It is no secret that I write controversial articles. That is the entire shtick that I created for myself when I joined Odyssey. I write about the things that I am passionate about and my ideas that I hope can change society. When I write my article, I do not have a specific agenda from either political party or ideology.

I have never associated with the Republican party, and it has been years since I was an official member of the Democratic party. I am not a crazy conservative trying to destroy liberal snowflakes, nor am I bleeding heart liberal trying to expose cuckservatives. I am a fierce independent that follows the truth and evidence. I support causes that make logical, ethical and economic sense. My true political leanings are closer to a liberal libertarian, but I do not tie my beliefs to that one ideology. I am only tied to my own pursuit of truth, and I am not afraid to defend my positions in the face of opposition.

You would never know this about me if you only listened to people that respond to my articles.

I knew I would be writing controversial articles, but I never expected the constant stream of attacks and refutations to my ideas, especially considering I was not writing from a partisan source.

Let me make one thing clear: I completely welcome challenges to my ideas. Emphasis on ideas. I am willing to debate and discuss the facts and evidence on any of my articles. I come to my conclusions from hours of research and weighing the different options, if I could not defend my position, I would not be worthy to have any opinions. I am always excited to discuss my ideas and debate facts and come to conclusions based on a discourse of ideas.

However, what I cannot stand is attacks upon my character for my articles. This is something that has happened to other Odyssey writers as well as myself. For my article on creationism in science class, I was attacked as an anti-religious zealot that wanted to destroy religious freedom, though all I wanted to do was to stop their influence on science education. For my morality of the Republican party article, I was called a leftist snowflake.

For my white guilt article, both I and my friend Valerie were called racist. I was also called a racist and a prime example of white privilege for my Halloween costume article when all I wanted to do was to tell people to stop judging others for things they personally would not wear. The best one is the fact that I was attacked as an anarcho-capitalist scum for my article on abolishing the minimum wage, and this attack came in before I had even published the article when I teased it on my snapchat.

At the end of the day, these attacks will never silence me. In fact, they embolden me to write more. If a critic has to resort to personal attacks to refute my argument, then they have only bolstered my argument. If they do not have any facts or evidence to actually support their claim or to refute my claim, then they have no argument. They only have ad hominem attacks. While those attacks may hurt in the short term, in the long term, only the facts and evidence will remain. If they really wanted to debate ideas, they would actually debate ideas, not personality.

Never allow yourself to be silenced by critics, for I know I never shall.