Some of these threads have become choppy due to removal of content. Other posts that have responded directly to some commenter or other using the post signature ("@1rpp" for example), are now unfortunately leading to a defunct link as "@1rpp"s comment has since been removed. Many of the comments that have been removed were, to the best of my recollection, not offensive in any manner, simply a point of view, while others that do remain posted "might" be construed as offensive, so there a lack of consistency, of rhyme or reason, to this censorship, unless one is perhaps engineering an agenda here via removing posts that do not fall within that agenda. Whatever the case, I think we're all adults here and debate, warts and all, needs to be defended, as in any free society. This isn't supposed to be North Korea, China, or the former USSR, where tight reins were kept upon free thought and the exchange of ideas, (even if offensive, in fact).
I'm old school. I was raised on the warnings portrayed in books such as 1984, Fahrenheit 451, Brave New World, and Animal Farm. I cannot stress enough to the younger generation the inherent danger in appointing oneself Almight Censor simply by virtue of having the power to do so over a website's domain. It is a very dangerous path to go down, as is blocking commenters simply by virtue of your disagreement with their sentiment. This is what was done, in a way, to many of the great thinkers and historical players, individuals who ended up shifting the paradigm and put society back on a path toward fairness and equity, people such as Abe Lincoln, George Washington, Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner, Lenny Bruce, Gandhi, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther, John Lennon, Martin Luther King, and countless others who, when viewed through the prism of history, turned out in many peoples minds, to be on the side of righteousness and virtue.
When men and women remain silent, or have their voices snuffed out, bad things happen. Stop the intolerance and allow a open dialogue for, if you don’t, you’re complicent in the downfall of our collective freedoms.