The funny thing is that while people may seem to be complaining about BS, what they're really complaining about is the BS they don't like. Someone may be really honked off by silly humor, but enjoy the political threads because they're Serios and Meaningful. Someone may not like the threads on politics, religion or any number of controversial and often contentious topics but are happy to read and contribute to the nice threads. Some people may say they don't like certain types of topics or sub-topics (playing with trolls, for instance), but they're in them constantly and I have to conclude that they DO really enjoy that sort of discussion. We do what we enjoy.

If we feel like we get 'sucked into' discussions we don't like or later feel ashamed for having added to, we have no one to blame but ourselves. At some point, we either learn to self-censor by not clicking on thread titles we don't think we want to read, we censor the whole forum and leave. If we simply don't like seeing certain thread titles, never mind what's in them, it's a sensitization thing and it's something for individuals to deal with, not all of us.

It's taken an awful lot of getting pissed off about things I can't change to come to that conclusion. It's taken me realizing I have control over ME and that's all I have control over. It's taken me realizing what pushes my buttons and how to recognize when one's being pushed. I'm here for what I like. If I ever leave, it will be because there's not enough of that - NOT because there's too much other stuff. I know it's smarmy, but even if I'm just talking the way I deal with the little things in my life, I've GOT to make kindness more important than anger, respect of people's strengths more important than disrespect for their weaknesses, willingness to forgive more important than willingness to take offense and love more important than hate. I've seen what the opposites can do to people.