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Title: Those People! An Editorial, by Mike Fix From: AMER Intelligence The Official Journal of the Alliance for Magical and Earth Religions, Volume 1, Number 1. copyright 1991 by AMER and the respective authors. All rights reserved. (Permission to reprint has been granted by AMER.) Just what is AMER all about? In a word, it is tolerance. Tolerance has become increasingly scarce in America over the last decade. Time and again we have seen people advocate the reduction or outright repeal of basic rights in order to protect society from perceived evil intentions of /those people!/. I refer to this as /those people syndrome/. It is sad that this attitude exists here in the United States. And saddest of all, that it should be found even amongst some who are themselves frequently the target of /those people syndrome/. I am referring to those in the magical community who feel that AMER should not: defend the religious rights of certain magical groups, and/or allow them to join AMER. I understand the fears of those who feel that associating with /those people/ will provide certain religious fanatics with grist for their mill, and I share this concern. Nevertheless, if we allow others to dictate with whom we may associate or whose rights we may defined, then we have already lost some of our own. There is a great deal more to tolerance than merely saying that you support another person's constitutionally guaranteed rights. You must be willing to come to their defense when those rights are threatened, even if you find their beliefs and practices personally repugnant! It is tragic indeed that on the 200th anniversary of the Bill of Rights that so many have forgotten what our founding fathers learned from bitter experience. I pray that it is not to late to change that. If we succeed there may well come a day when no one is persecuted for being one of /those people/. If we all work together, then that day may come soon. /end of article/

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