Living in a PC world
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 17,288
Likes: 39
From: Nashville
WEll, I for one understood the Humor in it, and appreciated it.
I appreciated it soo much, I started a new thread when I noticed it was gone... and just for fun, after all the whiners (hehe) got done saying how distastefull it was, i deleted that thread just for spite
Show of hands - how many of us have talked about someone else's mom??? ME! Because it is fun! and joking!
O well...to each their own. I don't think there is too much that anyone could say or post on the internet that will be too offesive to me.
I appreciated it soo much, I started a new thread when I noticed it was gone... and just for fun, after all the whiners (hehe) got done saying how distastefull it was, i deleted that thread just for spite
Show of hands - how many of us have talked about someone else's mom??? ME! Because it is fun! and joking!
O well...to each their own. I don't think there is too much that anyone could say or post on the internet that will be too offesive to me.
Registered User
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 3,307
Likes: 2
From: Austin
Silver S2K, believe it or not, A Modest Proposal crossed my mind during this debate a while ago. I believe that the difference is that there are sadists who would do cruel things to animals with relatively no punishment, even if they were caught (the laws in this country on animal abuse leave me completely cold) at even a joking suggestion just because they don't like cats and don't place any value on their lives. These same people wouldn't THINK to roast a baby and eat it (or have someone else eat it), therefore,A Modest Proposal, while just as sick a joke, has satirical value.
It is also notable that A Modest Proposal, like many literary pieces which otherwise would have little value, was written and retains literary value because of the circumstances under which it was written and the history surrounding it. Imagine if someone wrote the same thing today, without the same circumstances feeding into it, and I think that A Modest Proposal would not have seen its way into print!
This article: http://www.lisco.com/noahsark/fl0310.html is a perfect example of the attitude that I was referring to when I said that some people place no value on the life of an animal and why posts like the one in question offend me the way they do. It is notable that the people who committed the crime in the article got more time and punishment for breaking and entering than they did bludgeoning 20 cats to death and injuring 7 others because the court determined that the cats' lives had no "monetary" value, hence the remark about the laws in this country regarding animal cruelty leaving me cold.
Oh, and Scot, you may see those of us who don't agree with you as whiners, but I think I can speak for the whiners in saying that we find your attitude and insensitivity to other people's opinions on the matter repulsive. How nice to see that when you post a thread and don't get the answers you want, you delete it...
It is also notable that A Modest Proposal, like many literary pieces which otherwise would have little value, was written and retains literary value because of the circumstances under which it was written and the history surrounding it. Imagine if someone wrote the same thing today, without the same circumstances feeding into it, and I think that A Modest Proposal would not have seen its way into print!
This article: http://www.lisco.com/noahsark/fl0310.html is a perfect example of the attitude that I was referring to when I said that some people place no value on the life of an animal and why posts like the one in question offend me the way they do. It is notable that the people who committed the crime in the article got more time and punishment for breaking and entering than they did bludgeoning 20 cats to death and injuring 7 others because the court determined that the cats' lives had no "monetary" value, hence the remark about the laws in this country regarding animal cruelty leaving me cold.
Oh, and Scot, you may see those of us who don't agree with you as whiners, but I think I can speak for the whiners in saying that we find your attitude and insensitivity to other people's opinions on the matter repulsive. How nice to see that when you post a thread and don't get the answers you want, you delete it...
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 17,288
Likes: 39
From: Nashville
Sondra,
I don't take too much too seriously (except for the welfare of my children). I just play along and am amused by the dumbest of things, including deleting that thread yesterday. Sorry i offended anyone by deleting it, but i thought it was funnier than you guys deleting Loki's.
Childish behavior is one of my specialties.
Scot (AKA.. Mojo Jojo)
I don't take too much too seriously (except for the welfare of my children). I just play along and am amused by the dumbest of things, including deleting that thread yesterday. Sorry i offended anyone by deleting it, but i thought it was funnier than you guys deleting Loki's.
Childish behavior is one of my specialties.
Scot (AKA.. Mojo Jojo)
Registered User
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,197
Likes: 0
From: NYC
I happen to think that creulty to animals is very troubling and I have a hard time not imagining the horror of a life spent at the hands of torturers. I also believe that the world is capable of being a very cruel place, even without the aid of human dementia. I tend to view human cruelty toward animals as more "effect" than "cause". In any case, when I see a big thing hurting a small thing, my impulse is to intervene (unless the small thing is a cab driver).
But exactly what rights do animals have? Why are human beings prohibited from being cruel to animals? Is it wrong to kill a weak animal for food? Is it wrong to kill the same animal for sport? If so, is it just as wrong for a cat to kill a mouse for sport? Is man held to a higher standard than other animals based on his ability to reflect on himself? Do other animals really lack this quality? Is there some unnammed social and/or psychological benefit to a balanced and controlled release of the hunting instinct in man? Do we recoil because this kind of cruelty is distasteful, or is our revulsion based on a higher authority? I doubt anyone has answers to any of these questions.
One thing we do know is that, while people are not free to do as they please, people *are* free to say whatever they like. Here on the moderated messaged board, the community voice (including its moral filters) prevails; but keep in mind that you do not necessarily stand on firm moral ground when you take away a person's right to parody in favor of an animal's right to be left alone.
But exactly what rights do animals have? Why are human beings prohibited from being cruel to animals? Is it wrong to kill a weak animal for food? Is it wrong to kill the same animal for sport? If so, is it just as wrong for a cat to kill a mouse for sport? Is man held to a higher standard than other animals based on his ability to reflect on himself? Do other animals really lack this quality? Is there some unnammed social and/or psychological benefit to a balanced and controlled release of the hunting instinct in man? Do we recoil because this kind of cruelty is distasteful, or is our revulsion based on a higher authority? I doubt anyone has answers to any of these questions.
One thing we do know is that, while people are not free to do as they please, people *are* free to say whatever they like. Here on the moderated messaged board, the community voice (including its moral filters) prevails; but keep in mind that you do not necessarily stand on firm moral ground when you take away a person's right to parody in favor of an animal's right to be left alone.
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