and I think it's completely valid, is that very few of us truly respect Islamic culture and we're really lousy liars. For us to be in the midst of it with hundreds of thousands of representatives trying to appear that we respect something we really don't is not going to play real well in the end.

I for one consider myself a pretty tolerant person of most cultural ideals but I draw the line on certain behaviors. For instance - I despise a great deal of Latin American culture because of the male machismo aspect. Islamic culture has embraced that tenet as well with women often treated as disposable assets.

Another real turnoff for me is when a race or culture decides that its members may only marry and procreate with one another. You see that in not only Islamic countries but also Latin America, and many Christian sects. Judaism is also guilty of pressure like that as well. Go to the singles ads sometime and look for an instance where a Jewish single will accept someone out of their religion.

Another cultural prejudice I have is reliance on too much rote ritual in one's life. I don't know about you but, when I see a huge mass of people all reciting the same verse and making the same motions, it reminds me too much of those grainy b/w movies of the Nazis with their arms raised to Hitler. I think it tends to numb people's minds to innovation and experimentation and conditions them to be sheep. You cannot argue that there's a huge component of ritual in Islam.

So how in the world do I as a citizen representing the United States truthfully convey my respect for something I believe is a bane overall on the people embracing it? Somehow I don't think I'm alone with these thoughts and I don't view cultural prejudice as necessarily a bad thing when it's directed against abhorrent behavior. I think it better to continually stand up to the b.s. instead (with words not bombs) and stay brutally and decisively honest.

Art