Let me start off by saying that you can hit del if you want now - what follows
is way off topic but I wanted to chime in.
In our free and enlighted country, each individual is free to choose their own
beliefs. If I choose to believe, for instance, that Mr. K is the Divine
Incarnate and that all Miata Owners should be sacrificed for their affront to
the mind of God, hey, thats OK. If I convince a number of other people that
this is the true Faith and that they should tithe their wages and Roadsters to
me as the leader of the faith, bully for me.
However, if I manage to convince some or all of them to act on those beliefs,
and suddenly thousands of Miata owners are killed because of my programming of
my followers, I should be caught, tried, and publicly executed.
Would my actions reflect on other Datsun owners? Would the various ROC's
suddenly find themselves deluged with hate mail? Would Roadsters left parked
be vandalized or destroyed? Absolutely.
A few reminders from history - almost every religion, or faction thereof, has
been responsible for wholesale crime or murder:
indulgences (ie. forgiveness from mortal sins) sold by the Catholic Church to
fill its coffers, untold legions slaughtered in the name of God during the
Crusades, women and children burned alive because of fear and the belief they
were "witches" because they stepped outside the bounds of the popular
religion, hundreds of thousands unbelievers maimed and tortured during the
Spanish inquisition, Jews by the millions exterminated by a madman who felt
persecuted by them, untold deaths on the Gaza strip, thousands killed on live
television by Muslim extremists........
Throughout history there are countless examples of deranged, deluded, or
power hungry self-appointed leaders who have taken advantage and control of
the minds and hearts of the underpriveledged and undereducated, by playing on
the superstitions, fears, and doubt associated with the great unknown by
offering them answers to life's biggest question.
Its not the beliefs but the actions that are abhorrent. And the actions of
the few will always reflect on the whole - unfortunately its human nature.
Keep the faith - enjoy the ride.
And you can start sending your paychecks and Roadsters my way........
Mark Sedlack
OROC
Cuyahoga Falls OH
66 1600 http://home.neo.rr.com/mark2000/images/datsun1600/
77 280Z http://home.neo.rr.com/mark2000/images/datsun1600/Z.htm
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