Trapped by your own 'all cultures are equal' mantra. What a shame. We have had to welcome bigots, racists, religious nutters and vile cultural practices. To sell it to us and to make it more palatable we were fed the usual tripe of 'all cultures are equal' and 'diversity is our strength' and 'we are the envy of the world' plus a few others.

Professor, if you have come up against an intolerant society in the USA just treat them like new arrivals. Pretend their faults are what will make your society stronger. You'll have to learn to tolerate their intolerance. We've had to. It can and will enrichen society. It's most uplifting.

Pleae forgive my post if it conveys the theme of schadenfreude. It is not intended.

Why should people tolerate something they find quite intolerable? The good professor obviously doesn't.

I find it intolerable that school kids are being used as political pawns under the guise of "tolerance".

Gawd, not another homosexual pusher so soon.

The pilgrim fathers fled England not because they want to to create a tolerant free for all but because they couldn't rid the English church of unbiblical practices, ie bishops and the like.

A pity that New Amsterdam didn't have a bigger influence on US values.

I am not sure why tihs article is in an Austrlaian forum though. Surely we haven't run out of local topics to discuss.

What an entirely dignified way of protesting. And how amazing that the act of just being quiet for a day inspired such vitriolic responses.

Gandhi would be proud, I think.

Like rats from a drain pipe so the conservers come slivering from their holes to spit their hate.

The only rat spitting hate is you Kenny. Can you tell me why people should not give their opinions regarding something they view as objectionable? It's not like the school had to bring in police or security to protect the silent protesters. (Unlike some universities in this country). For someone who obviously views themselves as a tolerant progressive you are a better hater than any conservative I know.
Grow up Kenny - either debate or shutup.

If you will excuse the pun, the article is a little left of field. Like so much of the 'only in America' stuff we see, the author, like so many, doesn't like people who disagree with them. The same would complain about George Bush being prescriptive...

Whilst I would be a bit annoyed at my children's school being hijacked to promote any number of 'tolerance' day (drug users, underage drinkers etc etc) I would exercise my parental 'boycott' and keep the children away.

Like a local media commentator, Julia Baird, as much as she may like to equate the average Joe's dislike of some behaviours as 'Taliban' fundementalism, the reality is that we tolerate this departure from our societal norms as we do not consider violence against these people as a solution. That said, nor should we be left in a position where our rights and beliefs are those -and only those- that we as a community can agree upon or the result of the majority sitting back and do nothing for the sake of not offending.

Notions of what 'secular democracy' is, cannot exist in a vacuum devoid of history and tradition