I didn't think it was offensive. It's a good question, really. I can see what you mean, I think, but I don't particularly agree. You assume that exploring the thoughts and opinions of writers means applying them or contemplating them without any relation to your own thoughts. I "enjoy my own thoughts" every time I pick up a book. When I read I compare the writers opinion with my own and just because someone that I might even really respect has given their opinion, this doesn't mean that it will automatically over-ride my own. It might, however. It might just shape my opinion and add to it, or it might simply allow me to understand the views of others better (even if I still disagree). I guess if I was ever to write it would be either to express an emotion or put forward an opinion, but it would be damned self-righteous of me to assume that because I put my opinion out there it should be taken as law, so I assume that other writers must (or should) feel the same. My writing, if I ever take it up in a more serious form, will be to share, not to dictate. I will enjoy it, surely, but I will enjoy it just as I enjoy discourse or debate with other people, and that has 2 sides.