And the fun goes on and on...just like a Celine Dion song.

Well, let's see now.

Don - We both seem to keep thinking that the other is acting "smug" and "superior", while not feeling that we are acting that way at all ourselves. Ironical, isn't it? Maybe we're both just sincerely saying exactly what we think is true. Consider that. Look for something else besides the very worst in my intentions and WAV's intentions, and I will gladly return the favor. I do not think you are smug, or an ass, or anything bad at all. I just think you should not be calling him a "racist". I think you should find a less vicious label to use in its place.

- Smokey - "Racism is prejudice based upon race, it is not necessarily hatred"

You're absolutely right, Smokey. Thanks for that clarification.

"He implies, or perhaps we infer, racial hatred, but doesn't literally preach it. One is no more forgiveable than the other in my opinion."

Everything and anything can be forgivable...provided one has enough insight into another person's origins and personal problems, and also the willingness to forgive. That does not mean everything is justifiable or allowable, however. Think about the difference between those two, and see if you get what I mean.

What happens when you or anyone refuses to forgive someone else for something they said? Anything good? I don't think so. That doesn't mean, however, that you should allow the unjustifiable to be done when you are in a position to prevent it being done.

- Insane Beard - "Bollocks. WAV couldn't give a shit about actual English Culture (something he consistently demonstrates he has no understanding of whatever, which is hardly surprising given that he's a naturalised Australian), instead he has fabricated a fantasy of Our Own Good Culture which is specifically designed to exclude, ignore and oppose the multi-cultural & ethnic realities of England."

Fine. ;-) What WAV does give a shit about, though, is his fabricated fantasy OF English culture...a fantasy which is obviously 100% real to him. You have to remember that it is real to him, and that in his own mind he is defending what he thinks of as English culture. Therefore it makes sense to him. And this is the case with most people, isn't it? Their lives, in a cultural sense, are largely arbitrary, and ARE a fantasy, based upon centuries of similarly arbitrary fantasies held by their forbears. For this they are willing to enlist in a war, go to another country, and kill people who are defending a different set of arbitrary fantasies.

And most of them are completely unware of how ludicrous and unnecessary that is.

*****

I have compassion for people in general. You know why? I know that most of them know as little as I do and are as vulnerable as I am. As such, they deserve a bit of compassion, even if they are not perfect and even if they occasionally say something stupid or something that indicates some form of prejudice.

To quote that famous line from you-know-where: "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."