The following letter was something Wysp brought home from work. It read at the bottom, "Via the internet", so some of you may have already seen it. The author's name was attached but I'm not sure if she would want it posted here so we'll just use her first name.

By the way, if she sees this or someone she knows sees it and she would rather I not have it up, let me know. It was not technically submitted by the author, however when something like this catches me, I have to act on it some how. Let it be known, I whole-heartedly agree with every word of it. ~Swyndle

Americans are a strange breed to the rest of the world. You have this jock-based society, which seems to exclude so many people-and then you wonder why those excluded become angry to the point of being dysfunctional. You have some of the tightest censorship laws in the world and yet you remain among the most ill when it comes to pornography, sex and child abuse and outrageous perversion. (We got the uncut version of Eyes Wide Shut, and I couldn't understand what all the fuss was about, as is the case with so many of the uncut films we see here in New Zealand.) As a society, you are not very honest, tolerant or compassionate, and yet Christiandom is what you keep spouting meaninglessly about on your revolting "spill-your-beans-and-we'll-fix-you" chat shows. You are voyeurs. You are myopic. You are shallow. Stop being so pathetically "moral", as it only makes you judgemental and gives you the (false) sense of being on a moral high ground. This is dangerously repressive, serving only to hurt those you so sanctimoniously wish to save.

Stop being so anal, America. Get real. Get true. Appreciate and celebrate diversity. Allow people to be themselves. I think you'll find that true morality, that inherent sense of what is right and wrong-whatever your religion, region, philosophy, socio-economic status or fashion sense, for that matter- will pervade. As for the Columbine killings and the many other atrocities like it, you need to look into yourselves, not just to the goths, or the Marylyn Mansons, or the many others that you view as "misfits" for blame. Maybe constant goading by the school's jocks contributed more to those boys finally losing it. Not the most comfortable place for white middle-class America to look i'm sure...

Petra via the internet

Uploaded 20th September 1999