One thing that can irritates me more than just about anything is people putting words in my mouth. You read far too much into my comment. I usually don't go off on a tangent, but I wanted RM95 to be aware that 'I have nieces and nephews' would not necessarily help him fully empathize with what a parent feels. That's all. I NEVER said what you said I did, which was: "No one with children would say something like that". If I thought that "being a parent" was a relevant point, I would have stated so quite clearly. If that's what you meant, I'll withdraw the accusation. Though, reading over that section again, I still can't see how I can really come to any other conclusion than the one I did. But, if you say you didn't mean that, I'll take you at your word. I'll concede the point since it is important anyway to mine. There were a couple of posters that used child-rearing as some sort of credential. The argument is not a JV vs. Cohen thing. I was also responding to NJRocket, Sonny and everyone. Sorry JV, no offense, but I call BS on that explanation...er, excuse. Us parents can recognize those quickly. BS? I suppose this is the same deal on the other side: ascribing motives that the author denies having. I'll tell you that my explanation was sincere. If you don't want to believe that, that's fine. I suppose we can leave it at that.
I cannot fathom how a parent would not want to know whether or not they live next door to a person convicted of child molestation. Not a chance.
Did we ever determine that I didn't have any kids? Anyway, Cohen, look at NJRocket's posts to see what I mean. NJ, I would agree that I probably would (you see, I don't have any kids yet) want to know about neighboring child molesters if I were a parent. That doesn't make it right.
My comment was not baseless: You stated that parents' opinions on the matter should be treated as we treat the molesters' opinion, i.e. ignored. To later claim that you were only belittling parents' views to draw attention to what you perceived as belittling of non-parents, doesn't sound like the whole story, eh? Whatever. I understand your points about allowing offenders to have a second chance and some apparently do not repeat offenses. Don't agree with all, but I don't see either side being entirely right or wrong...it's a balancing act like many of the controversial topics we discuss here.
Cohen, I don't know why you and I keep going through this except that neither of us know when to quit. You stated that parents' opinions on the matter should be treated as we treat the molesters' opinion, i.e. ignored. I don't recall saying that molesters' opinions should be ignored. If you'll recall what I had to say about voting rights for the convicted, I think it is a bad idea to take away the political voice of felons. Each person should have one (and only one) vote. To later claim that you were only belittling parents' views to draw attention to what you perceived as belittling of non-parents, doesn't sound like the whole story, eh? Whatever. It is easy to draw implications when you quote selectively and out of context. First I had posted this: Which was unfortunate because I was trying to cram a big idea into a little parenthetical in a sentence that was talking about a completely different thing. When ya'll called me out on it, I realized my miscommunication and posted this, I'll refer you to the two bolded statements (which, incidentally, you managed to cut around when you were making your quote from this same post). I think it is pretty clear in explaining that my intent that it was a counter-argument to the "you don't have kids" argument. I will grant that, "his not having kids is to his credit on this argument," was a bit over-the-top and doesn't logically flow from the preceding argument. That, more accurately, should have been "his not having kids is -- if anything -- to his credit on this argument." But, I don't think that much obscures the rest of it were I make plain my intent. It's silly to do this minute explication of the text and I wouldn't bother ordinarily. But, after you gave me a hard time about I think you could at least do me the courtesy of not doing the exact same thing to me. Edited to fix the quoting tags.
I can't fathom releasing someone from prison that you felt was dangerous enough to warrant requiring them to register everytime they moved. There's a difference in wanting to know and balancing the line between what you perceive as violating someone's civil rights and protecting your children. BTW, I'm done with this thread. Damn you JV for bringing it back up.
