Well, I'm sure it's most definitely not my place to defend the owner and moderator of this Forum; afterall, he's already exhibited a great deal of intelligence and, yes, restraint . . . but into the fray I jump.

Anonymous, if you are referring to the U.S. Constitutional right of Free Speech as outlined in Amendment I in the Bill of Rights, you are sadly mistaken to apply it here. The reason is that this is (as far as I am aware) a privately-owned Forum. Russ is paying the bill -- and I imagine it's a rather hefty one. This amendment was not written to be applied to privately-owned endeavors.

Rather, Amendment I, states that the United States Government shall not pass a law to infringe Free Speech. Specifically that CONGRESS (emphasis added) should not do this.

The Amendment states:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Amendment I, The Bill of Rights

While it certainly is nice to see so many people embrace a vital document like the Bill of Rights, I find myself perplexed that so many assume it was written with such a broad brush that it should encompass all aspects of American life, including privately-owned entities.

From where I sit, Russ has been extremely patient. He's allowed us all to debate contentious issues until the cows come home. He's also providing a vital service here by allowing the exchange of vital information concerning our health. He's allowed freedom of expression, freedom of speech and I would presume that he has allowed us all to submit posts some of which he might not entirely have agreed with.

All he has asked is that we post with kindness. This is his ship and if he wanted to, he could restrict topics and censor comments. I haven't seen him do that.

I see nothing wrong in questioning one's religion nor in questioning one's beliefs. I do not understand why some people will use the most popular accusations of "racism" to try and quash questions. Since racism seems to be one of the politically-correct and current favorite accusations to be used in an effort to silence people that might seem threatening to the seemingly unenlightened, I should not be surprised. Nevertheless, I was sorry to see such questions be answered the way they were here.

It takes strength to question. Questioning is a good thing. Alot of us have learned the hard way through our own experiences with previous dentists and mercury poisoning that we need to be asking more questions else we'll be hurt further.

A strong person -- strong of intellect and character will ask questions. A weaker person will not. Also a weaker person will attempt to quash a question which they deem threatening by any means they have at their disposal. For some individuals, their goody bag of responses is so void of content that they find a need to post only personal attacks.

I would like to suggest that before any of us decides to stir the proverbial pot or hurl accusations with vituperative responses as I saw in Lyn's post for example, that we all remember that we are here with posting Privileges -- not RIghts. As long as Russ is writing the check to pay for our Privilege, I think it would be nice if we at least tried to heed his requests.


SomedaySoon (Sharon)