Let's not forget the other favorite escape clause, "I don't mind but the children..." I think people are actually being honest when they say, "I'm not a prude/racist/etc." Few people see themselves that way. If I'm not fazed by NVIATWAS then clearly, I'm not prudish. Being offended by two nude Mikes holding hands clearly isn't prudery, right? Being able to work with people of another race obviously shows you're not a racist. Being opposed to interracial marriage is just the natural order of things, no? Tolerance is being able to move beyond the ingrained prejudices that we all have to at least accept that other people believe differently without feeling a need to trumpet our own virtue in their faces at every opportunity. It works both ways but I seldom see anyone being called a prude without them having first implied that someone else was a pervert. People should feel free to express their opinions but sometimes silence is more virtuous than voicing offense IMO. I think that the world was moving slowly toward increased tolerance but lately it seems that various political, religious and other forces are intent on rallying the troops for battle. Tolerance is now a sign of weakness. "Our values are being attacked, we must fight back or else..." Sad, but that's the way things seem to be going from my perspective.

"Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance." - H. L. Mencken