Why?

Okay, I've been watching this thread with some disgust for a while now. I'm not really sure if i should even bother replying, but i guess i will anyway. It seems to me that the root of this whole thread is that some people don't agree with other people. Is this stating the obvious? Maybe, but it hasn't been addressed. It's a fact in a world as big as ours, with people as diverse as they are, that not everybody is going to agree with everything you think or believe. This in and of itself is not a problem. What is a problem is when I start thinking less of another person because they don't believe the same as I do. I think an example is in order. I have strong religious beliefs. Most of the people I work with don't have the same beliefs that I do. This doesn't mean that they are any less valuable as humans. It doesn't mean that I am superior to them. It doesn't mean that I should respect them less because they think differently than I do. I might even try to convince another person to join my religion/sect/denomination/whatever. If he/she joins me, great. If he/she doesn't, it doesn't mean that he/she is any less of a person or deserves any less respect because of it. Okay, the example is long-winded but I think it applies directly to Classic Computer Collecting. Most of us have political, religous, or moral beliefs. Most of the people on this list have beliefs about Classic Computer Collecting as well. I'm sure for many on this list, computer beliefs rank right up there with the others. It's only natural that a person who believes a classic computer should be kept in operational condition will react negatively to a another wishing to remove the CPU from a functional computer, rendering it non-functional. This person may even try to convince the other to not do it. Does this mean that either of these people is superior to the other? No. They simply believe different things. Back to the religion thing again... If I was giving something away, and a person wanted it to use it for some purpose which I am 'religiously' opposed to (I can't think of a good example off hand) I would probably try to find someone else to take the item. I think that this should be my right. (I do have the right to practice my religion, don't I?) I hope you can see how this applies directly to the computer issue. This is getting to be a much longer email than I had intended, and I could keep going on, but the short of it is: We all have our reasons for collecting (I think someone already said that in this thread) and we shouldn't think we are superior to another because they think differently. This also goes the other way. We shouldn't feel attacked just because someone else doesn't believe the same as we do and maybe even tries to convince us to believe the same as them. I just deleted another three lines... I really should stop here. This mailling list is supposed to be fun. Let's keep it that way. ttfn srw (Sorry about using 'they' and 'them' in singular context. I'm choosing politically correct over grammatically correct :-)