The Public Square welcomes its readers to comment — consider it the virtual version of our real-life receptions. If you want to get that reception feeling, we recommend getting a glass of wine and firing away. But before you do, keep in mind these guidelines.

At our lectures, we strive to have an open and civil environment of mutual respect between guests of all stripes. (See our code of civility.) We’d like to do the same online, and we reserve the right to delete comments, particularly if they are obscene, abusive or contrary to the spirit of our series and our site. Below, some more rules and tips on commenting:

Be nice:

Zócalo wants all its readers to feel welcome to participate. While relevant criticism is welcome, we will delete insults, attacks, threats or other offensive material at our discretion. Please be truthful and considerate in your comments.

Talk like you would in real life:

Comments are part of a conversation about the post. We reserve the right to delete or edit comments that are excessively long or negative, or that don’t respond directly to the content of the post or to fellow commenters in a way that furthers the discussion. Please email Zócalo directly with any questions or concerns that are unrelated to the specific post.

If you’re selling, we aren’t buying:

Comments with irrelevant links or commercial advertisements won’t make it online. Please use a proper name for your posts — we delete posts that look spammish or suspicious.

We aren’t selling, either:

Email addresses are required to post, but we promise not to sell or rent them. We might use your address to contact you. We don’t recommend disclosing private information in the content of your post.

You say it, you own it:

All comments are the responsibility of the commenter — by commenting, you agree that the content is your own, and to hold this site harmless from any repercussions, damages or liability. We will delete comments that could get us into legal trouble.

If you have any questions about this policy or your comment, feel free to contact us directly. We’ll try to answer you as promptly as we can.