This is still being written, but here's what we have so far.

14. Question: "Then how do you suggest that the problem be solved? Obviously, in a multicultural society or a multicultural world, we do have to learn to live with people different from ourselves".
    
    
    
    
    

    Let us start by dispensing with a bad assumption that is built into that very question: that what we're talking about is "my" suggestion. I do no more than remind the reader of the solution that many places, Chicago included have found, with no viable alternative (that lasted long enough to become a societal norm) having ever been reported by a reputable source.
    
    
    There is, as we say, an art that goes into this. Part of it is that each culture develops certain customs which are applicable when those from another culture pay a visit. Another, very important part, is that we recognize that "visiting" is what we are doing. We do not imagine that there is a single community that includes all of the different subcultures. Rather, each subculture creates its own community. When we visit the community created by a subculture other than our own, we are as visitors in another person's home. We accept that the rules that conflicts are to be resolved under, are those of the subculture we are visiting.
    
    Rules may be challenged, should they be truly outrageous - such challenges come from within cultures and subcultures all of the time. The capacity for evolutionary change through the answering of such challenges is one of the things that seperates living cultures from stagnant ones. But such challenges are not made lightly, especially by visitors. It is through our hesitation to do that, as visitors to the distinct communities around us, and our recognition of their existence, that we make peace. It is a peace that has endured here, in Chicago and other multicultural places as well, for generations.
    
    "Peace in Chicago? What about that murder rate?", some will ask. It is high, admittedly. But most of the killings take place in the slums, and those are called "ghettoes" for a reason - they're relatively monocultural places. Most of the violence that is seen, is taking place within a culture. And some of the subcultures we have are truly troubled ones. But it is most unlikely that Bridgeport will be going to war with Chinatown anytime soon.
    
    That might sound like a joke, but it really isn't. Some really unfortunate historical experiences lead us to these hard-won understandings. There was a time, in the 19th century, when violent clashes between different cultures between different ethnic groups was commonplace and the streets ran red with blood. That should be a sobering thought for those who think that newly arising culture clashes are a problem that will just go away on its own. Quite the contrary, as history teaches us, if ignored, they will go from being a nuisance to being a hardship and ultimately a tragedy, should the subcultures involved be more than blips on the historical radar screen.







15. Question : "Aren't you being a little overdramatic? I mean, we're just talking about these little Pagan groups and you're talking about blood in the streets."
    
    
    
    
    

    Well, the real question is, how serious are you? When you talk about Paganism, should we take it as a serious religious statement or as being nothing more than a live role-playing game with theological pretensions? If it is the former, then to not ask the following question would be irresponsible : "what happens if these religions catch on?". Maybe we don't expect to see that happen very soon, but what about a few centuries down the road? And, let's not kid ourselves. There can be some very unfortunate incidents along the way. There already have been. If it is the latter, and you are not serious, then please go buy a "Dungeons and Dragons" kit, and stop wasting our time.
    
    The argument posed by this rhetorical question makes little sense, any way. If History teaches us that cultural clashes on a grand scale can make for great tragedies, then why would we imagine that on a small scale they would make for peace and harmony? If you hear about a flu outbreak killing millions in a place where vaccination is not available, do you then feel comfortable with the idea of you and your friends exposing yourselves to it on the basis that it would be "overdramatic" to compare any health problems you might have, to the deaths of millions? Great tragedies bring us real lessons about life works - lessons which we do well to heed in our day-to-day lives, even when the stakes aren't as high, because small tragedies matter, too.

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