Quote:
Originally Posted by loquitur
ace, I wasn't saying that people can't have non-rational fears. All I was saying is that you don't have to talk publicly about your nonrational feelings, demons or what-have-you. Some judgment should be exercised.
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My point from the very beginning is that it is better if there is an open or even a public dialog about these issues. How many millions of Americans share the fear Williams has? Is just sweeping it under the rug going to make it go away? I don't think so. Is calling people a "racist" going to make it go away? No. Is making it illegal going to make it go away? No. Are all the people who share this fear bad people? No. Are some bad people? Yes.
My second point is that males in particular are taught to suppress their fears, I argue that this is not healthy - I argue that this often leads to violence or to poor decision making. Adult men can serve as a role model, we have to let young men in particular know that it is o.k. to have fears, to have inner conflicts and that it is o.k. to talk about it. NPR has every right to fire Williams, I just see what he did in a positive light. I would be proud to have a professional association with him no matter how much we disagreed on issues.
---------- Post added at 04:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:34 PM ----------
Quote:
Originally Posted by silent_jay
We know you ask questions, you just don't seem to answer any that are asked of you, at least it's never a straightforward answer, although at least you answered mine, I expected a story or something.
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I disagree. I think some of you are from Venus and I am from Mars or something like that, I always try my best to answer questions.
---------- Post added at 04:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:37 PM ----------
Quote:
Originally Posted by filtherton
This post just proves that you either haven't been reading/understanding the responses to your posts or your deliberately mischaracterizing them to make yourself feel better.
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My assumption is that people are imperfect, including me. Given flaws, my first assumption is not that a person is a "racist" if they make a racially offensive comment. Some here, explicitly said they make that assumption.
I think there is a difference between people who have real hatred for certain groups of people in their heart and people who may have fears that are not rational. My position on this has not been accepted here by many - I find that amazing because the truth in the statement is so obvious. My conclusion is that there is some impossibly high standard they expect everyone to live up to and I question if they always live up to that mythical standard in their own lives.
I have not mischaracterized anything. In fact one of the reasons we are beating a dead horse, is for me to try to really understand what is being said. At this point it is clear.