>>>>Thank G-d plants and trees and animals, fish and birds and the majority of mankind are not jewish. [...]
>>>
>>>>The statement could also have been: Thank G-d, he only forced the jews and not the plants and trees and animals, fish and birds and all other mankind.
>>>
>>>>In essence there is no difference in both statements
>>>
>>>I completely disagree.
>>>
>>>Taken at face value, your first statement implies relief at the fact that there aren't more Jewish people in the world. Your second statement expresses relief to God that the stricter laws were only given to Jews and not everyone else.
>>>
>>>Sometimes, message boards can be the worst places to communicate because the intent, or nuance, of the words can be very easily misinterpreted by the reader(s). Something to think about.
>>
>>Something to think about? Not by me. Perhaps by you. The first statement does NOT imply 'relief at the fact that there aren't more Jewish people in the world'. You make that up. It is hyper sensitivity.
>
>Peter,
>
>I've not made anything up. If anything, I'm trying to point out to you why you experienced a negative reaction to your comment. Perhaps you're not familiar with the phrase "taken at face value". If that's the case, here's a link that explains what it means: http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/take+at+face+value. When reading your original statement, it's not possible for everyone to hear your delivery, or see your facial expression, or read your mind to make it obvious it was the joke you intended. This is the reason I wrote the second statement.
>
>As for my second statement, I'm surprised you got so defensive, or dare I say hyper-sensitive, over something that's clearly very neutral and factual. Communication solely by text inevitably leads to misunderstandings, which has been proven time and time again on this board. Believe it or not, I'm not attacking you. But if you choose to see it that way, then I guess there's not much else to talk about.
>
>Jon

Jon, the point is that you try to convince me that I should be more aware of how my words can be misinterpreted. I appreciate your concern, but really I'm aware of this since many years and I don't feel any need to think (again) about that. (See also one of my signatures.) I do my utter best to find the better words for what I intend to communicate. I also did in that case. And I'm still of opinion that you made something up. What you made of it, is not in the sentence. You suggest that I want to restrict the percentage of jews to what it is now. And that's what you made up.