How do you describe a person that is unafraid to question authority with a positive connotation? I feel that 'rebel' has too much of a negative connotation for the context that I'm using it in, and iconoclast doesn't fit too well.
I need it to be a one word noun, as in:
At heart, I am a ____.
Best Answer
The 'positive' word that came to mind is freethinker which I found defined as
at http://www.dictionary.com/browse/freethinker
Collins Dictionary gives a very similar definition:
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/freethinker
"Independent of authority" is the part that fits your case.
Free thinking has historically been considered a defiance of authority in itself because the independence of the mind is the first step towards other forms of independence. Moreover a freethinker encourages others (who come into contact with him) to reject 'received wisdom' and think critically for themselves, which is considered a direct challenge to traditional forms of authority.
(Oh yes I am, even though I don't go and deliberately challenge anybody's authority!)
Note: the exhaustive list of synonyms of 'rebel' at http://www.thesaurus.com/browse/rebel does not seem to contain a single word whose meaning is commonly understood in a 'positive sense.' That tells you that society does not like a person or group that questions authority. In the context of armed resistance or revolution I have heard it said that