[Cerek the Barbaric]

Originally posted by Rokenn: Cerek, sorry to take this out on you, please do not take it personally. You are one of the few rational conservatives on this board...

Ahhhhhhhh.....you're gonna make me blush. [img]graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

Originally posted by Rokenn: Very true, but thoughts proceed deeds. And the more we dehumanize each other, the more likely we (as a society) are likely to follow through on such ideas.

I'll have to meet you halfway on this one. I will agree that our society has become more "desensitized" to violence and the consequences of violent actions. There were never any stories of teenagers carrying guns to school and opening fire on their classmates 20 yrs ago. During the 90's, though, it became almost commonplace.

But I still believe that MOST individuals who express such thought are merely "venting their anger" and would not actually follow through on their actions - even if they had the chance.

Originally posted by Rokenn: "If you want to be outraged, then be outraged at the person who actually commits such "barbaric acts". *sigh* this is the kind of sophomoric arguments I hate about this place. To EVEN insinuate that I think what the father did was in any way not an act of evil is highly insulting, and in my mind a passive/aggressive flame hiding under a veil of sympathy for the victim in this case.. Also my post was a general observation on the tone of the 'crime and punishment' threads on this board, not on this case in particular. Which I feel was clear in what I wrote.

I sincerely apologize for the tone of that statement, Rokenn. I did not mean it as a flame in any shape, form, or fashion...but I can see now that the "insinuation" is there. I always try to treat everyone with respect, whether I agree with them or not, but I don't always succeed.

I have very strong feelings concerning the punishment of criminals who have murdered or tortured their victims and I have even stronger feelings against ANYBODY who harms a child in ANYWAY. As far as I'm concerned, NO punishment is too harsh for somebody who harms a child and I have no pity, sympathy or compassion for them in any way. I understand that is a terribly harsh view, but that is exactly how I feel. If I could, I would give them the EXACT same type of treatment they gave the child, so they could experience the same mind-numbing fear the child must have felt.

Unfortunately, such strong emotions sometimes leads to seeing things in black and white with no grey areas allowed. I should not have implied that you're disagreement with "torture fantasies" was the same as condoning the father's actions. I apologize again.

Originally posted by Rokenn: "Also, the only time you see these "barbaric" discussions is when the discussion concerns the punishment of somebody who actually committed some horribly barbaric act in REAL LIFE!" Not in every case, there have been cases as well were this 'blood lust for justice' has been spewed on only accused people. Like the case of the three med students that were thought to be terrorist traveling to Florida. In the aftermath of that case there was no clear cut evidence that they should have even have been under suspicion. Let alone measured, judged, and found wanting by the hanging judges of Ironworks.

To the best of my knowledge, I didn't follow that thread very much nor Reply there (at least I don't remember it if I did). While I don't believe the students should suffer any punishment for the incident, I do believe they are lying through their teeth about their remarks. I live in the South and I see all too often how many Northerners think we're nothing but a bunch of dumb country hicks. I firmly believe these three DID pull a rather stupid and sophomoric prank and tried to "freak the dumb country bimbo" out. I just don't think they thought it would go any farther than just scaring her.

{BTW, all the phrases in " " are strictly my own interpretative comments and/or observations and should not be considered a factual representation of anything they actually did or said}