> Executive Function hotmail.com> writes:

>> And it's not just family, friends and
>> lovers either.  There are people who consider themselves my enemies or
>> who feel they have a few grudges to settle.  Now they may be
>> responding to the grubby little images that pollute thier fevered
>> imaginations, but to ignore them would be akin to the pilot of your
>> aircraft ignoring a bunch of bearded arabs trying to break into the
>> cockpit.

>
> This caught my eye and I didn't see Mika responding to it, so here goes:
>
> Yes, we all have people who consider themselves our enemies and who carry
> grudges.
>
> But you know what?  The harm our personal enemies can do to us is
> *very little*.  Maybe they won't invite us to their parties, maybe they say
> nasty things about us behind our backs.  But they're *not* out to kill us.
>
> There might be people who really *are* out to kill you.  But they're very
> different from our personal enemies.  They might hijack our planes and fly
> them into our buildings, or invade our country and bomb our wedding parties,
> but it's *never personal*.  It's tribe vs. tribe, not him vs. me.
>
> So to emphasize Mika's point: feel free to ignore what your personal enemies
> think and do.  They're not "bearded arabs breaking into the cockpit."  If
> there's someone out to kill you, who really wants to do you harm, they won't
> know you personally.
>
>                 HG