You say "ridiculous sounding ideas often end up becoming standards science" - but take into account that "ridiculous sounding ideas" much more often, by a large factor, end up becoming no science at all.
I agree that "that form of idealogical bullying should never exist" - except that it's not ideological, but just a practical matter of deciding which claims to spend time on understanding and possibly verifying.
I think “Exceptional claims demand exceptional evidence.” (Christopher Hitchens) applies perfectly to that.