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To: coug who wrote (4161)	2/21/2002 12:46:17 AM
From: epicure	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 51717

Now now coug BIA has been known to harass people she just doesn't harass anyone here :-) And I personally can't say I respect people (totally) whose opinions strike me as poorly thought out, absolutist clap trap-be it of the right or left. I can respect people on a limited basis, for actions of which I approve, but my total respect is earned by only a few people. Although I do agree with you that respecting people's "rights" to pursue their own ends in life- as long as they don't injure others- is a Good Thing. But that has little to do with respecting the people themselves. Decency tends to be defined however a particular group wants to define it, unfortunately. And so we get people who think they are "decent" screaming obscenities at each other on SI. I am sure people of the right and left who clash endlessly and pointlessly (or who natter away nastily in private enclaves) all think they are decent. Suicide bombers even think they are decent- they think they are so decent they are going straight to heaven. Clearly thinking you are a decent person isn't all it is cracked up to be. It is probably more important to do no harm. And even that could get you into trouble where conflicting harms are involved. I suspect the very best people are the apathetic- they probably do the least damage to their fellow men, and are the least objectionable. Perhaps we should salute those legions of people with no real opinions. People who do not care who is president and who are not interested in voting, much less discussing politics. People who don't care about economics, or the tri-lateral commission, or the European Union. People who have no stand on abortion, conservation, or church and state issues. Perhaps those people are the real "decent" people. They appeal more and more to me.