The people who instantly become abusive are usually those who have no logic to back up their opinions, so they go straight for personal insults — like the dating site guys who immediately resort to “well, you’re fat and no one wants you anyway” when someone dares to say no thank you to one of their horrid pickup lines. (Look up the Instagram account @byefelipe for some prime examples.)

For what it’s worth, I read all kinds of articles here that express opinions I don’t agree with (as a mostly conservative Christian, I fight hard to make sure people realize we’re not all hateful bigots, though). If I really, really feel a need to state my position, I try to be kind about it and not imply the other person is wrong. We just see things differently. Why does that scare people so much? Are they afraid, deep down, that their deeply held beliefs hold no foundation, or don’t they know enough about why they believe what they do to feel secure about it?

Write what makes you happy and what you feel strongly about. And use that block button as often as you have to.