"Robomatic, you are absolutely right. My point was merely that we Brits have no reason to feel smug and superior. "

But, alanabit, you Brits do it so well!

Seriously, it is possible to get on one's high horse, and we're all better off realizing that we've all "played the headsman" so to speak.

I submit that a certain self awareness is in order, the state of the mind of the "true believer" is one that I believe all cultures pass through, and the stare of "bloody mindedness" is one that all cultures are still in, for a very good reason, if one is not in it, one does not survive.

I tend to idealize Brits, which comes of a bit too many Goons, too much Gilbert & Sullivan, and a book of Churchillian wit. I think that both Yanks and Brits have a self critical strain which for the most part makes us stronger.

With all the wide range of current events, I think it's fair to say we're in an ideological war against 'true-believers' and there is some confusion amongst the true-believers in our midst who believe that the war is one religion versus another, whereas I and perhaps you perceive it as a war in which we favor toleration, and the other side has no truck with tolerance.

Which brings us to the moral question at the heart: Do the tolerant have a right to limit their tolerance of the intolerant, if only to survive?