On the Meaning of Silence
Normally I don't like to post things that are too provocative or upsetting. LJ is really not a very private place, and I recognize that my flist is made up of people with a wide range of beliefs and personal convictions (and this is of great joy to me). However, after finishing off half a bottle of wine with my turkey (the rest of the bottle will be consumed shortly), I'm feeling a bit provocative myself and thought I would post something a little more flavorful than I normally post.

First off, I have no respect for Heather Mills McCartney. Woman has wasted the sympathy she garnered for herself these past few months. She's digging her own grave now...

Sorry, that was the wine talking. What I meant to post about was the issue of disagreement and how I deal with it.

Like everybody out here in cyberspace, I'm full of opinions, some of which are less thought out than others, but still dear to my heart. Those of you who know me well have probably come to recognize that when I disagree with something, I tend to equivocate and avoid voicing my disagreement directly. My fellow snapecasters have noted my tendency to refer to something I don't agree with as "interesting" and others may have noticed my tendency not to dive right in to the wank of the day (however juicy it may be). This isn't because I don't have an opinion but because I don't feel comfortably with a lot of the conflict I encounter online. I also really don't want to draw attention to myself at times. Taking sides and engaging in discussions that alienate people (or draw the ire of the pr0n police) doesn't really serve my purposes in cyberspace.

This doesn't mean, however, that I agree with everything I read. I am among those who consider it the height of rudeness to disagree strongly with something someone else has posted in their own journal (unless they have specifically indicated that they want to engage in rigorous debate over the issue). I appreciate, however, that this same position is not held by everyone else online, so I try not to express my offense when someone vehemently disagrees with something I post in my own journal. (This doesn't mean I don't get pissed off by some of the comments I receive.) In cases where someone has posted something in my LJ that I find completely ridiculous, offensive, rude or wrong, I simply do not respond. Of course, sometimes I don't reply to things because I'm a lazy slob, or I misplaced a comment or whatever. This ambiguity of silence is something I cherish deeply as it allows me to implicitly disagree.

On the topic of disagreement, if I want to post something that I know is not very popular, I lock the post so no one can see. There aren't too many of these, but from time to time, there has been the occasional fandom kerfluffle that has enraged me to the point that I had to privately lock a post about an extremely unpopular opinion about some completely asstastic behavior or opinions but did not want to share this position with others. (My journal, after all, serves multiple purposes, one of which is to preserve for myself a history of important events, thoughts, and creations that I'd like to be able to go back to.) Perhaps I'll unlock these in the future and someone with a lot of time on their hands can scroll back through to discover my dark side.

Sometimes I wish I could come out of my shell to tell people what I really think. But I have too little Gryffindor in my to be that foolishly courageous and too much Slytherin in me to realize my opinion really doesn't matter to anyone but me and that no good would be served by making it public.

Perhaps this is a tactic most of you also take. I know a fair few of you appreciate Snape's admonition not to wear one's heart on one's sleeve. In any case, this is my policy, and I'm just tipsy enough and carefree enough to share it with you this Black Friday Eve.