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Maybe you and Mark should grab a cup of coffee, put on some nice music and take a few minutes to actually read the posts you're commenting on. Then, before replying, take another few minutes to digest what is being said.
Honestly, this was a very frustrating remark for me, and initially I was going to stop this conversation altogether. Maybe I should. However, due to my stubborn nature, I at least want to clarify the points I was trying to make. I did a poor job, perhaps, but I definitely have read your post and put a great deal of thought into my response. I am disappointed you could not tell that.
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. I have never argued, or even implied, that I believe people should not have written to the Guardian saying they disagreed with what the Guardian was doing.
Ok, I didn’t argue or mean to imply that you did. What I did mean to say is that the statements you made
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I just don't share most American's taste for childish attacks towards people that don't fit nicely into their ethnocentric worldview.
and
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But how can you say Americans respect opinions that are different from their own?
are not supported by the statement
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I sure didn't see anyone respecting the opinions of the Guardian readers or staff, either.
Because the responses in the Guardian are the “squeaky wheels”, you cannot say that that is evidence that “most” Americans don’t respect others. That is analogous to saying that most people in the US hate black people because we have some still active in the KKK. Clearly the KKK does not represent the typical mindset of most Americans. Regarding the statement
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I don't see people respecting the opinion of gay couples who want to marry, do you?
I was trying to make the point that gay people do get married. Perhaps there aren’t any churches in your area that perform marriage ceremonies for gay couples, but I certainly know of some. I also know people who are very clear in their opinions on both sides of this. But I assume you’re not talking about opinion as much as your are the state recognition of these marriages and granting certain rights based on them. As I said, this is a far more complicated issue and to say that the state should not grant this status to gay couples is not the same as saying that their opinions are not being respected. As I’ve stated before, I’d be in favor of the Government getting out of the marriage business altogether and not granting legal status to anyone on the basis of marriage. I am not for “Gay Marriage” in the legal sense, nor am I for “Heterosexual Marriage” in the legal sense. Since this is an unrealistic solution, however, I’m willing to concede to Civil Unions as an imperfect solution to an impossible solution. I know you don’t agree with me, but I’m not trying to justify my position; I’m trying to show this is a complicated matter far beyond simply respecting someone else’s opinion. Truth be told, I DO think marriage is meant to be between one woman and one man for one lifetime, but I’m not going to treat a fellow human like dirt because he/she is involved in a gay marriage. I’m going to respect their decisions which I don’t agree with.

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When did I ever say respect meant "agreeing with or even believing that another's viewpoint has merit"? You'll have trouble finding it, because I never said that.
No, you didn’t. I sort of got off on a tangent trying to make my point. It happens to the best of us.


Edited by JeffS (22/10/2004 00:24)
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-Jeff
Rome did not create a great empire by having meetings; they did it by killing all those who opposed them.