Byron, thanks for the ping. Very interesting discussion. One of the writer's points (entrenched societal intolerance) reminds me of my last trip to NYC and Ellis Island. I was there on my own, but a group came thru led by a tweedy type who kept lecturing everyone about how hostile the new country was to women and how it must have been so hard to come here and find there were prejudices in place that "Kept women in their place." My spouse restrained me, but I really wanted to shout "good lord man, what kind of culture do you think these folks came from?" He was referring to the Eastern European, Balkan wave of immigration. I was going to offer, that while the husbands would probably still kill their wives and children over violations of family honor, they were at least in a country that would find that to be illegal. I thought that an improvement. No doubt cultural relativists find everything to be devoid of value judgement until of course the scimitar is poised at their necks. Sometimes it is difficult to understand that while you may tolerate others, they do not tolerate you.
regards