Re: The real problem with hate crime legislation

[Dale Goble <gobled@uidaho.edu>]

Briana -- Mallard Fillmore was a response to your earlier posting which
seemed to me to create a red herring (if not an ad hominen) rather than
addressing the issues.

The heated rhetoric employed by the Trent Lotts and the Pat Robertsons
-- the claims that gays are attempting to destroy the American family,
that they are sinners, and the like -- demonizes a group and seeks to
exclude them from the body politic.  As such, it creates a moral climate
in which people who attack gays can see themselves as defending American
values. 

The after-the-fact hand wringing strikes me as hollow: if you direct hate
at something or somebody then you should not be surprised when others
repsond with actions.

dale


On Mon, 26 Oct 1998, Briana LeClaire wrote:

> Attacking the messenger and not the message, I see.  Sure, I'll take
> Mallard Fillmore (is that who you meant?) as the cartoon
> representative of my point of view.
> 
> If you want to address issues, then do so.  How would you try to
> prevent people from killing one another?
> 
> Dale Goble <gobled@uidaho.edu> wrote:
> > 
> > Oh, sharp and cutting: Doonesbury-like.  Does that mean that your
> > worldview is Millard Filmorish?  And does categorizing worldviews as
> > cartoons appreciably advance discussion of important issues?
> > 
> > 
> > On Mon, 26 Oct 1998, Briana LeClaire wrote:
> > 
> > > Professor Goble, I realize there is probably little I can say or
> do to
> > > change your Doonsbury-like worldview.  However, for the record, it
> is
> > > my firm belief that the vast majority of those who dislike
> homosexual
> > > behavior, including Trent Lott and Pat Robertson, do not hate the
> > > people who engage in that behavior.