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It’s been a crazy, depressing, tragic month around the world. There has been so much to stress us, to make anyone really doubtful about the prospects for peace, health or happiness in the future. But when I check into social media this morning, I was pleasantly surprised not to find as much negativity as I expected.

So many ridiculous memes and comments on Facebook that link recent extremist attacks in the U.S. and France to refugees fleeing war and oppression in Syria and other places.

And then there’s the ridiculous posturing and the twisting of logic following the shooting at Planned Parenthood location in Colorado. People who argue that those who argue for better gun control in the U.S. are more blameworthy than someone who murdered innocent people.

But thankfully, I found that the majority of commenters were sensible, looking calmly and rationally at the facts and offering rational discussion.

Someone on the Internet is wrong!

I know that it’s useless to debate politics on Facebook. No one ever changes their minds because of some comment I, or anyone else posts. But sometimes I just cannot help myself.

Like when someone posts “Accepting Syrian refugees will make Canada/America vulnerable to Islamic fundamentalist terrorists.”

• Fact: No refugee has ever committed an act of terrorism in the U.S.
• Fact: Refugees accepted into Canada or the U.S. have to go through 18 to 24 months of screening, with extensive background checks.
• Fact: The terror attacks in San Bernadino were carried out by a native-born U.S. citizen and his wife, who came from Pakistan on a fiancé visa.
• Fact: The November 13 attacks in Paris were committed by people who were born in France or Belgium.
• Fact: The Charlie Hebdo shootings in January were committed by two men who were born and raised in France.

Or that “passing more restrictive gun laws will only prevent good people from defending themselves.”

• Fact: Good civilians with guns almost never do anything about bad guys with guns, whether they’re mass shooters or terrorists or whatever. Almost always, it’s the police, or the army, or another organization that ends mass-shooting situations. And in the extremely rare instances when it IS an individual, they’re usually off-duty or retired police or military people. In other words, it takes more than a weapon to end a situation like that. It takes training and experience in dealing with high-stress, high stakes situations.
• Facts: In August, a man with a rifle tried to attack a train in Belgium. He was taken down by three American travelers, a Briton and a French man. None of them were armed. Two of the Americans were military men—in other words, trained how to react to a stressful, life-and-death situation.

Why be a troll?

There are a lot of trolls and people who will post very hurtful things, argue by insulting you instead of presenting a logical counter-argument. In the past, getting into a serious discussion over Facebook has often left me feeling bad because of such insults and really vile statements.

I was expecting to read a lot of such comments recently, as the events in the U.S. have inspired a lot of Facebook commenting. However, I have been very pleasantly surprised by the comments—when I counter the incorrect or illogical statements, I have read a lot of supportive and logical comments. Not everyone agrees with me—and that’s not my goal—but I have been pleased by the level of respect I find.

Now, I know that those who I read and respond to on Facebook, and those who respond to me, do not constitute a scientifically representative sample of the population. But still, I am gratified to read less truly

So, there you go. My political post for the year. Maybe now I can learn to ignore people who are wrong on the Internet and concentrate on writing books.

Happy Hanukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Yule, Saturnalia and whatever you celebrate this time of year.