It's nice when someone here concerns her/himself with offending those with different beliefs, but IMO one should not worry TOO MUCH about giving offense if he/she is operating out of their best effort to be respectful and courteous. This is a site which explicitly and purposefully attracts people with far different, often even mutually exclusive beliefs. When i see a post that was posted against a group to which i do not belong but (IMO INCORRECTLY) also cross-posted to the main wall, or one which is a message directly from one person to another (which are ALSO - again IMO incorrectly) cross posted to the main wall, i might read them, but IMO it would be rude for ME to interject myself into what *i* believe should be seen as a private conversation. However, if what i ahve to say is UNAMBIGUOUSLY something the person is likely to welcome, such as explicit praise for their insight or a correction of an unambiguously incorrect matter of objective fact (such as the date an event occurred, etc.), i will in those cases go ahead and post. I may read the post for my own edification, but except as noted above i refrain from commenting on them.
OTOH, if a person posts something generically to the main wall, then IMO it's UNREASONABLE for that person to expect everyone to congratulate them on their supreme wisdom and deny someone who may feel that comment is factually or spiritually incorrect for one of more readers the right to augment that post with the additional perspective brought by that reader. As i often say, this is a site of peers, and one should not believe that their opinion is the only one that counts. Now, the exception here is the people that have been blocked, for one reason or another, and who have been told in so many words that their responses are NOT solicited. This can occur fro various reasons, and when we get an oil/water combination here, i think we're all better served by a cease fire in a war that will not be resolved.
I have a few people that i have asked not to post against my threads, as i have concluded that they add no value to any subject which *i* raise here. I understand that those people, and probably a few others, in turn feel that i have nothing of value to say against their blogs or posts as well. For the most part, we have each honored these requests, but i note that two specific people who have blocked me and told me to stay away from their posts have at times still felt compelled to comment on mine... though both of them had previously agreed that in return for me leaving them alone, they would also leave me alone. Now, to be blunt their occasional failure to honor their part of the accord doesn't really surprise me. The same trait that leads them to decide that agreements they have made don't apply to them when they decide they don't feel like honoring them is directly related to the reason i don't feel they add value to a discussion i have started. But in those cases i just delete their comments and move on.
Having acknowledged that these exceptions can be explicitly put in place, the majority of public wall posts here are for general reading, and therefore are also for general comment. If a person makes a comment that indicates that one of their personal beliefs is a universal truth that applies to everyone, i think my reputation for objecting to that bit of hubris is well established. I generally try to post my disagreement in a civil manner, but i will sometimes let the basic tone of the original post and its implicit level of possible arrogance determine the tone of my reply. However, for the MOST part i'm simply doing what i THINK is the point here, sharing a DIFFERENT view with someone who was kind enough to share her/his view with me.
When i do this, i can assure everyone that i'm NEVER offended, i'm simply doing what i feel is the correct thing for any of us to do here, reminding that person that other view exist, and sharing My specific view in return. It does NOT *offend* me when somebody states that they think we're all worthless sinners, if a Moslem tells me that everyone should pray multiple times per day, or if a metaphysicist posts a distorted view of what quantum physics actually says about a subject, i just happen to think that's incorrect, so i say so.
But i'm NOT offended. As i see it, there are always two possibilities (though a broad range within each one). If the person meant no offense, but simply doesn't understand that others will object to their pronouncement, then i don't need to be offended because they weren't directing the comment to explicitly DENY my right to my beliefs, they simply may not be aware that there's another way to viw this topic. I that case there's no point in me being OFFENDED, i simply need to help them expand their understanding of what it's possible to believe. Not that they must change their viw, simply that they do need to understand that OTHER VIEWS do exist.
OTOH, if the person is actively dismissive of my right to think for myself, or just flat WANTS to be offensive, well then again there's no reason for me to be offended, because the opinion of that kind of person shouldn't matter to me and i should not grant them the power to affect me.
Like you stated"I generally try to post my disagreement in a civil manner, but i will sometimes let the basic tone of the original... more