You’re welcome to believe that, of course. But it strikes me as naive. There are few if any “pure breds” in Brazil, but race remains a serious issue. This is also true in many African nations (e.g., Nigeria, Rwanda, et al.), where ethnicity/tribal affiliation becomes a dividing factor in the absence of significant racial distinctions. Homogeneity of skin color does not bring a community or nation together.

And why are racial homogeneity and “a blending of cultures” to be desired? I thought progressives favored diversity. Here you seem to be pushing for eradication of difference, domestication of the Other, total assimilation. That seems like a profoundly illiberal project.

Good luck with your coming marriage.

C.

– My father is the product of a Jewish-Protestant marriage. He was raised completely secularly with no religion at all (other than celebrating Christmas in a very non-religious way).

– My mother comes from a devout Lutheran family. A very large number of her relatives are ministers or married to ministers. She is actually less respectful of religion than my secular father because she saw first hand what she viewed as “hypocrisy” among church leaders.

– I was raised as a Unitarian and continue to identify as a Unitarian though I don’t go to church. My father insisted that I study Jewish history when I was a child. As a result, I have a very strong, perhaps irrational, sense of pride in and connection to my Jewish heritage, although I was not raised a Jew.

– My husband is a non-church going Catholic. He wants to join a Congregational church, although I have told him I would be happy to attend a Catholic church with him. He wants a church that is liberal enough for me without being “out there” like the Unitarians (as he put it). (He knows that I disapprove of the Catholic church’s denial of the priesthood to women, so he has independently decided that we should not attend a Catholic church.)

I find the Congregationalists very appealing, although I do not take communion as I do not consider myself Christian. My husband does take communiion at the Congregationalist church. We both are pretty comfortable with that. If we had kids, we could live with them attending the Congregationalist church (even though I would prefer Unitarian and my husband would prefer Catholic.)

I don’t know, I feel like we’re talking past each other here. Seems like it’s time to take the weekend off.

Can you prove that “interracial dating, particularly when it leads to marriage and children,… causes increased tolerance and understanding” or is that another one of your ‘theories-presented-as-fact?’ If you can prove this, then please do so, otherwise correct your post to clearly state that this is your opinion and not indeed a proven, verifiable fact.

I’m not convinced that interracial dating and marriage in and of itself leads to more tolerance and understanding. Rather, I believe that those who are amenable to interracial dating and marriage (like my parents) are already predisposed to tolerance and understanding.

Hugo, yours is a “chicken and egg” argument.