I've taken a few days off from the site to do a little thinking and to have a little family time. My parents celebrated their 67th wedding anniversary Sunday and I wanted to spend some time with them. I'm going in for some serious spinal surgery in two weeks and I have some loose ends to wrap up in both my business and personal life. And I've been involved in an acrimonious debate with a member here over a topic that I thought was put to rest in 1865.
Last week my wife made a great batch of vegetable soup. All fresh vegetables, some from the grocery, some from our garden, some from my parent's garden, and some from the local farmers market. The delicate flavor of the yellow summer squash, the tang of the purple onion, the slightly sweet flavor of the red and yellow peppers, the hearty flavor of the kale, the texture and body of the potatoes, combined with the fresh tomatoes, zucchini and the green beans all blended together to make a soup that is rich and and delicious. While I love all of the vegetables individually, the combination of flavors is superb.
My wife did most of the work (I've been under my Doctor's orders to stay off my feet as much as possible) but I did prep the green beans. Even though they were freshly picked, as anyone who preps fresh green beans knows, even the best batch has a few bad beans that need to be discarded, and even the worst batch has a few good beans worth keeping. A person needs to look closely and exercise judgment to separate the good from the bad.
Last night we had some and as I enjoyed my second bowl I realized that the soup was very much like my life and the people that have helped shape me to become the person I am today. My lineage includes German, Scotch, Irish, English, and native American blood. I was raised in a Protestant family but most of my childhood playmates were Catholic. My best friend in high school was black, and the meals I ate at his house made me appreciate "soul food".
When I got my first real job the best lathe operator I've ever known was a black man, and he shared tips and techniques with me about running a lathe that I still use today. When I went to college to get my first degree I learned calculus from a Chinese man and chemistry from a Latino woman. My current engineering colleagues include people of both sexes whose parents and grandparents hail from every continent and many religious traditions. The food at faculty buffets is varied and fabulous.
As any intelligent person who lives in the real world knows, not every member of any race is good, and not all members of any race is bad. Just as with green beans, one must look closely and exercise judgment to separate the good from the bad.
I have room in my mind for many ideas, and room in my life for many people. But I have no tolerance for, nor will I give any quarter to racists and bigots. They are a slow poison that breeds divisiveness and discord. They drive people apart - they almost drove me away from this site and all the friends I have made here. It took me a couple of days to realize that this is exactly what people such as this want to have happen. But I will not let them do this to me. I will fight them.
This is what our enemies want, to see us fight among ourselves. They need do nothing but wait and watch as we destroy ourselves. As we man the battle lines to protect our 2nd Amendment freedoms we need all the help we can get. If the man to my right is brown and speaks Spanish but believes in the American dream I want him there. If the woman on my left is black and wants to maintain her right to own a gun to protect her family I want her there. If the man behind me has yellow skin and came here to find freedom and will step up when I fall I want him there.
I realize that it is fruitless to argue with racists and bigots as their minds are closed. But there are other ways. Today I took one step - I donated every penny of profit I have made in the last six months from the sales I have made to members here to the International Programs and Services office at the University where I work. Right now we have students from 78 countries taking classes here at the University; I hope my donation helps to bring more students here to get an education at an American University, where they can be exposed to the best of American culture and values.
I love this site, but I have noticed with regret that as the number of members grows we seem to get more and more people here that do very little to support the site or advance the art of bullet casting. They seem to regard this site primarily as a place to argue politics. There is nothing wrong with a good spirited debate over the merits of candidate A vs candidate B, or whether this policy or that policy is the best way to deal with a social problem. But some people are just trolls, bomb throwers and drive by shooters, whose words advance nothing but hatred.
I came here to learn more about casting bullets. I never realized how much I could learn from vegetable soup.
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Originally Posted by theperfessor
DougGuy
