À Ghraidh,

        When we allow our history to be distorted to our families’ detriment, so as to promote the agenda of others, whether it be the Queen of England, the President of The United States, their sycophants, some corporation’s financial interest, or some group’s political platform; the most pathetic victims are always the children, and the grandchildren, and generations for centuries to come. On the other side of the issue, when anyone falsely defames another, the liar’s honor is compromised and, again, his children have lost their right to be a part of an honorable family, even if they are royalty. By the same token, if we merely stand by and knowingly allow defamation to occur, we are dishonored as if we had done it ourselves. We are our brother’s keeper. The dishonor is especially egregious when it is our leaders, those charged with defending us, who defame us.

        And so we defend our ancestors’ good names, not so much to honor them or ourselves, as for the children, while we restrain ourselves from dishonorable conduct, for our children, that they may know, be guided by, and take pride in their heritage. Of course it is more complicated than that. Exposing evil or wrong doing is not defamation. But I hope we can agree that family honor is important, that it has nothing to do with pride, arrogance or illusions of superiority, and that the failure to defend it always has undesirable consequences, often profound.

        We therefore invite you to visit us at http://macdonnellofleinster.org for a novel discussion of multiple occurrences of fraud, defamation and genocidal murder committed against Clan Donald by the British Government, their sycophants and others over a period of centuries. From our Menu page, select “This Month’s Feature.” At the bottom of the Feature Page you will find a submenu of prior features. We especially invite your attention to the articles on “Clan Donald Badges,” “MacDonald Heraldry” and “The Honor Of The Children Of The Noble World Mighty,” as well as to our History pages, which contain numerous accounts of atrocities which, somehow, are omitted from the conventional histories. We cherish your comments, and from some, your apologies, so that we may finally restore good will within the family.

Le deagh dhùrachd,

Iain Guth
Seannache,
The MacDonnell Of Leinster Association

        Obviously, our letter was not an attack on anyone except those who have defamed us, was not promoting any particular philosophy or theology, and could not reasonably be construed as advocating the Roman Catholic Church. After all, as I have stated frequently throughout this website, I am an ordained Presbyterian Deacon. Nevertheless, this is the response I received from Mark Charles Fissel, who teaches history at Augusta State University in Augusta, Georgia:

From: "Mark Charles Fissel" <mfissel@aug.edu>
To: "iain guth" <iainguth@bellsouth.net>
Sent: Sunday, November 19, 2006 12:26 PM
Subject: Re: A Matter Of DISHonor

Shove it up your arse, you Fenian papistical bastard. MCF

        There are several conclusions one might draw, and questions to be posed, from this “invitation.”

        1. Mr Fissel is not sufficiently familiar with the English language, or with American standards of tolerance, and does not possess the common civility or basic intelligence required to teach at the college level in The United States. What sort of person, no matter what he believes, would so expose himself and his university to ridicule by publicly posting such a comment?

        2. Since I am not Catholic, perhaps Mr Fissel is actually complaining about my having Irish ancestors, which would brand him as merely being an ignorant racist. (He apparently doesn’t care that I also have Scottish and English ancestors, including the Balls of Stafford in Virginia, Martha Washington’s family, and Colonel George Maxwell, who fought under John Sevier at the Battle of Kings Mountain in The American Revolution.)

        3. Long established British policy of dividing the people of Ulster by promoting hatred and intolerance in order to facilitate British rule and profit, has obviously been allowed to creep into American schools. What was the provost of Augusta State thinking when he allowed this bigot to teach Georgia’s children? What standards does the State of Georgia apply to its teachers?

        But we want to thank Professor Fissel for reminding us why we are engaged in this association, why it is needed, and for emphatically showing the world how relevant and timely it is.

        Aye!

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