Do you avoid posting comments about certain topics?

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I tend to not tell people how am pro-suicide as it is a very diffcult discussion to have since their are so many variables to consider. Other than that I am pretty liberal about how I talk about any social justice issue since people pro-social justice tend to a bit on the unreasonable side.

Yes. Or rather, I avoid replying to certain posters, because it feels like knocking my head against a metaphorical brick wall.

Wait, you were a gay rights activist in Utah in the 80s, and you think WrongPlanet is lacking in respect?

Do you think WP is particularly bad or just not as good as you'd hope?

Hehe. I guess that I stepped in it there, huh? Well, politics are considerably different in Utah than elsewhere. I learned during the last few decades that Republicans (a.k.a. conservative Mormons) are generally more respectful of their opponents than their Democratic counterparts (a.k.a. anti-Mormons) are of theirs. As a legislative lobbyist, I accomplished much more with the Republican lawmakers than the Democrats. Democrats consider any slight infraction of party protocol (a.k.a. "don't do anything for yourselves, let us protect you, if and when we choose") cause for a lifelong sentence to some Old Testament-style shunning. I am still suffering under that silliness after I encouraged more LGBT party involvement and memberships than it ever enjoyed. While I disagree strongly about most aspects of all political parties, I see people as either good or bad regardless of their partisan affiliations. It was that realization that made working (being shunned) among my Democratic Party associates more and more difficult to accommodate.

More generally, Utahns divide themselves socially instead of politically (it IS a one-party state, after all, and distinctions are sought). As such, the LDS Church influences Utahns more than any party ever has, and, because of the work many LGBT activists have accomplished with it, Church leaders encourage, welcome and support their LGBT members. The official Church web site includes a section about LGBT Utahns and its policies about their membership within the Church. Since getting a worldwide legal and moral blackeye over Church financing of the California Prop 8 ballot initiative about marriage equality, Church leaders and policies have been remarkably friendly and supportive, and support LGBT-friendly nondiscrimination laws; much to the consternation of a plurality of anti-gay LDS members. The one, last point of contention within the Church is its opposition to marriage equality. Even there, Church leaders have called on both sides to treat each other fairly and respectfully. It appears that they know they have lost their morality battles since the 1970s, and are choosing a kind of peaceful seperatism over continued provocations.

I just wish the state's Democratic Party would do the same. But, I guess when any group has been defeated for so long, griping about who among themselves are "real" Democrats, and who aren't, is just about the only show in town. Everyone else has simply left the arena. As for Wrong Planet, I see several members choosing to put themselves in much the same position as Utah Democrats have by ridiculing and shunning others who might otherwise concur with them because the others don't apparently match up exactly to their expections.

I will post about anything that interests me, or about anything/body that perturbs me. but there are certain folks I avoid whenever possible because no common cause exists between us.

Really interesting post, David. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

I'm not sure I've ever even ventured in there.

I'm not sure there's any topics I avoid commenting on out of concerns over how I will be perceived. There's ones I won't comment on due to lack of interest.

If the topic is poorly framed I will sometimes not bother with commenting. It's not always worth the effort to try to explain to someone how they're not even wrong.

if somebody is hurting in the haven or elsewhere I have to try to atone or help them in my normal clumsy way. but if it is a woman posting, I have learned that, for the most part, I best leave the responses up to others less gauche than me, for no matter what I say, no matter how careful and egg-shell-walking I am being, it will cause offense somehow, just make things worse. I seem to have something in me of which many women are allergic.

Only factional politics, which all too often become fanatical politics. Someone attacked me, my sanity, my country, and my right to have a different opinion because they didn't agree with a political view I held. It was the nastiest poster I have encountered on WP and I would not interact with that person again. They are beneath contempt, incapable of weighing different viewpoints and see no difference between responding to the message (which they invariably distort or sectionalise) and attacking the messenger. Creeps.

Islam is definitely a topic I will avoid, and I'm sure there are Muslims out there who are incredibly nice. That being said I kind of roll my eyes whenever people keep saying that Islam is a religion of peace. After doing some research on the very beginning of Islam I find it hard to call it a religion of peace.

The topics I avoid discussing anywhere and at all include:

1. Homosexuality
2. Capital Punishment
3. Gun Control
4. Partisan Politics (which I voted for)
5. Smacking Children &
6. Immigration and Race Issues (recently added to my list of 'no go' areas)

This is because my views don't represent the majority of views regarding these issues and I am in the 1% of people with strong opinions about them and thus my posts get ridiculed by libertarians.