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I applaud your open-mindedness but my problem (and I do admit that it is my problem) is that it’s difficult for me to extend too much faith in people that I have to constantly watch to ensure that they’re not stealing the silverware.

I like this! I think I'll adopt it for my own uses, and slightly tweak it to say "I applaud your open-mindedness in inviting all stripes of people to the dinner party, but it's difficult for me to have faith in those I have to constantly watch to make sure they're not stealing the silverware." That's how I feel about high crime neighborhoods when someone says "It would be perfectly safe, if only the police were more intimately involved on a community level"... and my thought is always "good people don't need a smiling cop watching over their shoulder to be good."