What I have learned about religion in my travels..

Part of the problem in our failure to relate to people in the Middle East is the difference in religion. My parents always told me I would be best advised to avoid giving my opinions/beliefs about religion and politics if I want to get along with people. Those are two subjects that if they come up, and you are on opposite sides of an issue, they can ruin a friendship or business relationship, even break up a family.

The problem where religion is concerned, especially, is that every ardent believer in a particular religious affiliation or sect, is convinced that their version of the pathto truth and salvation is the only true path, which has made for some awfully bloody conflicts over the past two or three thousand years. People who feel they are above the fray because they 'tolerate' other faiths must be unaware of the definition of tolerate. I would be willing to bet you have people in your life who you 'tolerate.' On a linear scale, if you put 'intolerant' at one end of the continuum, what would you put at the other end? 'Tolerant?' All that means is you are less intolerant, at least less intolerant until the person you are 'tolerating' provokes you enough to punch him in the mouth.

No. The opposite of 'intolerant' is 'respect.' You can respect another person's beliefs and opinions - or at least the right of that person to express his/her beliefs and opinons - without actually believing them yourself. What's your take on all this?

It appears that resolving long standing conflicts with Arabs and Muslims is a top priority for President Obama. Knowing it will take considerable time to reach any kind of resolution, the president decided to at least get the ball rolling. My sources in that part of the world tell me people are elated. It is important to understand WHY they are elated, though, because it all gets down to basic human nature. We have shown little respect toward these billion-plus people. How do you react to someone who makes it clear he/she has no respect for you? It doesn't matter what else happens in a relationship like that, the parties will never get anywhere without showing respect for each other.

I saw one news image at the start of the Iraq War in 2003 that told me we would never win the hearts and minds of those people. It was the photo of a fully armed US soldier standing over an Iraqi laying in the dirt. The soldier's left foot was firmly positioned on the Iraqi's back. Those who know me remember when I said we're going to lose this war. Recently, an Iraqi journalist threw his shoe at President Bush and it was repeated ad nauseum on television, probably because the Iraqi had great aim and might be a prospect for the Yankees.

But the message was clear to anyone in the Arab world - simply showing someone the sole of your shoe is a great insult; throwing the shoe is an insult with an exclamation point. Standing on someone means you consider that person lower than the dirt found on the bottom of a shoe. If the people who led us into that war had done the simplest research, they would have known shoes are meant for more than walking. Unfortunately, no one bothered to do much research about the Iraqi people. One reason is that we believed the people would welcome us with open arms. The real reason we did not know the rules of their culture though, was because we had no respect for them.

What this is all about...

Welcome to my online 'newspaper,' THE WORLD ACCORDING TO MILT. I'm the publisher, editor, writer, photographer, columnist, account executive, pressman, receptionist, janitor and delivery person. Being chief, cook and window washer, I get to publish whatever I want.

The only problem with all this power is that if it isn't interesting, you're not going to read it! So I have a mandate -- make it interesting enough that you will want to read it and comment on what you read (or what you read, depending on present or past tense usage).

Obviously, I am doing this for the freedom to express my opinion on things and I welcome your opinion about my opinions, as long as they are not just mean-spirited, narrow-minded and uninformed -- like many letters to the editor. You don't have to agree with me, nor do I have to agree with you, but let's assume we all have at least a ninth grade education and have at least been exposed to civilized society.