For as long as I’ve been an decidedly critical thinker, I’ve been outspoken about it. Outspoken, but not aggressive. A couple of months ago, I decided actively to take critical thinking into my community. My first foray will be next Saturday.

The Munk Debate on Political Correctness is taking place next Friday night, in a 2600-seat theatre. It sold out about three months in advance and will be broadcast on Facebook.

I’ll be recording it, and showing it in a small venue the next afternoon. I’ve booked the venue and will not charge admissions or accept donations, because I want this ‘free speech’ event to be ... free. It’s important to me that everyone be able to attend.

My aim is to bring encourage more conversation, and to encourage people to hear more diverse views, especially around controversial topics. I’ve spoken to a lot of people about political correctness, trying to find my own position, and I’ve been surprised at how few have any idea of the makings of the concept. They seem to have no ideas other than little sound bites from politicians, pundits or celebrities. They seem to have given no thought to the ramifications of laws around political correctness. They seem not even to have considered a delineation between what speech should be considered illegal and what speech is just rude.

I’m proud to be making this contribution to my community, and look forward to presenting more events of one kind or another. I think I’ll be assembling a ‘Skepticamp’ in the fall.