The American presidential election

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I loathe both candidates. It is not merely that they are personally unattractive, although they certainly are; Bush with his fake Texas good ole boy manners learnt at Harvard, and Kerry with a hypocrisy so profound and elaborate that people do not even notice it, as you do not pay attention to the existence of the earth beneath your feet and the

Comments

Re: Marriage

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Sorry. You know perfectly well that you are looking for what are called, in Italian, "limit-cases", meaning not borderline cases so much as cases that just sneak over the line - in the case of abortion, it would be the psychologically damaged twelve-year-old raped by her father. This may be pleasant to argue about in a relaxed environment after dinner - tossing theoretical possibilities back and forth - but what we are talking about are large-scale, ultimate realities of human life. Besides, if I conceded something in this area, you know as well as I do that I would only be asked to concede more (one reason why I do not admit any reason whatever for abortion, in particular). And remember that an adopted parent is not the same as a blood parent; in fact, part of my argument was towards making them less so in the eyes of the law, which I currently find cruel and manipulative.

This is a subject which I do not touch with pleasure, because I am all too aware that it will strike personally a good many people I love and respect. It is literally impossible to make a negative judgement on any kind of sexual attitude without striking at people personally; which is why the notion that one attitude is as good as another, which is philosophically untenable (it would make space for rapists and violent paedophiles), is so popular. It's so much more pleasant not to be forced to confront your friend, a person to whom you maybe owe something, to whom you in any case owe affection, respect, even admiration. It's so much more pleasant to just let "consenting adults" do what they please. It is a terrible thing to have to be in a position where you do not approve, whether by implication or directly, of anyone's basic life choices; and I do not like it in the least. I would do almost anything to avoid it. And by the same token, I think I have done my best to concede as much as I reasonably can, but I do hold by certain principles, which are no doubt not popular in HP fandom right now, and which I try to state with as little force as possible in order not to hurt people - but in whose truth I ultimately believe. And I must be true to what I think is true, even if I lose friends for it.