Absurdist beliefs are a strong social signal. It seems like a deep feature of human wetware. It's probably how facebook is so effective at incubating distributed cults. (Search hn archives for the essay on 'crony beliefs' for an excellent dissertation.)

To be fair, it's probably the case that both facets of the republicrat party believe false or useless things that serve as signals. (e.g. University for everyone is good. Electric cars save the environment. etc)

As a formerly religious person, I now assume some of my beliefs are nonsense and that I can't tell which ones. I try to engage with people whose political views are way outside my own just as a safety check on my own though processes.