Respectful discourse

Copied from the blog of the amazing Sam Ruby.

The reason you have arived here is probably due to the fact that the owner of this web site has deemed some portion of a comment as flamebait.

While I am not sure of many things, here are a few things I do believe:

  • Overall, the comments feature of my weblog is something that I find the most enjoyable and rewarding aspects of my site.
  • I welcome thoughtful and respectful expressions of alternate points of view.
  • There are some topics that I am interested in that others seem to find as irresistable temptations to bash one another.
  • Nobody has an inalienable right to place information on my website. If you have something to say, I encourage you to get your own weblog. Feel free to use trackback to draw attention to your comments.

Given the above, I would like to find a solution less drastic than disabling comments, blocking of ip address, or wholesale removal of comments. That being said, I do reserve the right to selectively employ one or more of the above in situations I feel warrant it.

At the moment, the best solution I have come up with is to mark up the portions I find objectionable with links to this page. No words are addded, deleted, or rearranged in the process.

Suggestions are welcome.