I am a member of many communities, this being one and an important one. One of my theories (and I have a LOT of theories!) is that the measure of how commited a person is to a community is there willingness to accept dissenting points of view. I think that I am pretty tolerant, but I resolve to be even more so in the future. Why? Because this community is important to me.

I come here to write, to express my thoughts and opinions. I also come here to read, to learn about other points of view and to learn. That requires tolerance and an open mind. Face it, you can't learn form people who are the same as you, identical if such a thing were possible. There has to be diversity of opinion.

There are a lot of great people here. I hope to embarass some of them by naming names. BakerStreet is someone that I have known since WinCustomize days. We disagree on a number of points, but I recall a debate on gun control during the time of the Washington sniper attacks. I was in favor of stricter gun control laws, BakerStreet took a different point of view. A post of his, well-though out and phrased, caused me to re-think my position. Thank you, BakerStreet.

If not for Joeuser, I would never have met Sherye Hanson. We have disagreed in the past (well, the recent past to be precise) but she is a wonderful person. She devotes her life to making the world a better place. See http://sherye-hanson.joeuser.com/index.asp?AID=6846 for an example. See, I told you that I would embarass some people!

There are many others that I could name. We agree sometimes, disagree others. That is all for the good. Hegel said that new ideas come from the clash of thesis and anti-thesis, creating synthesis. People post here from all over the world. We have a diversity of experience and of thought. That is, in my not-so-humble opinion, a good thing.

The older I get, the less I seem to know and the more that I need to learn.