"Skeptics reject sincerity because they worry blind belief can lead to such evils as the Ku Klux Klan and Nazism. They think strong conviction implies vulnerability to emotional rhetoric and lack of critical awareness. "
The article brings this point up, but I don't think it does a good job of dismissing it. I agree that irony can be harmful to culture, however, I think irony still has a job to do in our culture. There's a lot of people believing a lot of things which they don't have evidence for (religion being the biggest one that comes to mind), and I think having an approach of doubt to things can be a good way to be sure society/it's individuals believe the most accurate things.
When one is sufficiently religious, faith/belief become the paradigm for all mental processes. It becomes impossible to fathom a non-religious capacity of thought.
But philosophus' point seemed to be that it was possible for a secular person to "believe in irony." Personally I think it sounds a lot like "I believe in dinosaurs."
The article brings this point up, but I don't think it does a good job of dismissing it. I agree that irony can be harmful to culture, however, I think irony still has a job to do in our culture. There's a lot of people believing a lot of things which they don't have evidence for (religion being the biggest one that comes to mind), and I think having an approach of doubt to things can be a good way to be sure society/it's individuals believe the most accurate things.