Ca suffit! I am back from London and furious. And it has nothing to do with the fire in the Eurostar tunnel forcing me to take a very expensive flight from London Heathrow to Dusseldorf, Germany, to catch a connecting flight to Paris. Bad weather conditions in Germany make the initial flight two hours late departing, causing myself and 20 other Paris-bound passengers to spend the night in Dusseldorf. My mood has nothing to do with having little sleep, then getting on a 7 a.m. flight to Paris.

It has everything to do with the divisive us vs. them mentality deliberately being perpetuated by John McCain and his campaign. While I believe strongly in our constitutional right of freedom of speech, I also believe that when one expresses his or her views, respect is necessary. Knowing what you're talking about also helps.

Dissent, yes; incoherent rantings, no.

This week I began moderating comments on Paris Parfait, due to a few readers who seem determined to bend the world to their will - never mind the facts. For some reason these people have decided they own the high moral ground. They believe that they are right and that everyone else should just fall into line behind them, just because they say so. But they can't offer any sound arguments to support their views, so they resort to vile name-calling and abuse.

I have deleted these crazed "comments" to spare readers from the venom.

I grew up in a small Southern town not much larger than the one in which Sarah Palin was mayor. While I was exposed to racism, I didn't become a bigot, nor did my friends. In fact we actively campaigned against racial prejudice, supporting a Republican candidate who defeated the notorious racist governor of our state. I am a member of a Presbyterian church, but these days I embrace more of a spiritual philosophy, rather than staying within the confines of organised religion. I have friends from all faiths and respect their right to worship - or not - as they choose. But when it comes to politics, we shouldn't care about any of that, because the separation of church and state is one of the powerful principles on which the United States was founded.

I detest right-wing extremists who think religion should dictate our government. These small-minded people are exactly like their Muslim fundamentalist counterparts, who want to impose their strict religious views on society. And all of them are dangerous.

In their flag-waving showy-patriotism world, they want to set us back 100 years. They believe everything their candidates tell them, without stopping to question whether or not it's true. They want women's right to choose taken away, no matter the dire circumstances. They want to dictate what's taught in schools and ban books from public libraries. They want to stifle the free press; stamp out free speech and stem freedom of religion. In other words, they aim to rip apart the very fabric of our Constitution and its freedoms.

These so-called evangelicals are separatist and racist and believe their like-minded friends should have special privileges. They want to stop stem-cell research, even though it could ultimately lead to a cure for some of the world's most baffling diseases. With their "holier than thou" attitude, they talk and talk and talk about family values, but don't even know what the term means. Their views on sexuality don't respect the rights and choices of others. They don't understand the first thing about war's terrible toll and our tattered reputation on the world stage.

They know little about science, yet somehow are convinced that global warming has nothing to do with our actions. They think hurricanes and natural disasters are Divine punishment for our sins. They don't know much about the economy and never stop to wonder why in the richest country in the world, so many children are left behind. They don't concern themselves about their fellow citizens going to bed hungry, nor do they spare a thought about  health care and higher education being unaffordable for millions. They don't question why more and more people are losing their jobs and their homes and finding it difficult to pay bills. They probably haven't traveled much, because they have no clue about how the rest of the world lives - nor do they care to learn. In their world, everything is black and white. But the real world is bursting with color.

If these right-wingers really were Christian - in the true sense of the word - then they would know that Jesus Christ preached tolerance, acceptance and understanding - not hatred and division.

We reap what we sow. And at Paris Parfait, I will not help spread seeds of hatred. Dissent is welcome; poisoning the atmosphere with threats and warnings is not. Go play in your own pristine backyard.