To want to have a thread that allows different opinions and a debate

[pregnantat50]

I am addicted to mumsnet. I am a naturally nosey person, with a love of knowing different people, i like people. I do however really wish one thing about this place and that is, that we could have a debate about a post without it turning nasty or being accused of trolling if an opinion isnt one of the majority.

There are many topics and many different views, all equally valid, I have on more than one occassion thought one thing, but posted another or a more toned down version purely because other posters may jump on to attack when really what I would like is someone saying their view and why they disaggree with mine in a healthy debate that way we can continue and respect each others different views and who knows maybe I will see the points made by others and end up agreeing and vice versa...AIBU or have I had one sherry too many? Happy Christmas BTW

If you have opinions but either post different ones or toned down comments I can't see how you're encouraging healthy debate - or have I misunderstood?

Yanbu. I would love that tread!

This again.

MN does not behave with a Hive mentality. Some peope are nice. Some people are not. It's the Internet. Full of people.

Stop trying to make it more beige.

Well, for a start, the idea that 'all opinions are equally valid' is silly, OP. Back an opinion up with evidence and a proper, reasoned argument that shows you've informed yourself from credible sources and thought about it -- that gets you to 'valid'. Don't do that, and your opinion is as valid as the idea that the queen is a lizard/gay people caused Hurricane Katrina/the supernatural is real because you once saw something funny out of the corner of your eye in your kitchen.

It's not valid to say FGM is OK; it's not valid to say apartheid was a good idea; it's not valid to say that illegal Israeli settlements are OK - some opinions are just plain wrong and founded on sheer stupidity and ignorance. I could go on but you get my drift ....

Sometimes threads follow that all jumping on one side of the argument, and other threads allow healthy debates.
Often, once the first posters says "well, I'm going against the grain and...." then others will say, yeah, me too.
Seems that if you don't post what you feel then you are contributing to what you perceive to be an issue, not challenging it, then you can't really complain.