Well....
I cannot believe that I have waited so long to post on this thread because this issue (and many others that are VERY similar) are ones that I feel very strongly about. I have read every post thus far and I would like to say a few things:
First...I would like to congratulate everyone for keeping this to a civil discussion (for the most part) that I feel has shed some light on a few things. I would hazard to guess that I am not the only one who feels they have learned something here. And I would also like to thank the mods for not closing this thread and allowing this discussion to continue. I think we all benefit..
Second...I would also like to thank those members that posted some well-thought out, researched, constructive posts for both sides of the issue. I cannot name them all, but suffice it to say that I was not surprised by who some of them were...they are members that I have come to respect for their opinions. I have also found some new respect for other members that I didn't before.
I have many opinions on this subject, a lot of which has been expressed by others so I won't re-hash what has already been discussed. But after reading all of the posts, I am left with one question that I seem to be asking a lot over the past few years...particularly after 9/11/2001:
If we all know that each group (whatever type of group that may be) has some bad apples in it that are casting a dark shadow on the rest of the group by their improper actions, what are the "upstanding" members of the group doing to police their own?
I honestly feel that if the rest of the world could see that you, as a fine upstanding member of your group, was doing something to identify the situation...remedy it....or potentially oust the bad apples from the group, the animosity that is directed towards your group would decrease.
Muslims vs. extremist Muslims, law-abiding hunters vs. poachers, Metis vs. "Convenience Metis", motorcycle riders who ride safely vs. immature punks who wreak havoc on the roads, etc. etc.
The list can go on and on and the model can be applied to any group. The solution has to come from within first before any other outside influences can affect change.
Just my 2 cents...hopefully it makes good sense.
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"You're gonna need a bigger boat!" - Martin Brody, 1975
"There seems to be alot of urinating in breakfast cereal around here." - Rackman, 2010
"It is true, there are dead beat dads out there, and there are thousands of dead beat moms too, who live off the efforts of good men trying to do the right thing." -KegRiver, 2011
"You have social media to thank for turning everyone into self-righteous know-it-alls.." -random internet dude, 2015
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