Ah! 200 posts! Now the thread can die in peace
(I couldn't bear to see it stop at 199)

One last thought:

Many posts have been made about forbidding certain kinds of discussion because they lead to "strife". If I may say so, ANY topic can lead to strife... and any topic can lead to intelligent articulation of ideas. We get to choose. What's offensive is rarely the ideas in discussion, it is the rudeness that often accompanies the opinions. So, the outcome of any given discussion depends more on the courtesy of its participants than on the topic.


I've actually seen musical discussions go nuts... Should we forbid the discussion of music because people have strong opinions about it? Of course not... we simply encourage respectful exchange.


If I may say so, the discussion itself was quite respectful except for the intrusion of a few comments having the express purpose of introducing contention; and those typically came from the same people who protested the discussion on grounds that it might become unpleasant. Go figure.


When societies start to enforce the notion that certain ideas are forbidden, that is the beginning of oppression. Be careful what you wish for, you might get it.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ey71h8ep047758h/AAC12jNM0Hz9Q8zsh5iDeqNHa?dl=0