As I was the one who used the 'iron fist' reference, may I clarify that that was also my experience, as stated. It was your "big leap" FBM, to apply it to "those of us" and personalize it.
And there are cultural differences in the world (no quotation marks needed --- there is a world and I'm not using the word ironically), many of which have both been imported into the US and have influenced both American culture and law. Cultural differences are not an attack on anyone's values or opinions.
This is a conservative country. Why do people with conservative views regard themselves as swimming against the tide? "Conservative rebel" seems like quite an oxymoron
