagree with you on a regular basis. This is something I am working on. I know that I never dismiss or shut down a conversation with anyone who challenges me, but I know that I need to be more well read.

This can be challenging for liberals and conservatives because we tend to surround ourselves with an echo chamber. When anyone refuses to engage with an opposing view simply because they don't agree, even when the other person is civil and mature, this adds to confirmation bias and the echo chamber.

Conservatives, develop friendships with those who identify as transgender, gay, lesbian, and pro-choice and actually understand the reasons for their views. I only recommend people who are actually open to having these conversations and who are committed to truth.

Liberals, develop friendships with those who are critical of transgenderism, homosexuality, and arguments for abortion rights – but only those who are charitable, civil, and non-defensive.

Lastly, realize that there's a price for everything. The price of pursuing truth is costly because it requires being courageous and vulnerable. It takes work to know what you believe, and it can be scary exposing yourself to the best opposing views. The payoff is worth the sacrifice.

The price, however, for refusing to engage with or expose oneself to opposing views is worse. It is very self-serving, requires little to no courage, and erodes the very values that everyone seems to champion, such as tolerance, open-mindedness, and diversity.

Liberals and conservatives, let's be friends instead of enemies. Truth and virtue are worth the struggle to understand each other.