Dave Horn:  

cebook. Interpret that as you will, but my reasons are those that I have alluded to or outright stated in the past, that is, that the Facebook interface is not conducive to debate (and wasn't designed for that purpose) and I find religionist and conservative arguments diversionary, vacuous, devoid of evidence or fact, and illogical. Consequently, nothing posted on this page should be construed as an invitation to debate. The positions I've taken on the issues that my posts address are studied, objective, and reasonably considered. I don't see a need to debate them and, of course, Facebook users have their own pages on which they can post views. Like most folks, I have a need to express certain things that are of interest to me or about which I have some level of passion. My Facebook page serves that purpose for me. I neither seek nor require approval, just as I would not presume to insist that I approve of the postings of others on their own Facebook pages. Do not waste your time or mine complaining about what I post, and please resist the temptation to moderate what appears here. I realize that there are many who hold to the view that discussions of certain things are not considered "polite." I don't happen to agree. In fact, I'd suggest that our reticence to discuss and argue are among the reasons we have some of the problems that we do in this country; and to excuse ourselves with "it's not polite to discuss" is a form of intellectual cowardice. In order to have fruitful discourse or, at the very least, to be informed, we need to examine the various positions taken, dissect them, and, when necessary, abandon them. We cannot claim to cherish free speech and the free exchange of ideas and then exempt certain classes of ideas, or even specific applications of those ideas, simply because we are afraid of them for whatever reason. We often dismiss ourselves from arguments with the phrase, "well, we're all entitled to an opinion." That's true. But one of the problems is that we often extrapolate from that the idea that all opinions, then, have equal merit. They do not. An opinion is only as good as the evidence and the logically-constructed argument that can be provided to support it. I do not presume to tell others what to post on their respective Facebook pages. I expect the same courtesy. If the things that I post do not interest you or if you do not like them for some reason, your options are to ignore them (which is the most adult thing to do, of course), hide my postings, or "unfriend" me. You are within your rights to do any or all of those things and you will not get a complaint from me. I have many friends who post all kinds of things that do not interest me. Consequently, I ignore them. It would never occur to me to suggest to anyone that their Facebook page postings should somehow accommodate *me*, and that's exactly what I'd be doing if I presumed to suggest to them what should or should not be posted. I don't have that kind of arrogance, and I don't accommodate that kind of arrogance. Thank you for your consideration. :)".