I am a faithful lurker and amateur Twaiiniac. My two cents worth:
It seems that in principal Twain hated the one doing the oppressing. My
favorite example is after the boxer rebellion in China, the various churches
required financial renumeration (and some a life for a life) for each
Christian killed. and Twain railed publicly against the church. In this
instance it was the Chinese.
He also had lots to say in Circling The Equator about the oppression of the
brown people by western whites.I see a bit of empathetic whining in his
choice of who he chose to defend at the moment depending on the daily news.
His self righteousness had a part in his choices. He was a man who was
angry with God in the end. He seemed to take the side of the oppressed
andlay blame on the oppressors as well as God who made man in this fashion.
But I also believe that he could make friends with people of all kinds an
parsuasions as well and truly enjoy the fellowship. I remember a photograph
of George Washington carver that bears this out.
Sue Griffin
who is glad of all the posting going on