"oilism" = great term!

That could be a subject in itself, as to how many countries turn a blind eye to certain 'allies' who have oil and a terrible human rights record, while deposing other nations who, while certainly not innocent of human rights crime, are very much less involved in the oil politics 'game'.

In reality it matters not a jot WHO is killing and putting down people for being different than the majority population: they are killing under some banner or other that appears to add legitimacy to the act. It's still wrong.

I would like to think that teaching tolerance - and, even better than that, ACCEPTANCE - is the proper way forward in finally ridding the us of all the various hate messages. Hate can become a lifestyle simply because people choose to follow it's message and principle. It is often based on ignorance and fear (and some of that fear comes from within the person themselves of knowing what they are and not being able to change it). But there are many out there who are good at using that ignorance and fear toward their own agendas. It is comforting to see that most of the posters on this thread, and others like it, do not fall for it :-)

Tolerance, acceptance, love. Three ginormous words that are not easy to live by - and I have had my slippage moments along with most - but at least something we can try and aspire to.

On that note I'll shush!

mp