Avy, I know you mean well and have the most noble motives and sentiments, but your last post is an example of how disagreements arise and get blown out of all proportion among people who ought to be able to get along.

You impute to CapK and me opinions that we did not express (that picking up a gun is the active thing) and which, at least so far as I am concerned (CapK can speak for himself) are not my opinions. Further, you imply that I said I would have had Gandhi impaled, when it is perfectly clear that I said that Genghiz Khan or Attila would have done so. Indeed, I believe I expressed my admiration for Gandhi, and I do admire him -- as a thinker and philosopher, but not as a reliable guide for dealing with a situation such as the one we find ourselves in.

This entire discussion has been informative, educational, interesting and even moving. However, it now appears to me that it can no longer be carried on in the spirit to which we are accustomed here. Rather than mar the spirit which makes us a big family, and which I enjoy so much, I shall make no further contributions to this or related threads; I shall not even read them, lest some outrageous or misguided statement should tempt me to break this resolution. But to those of you who carry on, this plea: at least pay attention to what others are saying and don't twist their words -- that's the least you owe everyone.