I am a feminist, of the equal-pay for equal work/ don't subjugate women variety. My father and husband are classy men and I love them and respect them -- so man-hating is not part of my makeup.

In college, I majored in history and in my fairly rigorous history classes, I was genuinely was floored by the treatment of women throughout history in various cultures including this one, as I was floored by many other historical injustices.

In the few womyn's studies classes I took that were offered by the sociology department, well I encountered a lot less academic rigor and a lot more "male-bashing". (The kind that wants you to view every male as a potential rapist or wife beater). This was a co-ed university and the men in these classes who tried to disagree with the wisdom being dispensed faced harsh put-downs by the professors in these cases. I squirmed a lot, but appreciated what wisdom was offered. I think that it depends on where the professor is coming from. The women in these classes who were majoring in the topic seemed far more likely to have experienced date rape or molestation than not. Maybe their fathers were abusive or absent?

The main group project in one of the classes gained me and my classmates a very easy A, creating a compendium of offensive and misogynist pop music lyrics culled from the 1950s through the early 1990s, not too difficult a task.

So I can get where the feminist-hating trolls who populate these message boards get their notions, if they once tried to sit in on a class like that and faced harsh put downs for their comments. I can see where the plaintiff in the lawsuit might have an axe to grind. But if these men could for a moment consider that feminist studies, and feminists exist as a reaction to very real historical subjugation, maybe they could take a chill pill and drop the sword against feminists. A lot of women just want equal pay for equal work and are looking to pair up with nice guys who have self-respect and respect women as well. The trolls often start to sound like misogynist relics from another era, perhaps would have been happier when men like Aubrey Rueben, 76 could rule the world with their big swinging dicks and the working girls at the office were good for typing dictation and lunchtime affairs and not much more.

Quick.

You wrote:

"I never read Thich Nhat Hahn. I have studied Mahayana Buddhism, and done some meditation, and a cursory survey of important Mahayana sutras. You should give them both a shot (meditation and sutra study). There is a lot of wisdom waiting for you."

I have given them a shot. I have found them to be unneccessary and time consuming. Religious practice and belief is not a prerequisite to acting with compassion and doing good works. I don't have to feel guilty for this. I can find purpose and meaningfulness in the day to day practice of living.

If you can grasp the principal of mindfulness, living in the present, acceptance of change and set your mind toward treating others with compassion and kindness, you can orient your life in such a way that has goodness and meaning and a positive impact on others-- all without the confines of religious belief and practice.

You can just live your life in this manner and not dedicate every action to pleasing God or trying not to offend God.

All of the great (and not so great) spiritual ideas came from humans, not God. Discriminating modern minds can take a cafeteria approach and take the wisdom offered by various world religions while also disregarding the silliness and evil-minded baseness that all of the world's religions also espouse, but that is possible to do with secular literature and philosphy, too.

You can take the best humankind has to offer in terms of wisdom and love and call it "God" if you must, but thankfully, among free thinking nations, no one is compelled to take that additional step. Atheists are not the ones living in fear of hell and God's wrath. Whatever good works they do are motivated by human love, rationality and good intentions rather than fear.

I don't begrudge you characterizing your goodness in the context of religious faith and practice, but realize that it is not a pre-requisite to right and mindful living.