by David Adrian on Wed Aug 22, 2001 1:57 am
Okay, I've had half a shift to think about it, and I'm no longer speechless. (No, wait. That isn't even the BAD news!) So here goes... But first...<P>WARNINGWARNINGWARNINGWARNINGWARNINGWARNING<P>WHAT FOLLOWS IS MY PERSONAL OPINION. I FEEL VERY STRONGLY ABOUT THIS, AND WHAT I SAY MAY, AND PROBABLY WILL, OFFEND THOSE WHO ARE HYPERSENSITIVE. THINK ABOUT IT, AND IF YOU DECIDE I'M WRONG, FIND AN AMERICAN CRIMINAL LIBERTIES UNION DISHRAG TO CRY ON. Thank you.<P>[Rant Mode: ON]<P>Taking sexual advantage of a person while their reason is incapacitated by emotion is RAPE, pure and evil. It makes no difference whether or not the victim recognizes it as rape, then or later. To me, this is a worse class of crime than non-sexual assault, theft, or even murder. Rape is the most heinous crime I can think of. The thought alone is so repulsive as to make me nauseous, and I hardly think I'm alone in this.<P>At some level, Joe recognizes this, and cannot tolerate the thought of such an action. For this, he should be lauded, not libeled.<P>Do not think that this is a statement against premarital sex: as I've posted elsewhere, I have... unconventional viewpoints on that issue. Nor is this about 'statutory rape'. That phrase is, to me, the third most rediculous circumlocution the legal profession has ever produced, right behind (2) pornography and (1) indecent exposure. The issue that raises my ire is just what I've stated: taking advantage of a person who is not capable of defending themself, and taking the opportunity to twist something that should be the most wonderful thing in the world into an act of enslavement.<P>Joe may not have the words (yet), but emotionally he understands everything that I am stating and implying here. He recognizes the situation for what it is, and he is refusing to take that first step down the road to owning another human being. For this, he is being slandered by certain moral slugs (apologies to the arthropods). I'm sorry, but I won't condone that.<P>I've been in this situation, and I chose the road Joe is taking. I paid the same price that Joe is paying (the moral vegetables existed back then, too), and you know what? It was worth it. I'd do it again. <P>So let the creeps keep their anonymity. But know this: anyone who can think about what's happening in the strip, consider what Joe has chosen, and still honestly and seriously think that Joe deserves contempt for his choice, has forfeited their right to be a human being. They might walk upright, they might be articulate, they might even be house-broken, but ultimately, they're feral animals - not socialized enough to be trusted, and not natural enough to survive on their own.<P>[Rant Mode: OFF]<P>Any questions?