Mrrzy,

Piece of genius, that. Creep or no creep, you get points in my book for noticing the generalities that beaurocracies in our time have come up with. I work as a security guard in a building full of rest-home retirees, and you should see the ridiculous "theme" parties that they throw for these poor old folks. For example, a "Chinese Night" that HAD to have cardbord hangee-things of Buddha and so on. I don't mean that Buddha is not a vital part of Chinese identity for many people, but Buddha is no more a representative of all China than McDonald's is a rep for all food.

As per the ORIGINAL query (sorry for my creep, too):

One of the reasons that the grant would be so important is that such a grant would recognize the diversity in cultures that once made this a great nation... Osama is pissed in part because there was a time when being a Muslim devotee was something to be at least respected... now the "good guys" insist that you can live like you want... as loong as you live like they do. PUSH for such grants... we need to be lights for our place on the map just as everyone else is entitled to represent their place.

Crunchie