We don't close threads because we dislike the ideas in them. It's not a free speech issue. We close threads when they turn into arguments, are no longer progressing constructively, and we'd have to start handing out infractions if we let the arguments continue. And if it happens often enough on the same subject, we rule that whole topic off-limits to prevent more arguments and infractions and bad feelings between our members. If you dislike this, there is something you can do about it. And that is, stop turning those threads into name-calling arguments, and we won't have any need to close them. You folks may look at a thread and say, "This isn't so bad. Why was it closed?" You aren't seeing the insults we removed, the infractions we gave out, and occasionally, really nasty things like racist attacks. You can't see how often we are reacting not because we are anxious to shut down discussion, but because some of your fellow forum members have asked us to respond. And Science Labs, for whatever reason, is consistently one of the most argumentative and angry subdivisions of the entire forum. If you dislike seeing those arguments closed, I entirely sympathize. But guys, stop giving us reasons to close those threads, and we'll stop closing them.