roachboy,
first as a trump card no... as an "Am I off base in my thinking and can you provide some insight to help me understand better how this other person may or may not be thinking"
My example of Singapore reflects how I watched 3 dominant cultures work together as best as they can, Chinese, Hindu, and Malay cultures, along with Indonesians, Filipinos, and Expatriates of Europe and America. Chinese have very strong beliefs of not intermarrying as do Hindus, and older generations also are sepratist in nature mingling with only their culture. I do not profess any more than my experience of observation, not as an anthropologist but as a human being.
Again, you may wish to judge people. I do not. I wish to live my life as I do, looking at others and seeing if their actions match my own and if I should or should not incorporate such activities or beliefs into my own life.
I do not understand how you all cannot see that I WISH NOT TO JUDGE SOMEONE'S ACTIONS. I may not like them I may not subscribe to their ideology but I have to accept that they have the freedom to believe and act accordingly.
martin: No I did not selectively explain it. I printed the thread and handed it to them. When I see another friend of a lesbian activist group, I will hand it to her as well.
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Do you not beleive in free speech? Should i be keeping my opinion to myself entirely? Do you really think that silence on queer issues will even keep queers safe? You keep dodging this. Will silence keep me safe? Can you really claim this, given the history of queer politics in this country? Yes or no. Will silence keep queers safe?
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Queers should be as safe as anyone else or any other individual. I make no special cases or dispensation for and group or sect than I do anyone else walking freely about the city or countryside. Any physical attack is not acceptable. Whatever the motivation behind it is irrellavent to me, it may be relavent to you and your agenda, but in my case the physical attack is unacceptable on it's face. The motive behind it to me is immaterial.
Will silence keep you safe? I don't know. Will your being "in your face" of someone who is equally vehement on their will and way keep you safe? I don't know that either.
I obviously believe in free speech and free expression. Which is why say that these fundamentalist groups are equally free to do as they please so long as it is withing the guidelines of the US Constitution and the US legal system. Again, you are free to picket, stand on a soapbox and decry their actions. You are free to judge them, I choose to abstain from judging as I don't feel it's my place to judge them. I do not like their actions and I will not emulate or assimilate those actions into my own values, lifestyle, or belief system.
Civil Rights leaders I have not a single issue with them. King led peaceful protests and acknowledged that the oppostion were not going to change their minds.
Religious social leaders that use intimidation tactics like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are not accpetable to me. The also preach tolerance via intolerance. Again, I make no judgement on them, but I do not accept their belief as something I need to assimilate into my own.
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I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.