Do you think it shows weakness to be polite to those you disagree with? I think it works better to approach people with respect if I want them to consider what I'm saying. It already feels like an attack when someone says you're wrong, and I don't want to harden minds against what I think is right.

I'm not always good at it, and I have spoken to people harshly often. It never produced anything but hard feelings on their part. I think it can be satisfying to be mean, and I was looking for an excuse to act in a way that's less moral without feeling bad about myself. I think even if I was right, I usually didn't need to be mean about it.

I think that it's likely nothing I'm doing on this website is important enough to justify me being unkind about it.