From: Wayne Hayes (wayne@cs.toronto.edu)
Date: Wed Dec 24 1997 - 13:38:58 MST
Michael Lorrey <retroman@together.net> writes:
>a) require a certificate level license to reproduce
and later:
>Live Free or Die
Don't you see a glaring contradiction here? The label "hypocrite"
pops immediately to mind.
(PS: Lorrey had written "preproduce". I'm assuming that's a typo, and
have corrected it.)
>b) make child abuse a corporal crime (not necessarily a death sentence,
>but a public whipping or caning would be a good eye for an eye. For
>those of you thinking that this may at cross purposes to the goal of
>reducing violence, just think about what just the IDEA of publicly
>televised canings would do as a deterrent factor. An exection, IMHO is a
>poor deterrent, because the offender is not around afterward to live
>through the public humiliation.)
This I'm not so sure about, but it may actually work.
>c) Outlaw divorce while the children are minors.
This is really rich, Michael. "Live free or die", indeed. Pray tell us,
what brand of freedom is this?
>This would a) ensure
>that people thought long and hard about getting married, ensuring that
>only those truly commited would do it,
Outlawing divorce does not ensure that people will think long and hard
before getting married, any more than outlawing anything else makes
people think long and hard before breaking the law. Even smart people
sometimes end up getting a divorce, no matter how hard they think about
it beforehand. This proposal is also unenforcable. A marriage can
exist on paper while the partners are separated. Are you going to
force the partners to live under the same roof, too, even if they can't
get along? Are you not willing to admit that sometimes it is better
for a bad partnership to live apart? What about joint custody, so that
the child(ren) can still have both parents, just not simultaneously?
>b) eliminate the severe
>strife that typically occurs between divorcees, using kids as the pawns,
I think you have a warped view of what "typically occurs". *Sometimes*
children are used as pawns. But I personally know people who are divorced,
have joint custody, and seem to be doing just fine raising the kids. Sure,
it would be better if the parents got along and could live together. But
given that they can't, it seems better for them and for the children
that they live peacefully apart rather than violently together.
"Live Free or Die---except when you disagree with me."
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