Saw this post and immediately my whole world makes sense. "Luxury beliefs". So much posturing within ultra-frum community is just signaling.
"The uncomfortable truth is that some beliefs are held for the same reason some people buy Rolexes: they look good in public.
In the same way that many people buy expensive material possessions, not because they especially like the possession itself, but because they know it will impress other people, there are people who express luxury beliefs not simply because they believe them, but because they know those beliefs will bring them clout and status.
So the motivation behind the luxury good and the luxury belief is often very similar. But many people convince themselves that their motives are completely sincere.
Take a guy who buys a Lamborghini. If you ask him why he bought it, he might say, “Look, it makes me feel confident. I like driving it. It makes me feel good. That’s why I bought it. I’m not trying to impress anyone.”
And I think part of you might suspect, “Well, all of that may be true. But I also think part of you likes the fact that when people see you in that Lamborghini, they think of you in a certain way.”
The same thing can happen with luxury beliefs. People may sincerely believe what they are saying. But part of me thinks that, somewhere deep down, there is also a sense of satisfaction that comes from expressing a belief and having your peers, your social circle, and other similarly credentialed elites applaud you for it. They think, “What a compassionate, interesting, sophisticated person you are for holding that view.”
A belief can be sincerely held while also conferring status to the speaker."