Ellis Walentine
Reasonable discussions are reasonable because they *don't* go off the rails, not because people don't disagree, so I'm not expecting this one to get out of control. I've been wrong before. What I am expecting, here on our messageboards at least, is that everyone acknowledge the others' rights to make their own decisions, and welcome the opportunity to communicate their views for the sake of greater understanding all around. Reasonable, far-reaching and convincing arguments have the capacity to enlighten, to overcome objection, and to instill a sense of the common good, which we have agreed is fundamental to the social contract that makes our society viable. We don't live in a utopian society where everyone has the same values. The trick is to find accommodation with others who don't share ours. One reason why politics and religion have always been off limits here is that they reduce reasonable discourse to mutually exclusive positions.

I'm not expecting any last words on this subject. We will have to live with the sum total of our individual decisions. Please listen to each other and to larger brains, and try to make the right ones. Think of society as a whole.

Ellis Walentine
WoodCentral