hi chris,
that is a very wise and mature reaction. i think you'll find that overall we do like a good joke around here ; but in this case you have hit on a rather touchy and complex subject. i'm glad you'd prefer to take this thread as a lesson and move on rather than keep a heated discussion going ; it's really appreciable to see everyone making an effort to maintain the pleasant ambiance on mobileread.
please do take a look around some of the other posts ; the lounge is full of silly threads for relaxing a bit (and you can get an idea of the tone of humour which is more appreciated here by reading a few of them) and there are also some really knowledgeable and helpful people on this forum for all your technical questions.
i hope your next joke will be more widely appreciated.