...  picture Ayn Rand walking into the classrooms of Columbia University ...  and laying down some serious Objectivist sh#$ in front of the class. Complete with the forceful hand gestures and ... 

It’s evident that here are people scraping every possible exception out of the bag to oppose my quote. So, piece by piece:

Teresa, William and Steve: Ok, enhancing muscles add beauty to the human body…but this is not a tattoo, and I am speaking of tattoos and body piercing. Besides, there are also body building women and most of these look more like monsters than human FEMALE beings. Would you, Teresa, also state that they have brains in the sense I’ve put it? I’ll extend this a bit further. 1,000 years ago Abu l-'Ala al-Ma'arri (973 – 1057) stated: „Mankind is divided in two parts: those with brains and no religion and those with religion but no brains.“ At least I, for one, clearly understand what he meant that “religious people have no brains.” Of course religious people have brains… though they don’t use it to fulfill what characterizes a human being, i.e. a RATIONAL being. Thus, I perfectly understand what Ma’arr meant when he said that “those with religion have no brains” and no further explanation is necessary. There’s no need to search for exceptions, for none of these would dent one tiny little bit what Ma’arri said. As the saying goes: “A word to the wise is enough”. (Here, too, perhaps you need more than one word, but the sense is clear enough). Which, of course, also goes to you, William. No; cosmetic surgery is no disrespect to the human body, just as surgical improvements (in the case of breast cancer evidently MOST necessary) of all kinds aren’t. Here again, you are scraping the bottom of the bag to find excuses to oppose what I, like Ma’arri, meant by reducing the quote to its essentials. Else, William and Steve, tell me what Ma’arri should have done to satisfy you. What exceptions would he have had to cite? Please tell me, but remember that if he had gone with your wishes his quote would have lost every effect of what he wanted to transmit through, as they say, a punch in the eye of the reader. Kyle said that he doesn’t find men with pierced ears sexy. Would you, Teresa and you, William, agree with this… or do you think that this is a bodily beauty enhancement? Or would you rather agree with Jules statement that “I do see your point from the context that many ‘tattoo freaks’ are little more than brutes emulating the tribalist hordes.”
I understand that I made my case. The defense rests.
(Edited by Manfred F. Schieder on 2/06, 7:31am)

It’s evident that here are people scraping every possible exception out of the bag to oppose my quote.

So, piece by piece:, William and Steve: Ok, enhancing muscles add beauty to the human body…but this is not a tattoo, and I am speaking of tattoos and body piercing.

Would you, Teresa, also state that they have brains in the sense I’ve put it? I’ll extend this a bit further. 1,000 years ago Abu l-'Ala al-Ma'arri (973 – 1057) stated: „Mankind is divided in two parts: those with brains and no religion and those with religion but no brains.“ At least I, for one, clearly understand what he meant that “religious people have no brains.” Of course religious people have brains… though they don’t use it to fulfill what characterizes a human being, i.e. a RATIONAL being. Thus, I perfectly understand what Ma’arr meant when he said that “those with religion have no brains” and no further explanation is necessary.