I used to get as offended as yourself when these discussions ensued.

Now, I've come to a different conclusion based on:

point: it is just part of human nature to digress
point: it is easy to avoid those topics in which one has no interest.
point: I now find it rather charming that people who gather to share one
interest care about and respect each other enough to share other topics that
concern them.

It's what makes community.

"Elizabeth Brown" wrote in message
...
This newsgroup is being ruined by all of the off topic threads. Go
somewhere else with you politics, race, war, and etc. Let us just garden.