Posted by Scott L. Schofield on January 4, 2000, at 11:33:35
In reply to More, posted by Cass on January 4, 2000, at 1:01:49
> > Do you exclude those who self-medicate using drugs that induce violent behaviors in five percent of those who take them? Should such drugs remain available so that the majority for whom they produce pleasant effects can have them.
> Isn't that also true of anti-depressants and other psychotropic drugs? Prozac got quite a bit of bad press at one time for the violent behavior that it induced. Halcion did too.I guess that’s what doctors and prescriptions are good for.
> Again, regulation could decrease that danger for those who take street drugs.
I hope so. It’s hard to know who to trust as far getting information is concerned.
> > How would YOU go about defining the word “victim”? Perhaps I would not agree with all of your choices. Perhaps a majority of individuals would not agree with all of your choices. That is why we have laws.> Victims are usually the recipients of malice or negligence.
I like this definition. I think I would add greed in their somewhere.
> In the case of prostitution, if someone is simply offended by the occupation, they are not a victim.
That sounds good.
However, sometimes I think the prostitutes themselves are the victims. Perhaps some have been neglected by society – live on the streets or work them. Also, I cringe when I think about those pubescent girls who are sold by, or stolen from, their families in the Thai country side to be enslaved in houses of prostitution in Bangkok.
> I am often offended by the narrow-mindedness and intolerance of people who consider themselves "religious,"…
Me too.
> but I do not consider myself a victim of them. I can live my life separate from them.
Fortunately, this statement can be made by most of us living in the U.S. over the past thirty years or so. (Crusades, holocaust, Ku Klux Klan, Muslim holy wars, etc.)
> I feel that their intolerance has a negative effect on society as do many others believe that prostitution has a negative effect on society. We cannot make laws against everything which is offensive or even potentially destructive. Nothing would be legal.
Man. Religion and Politics…
- Scott
poster:Scott L. Schofield
thread:17775
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000101/msgs/17981.html