Isobel

I was pretty sure you wouldn't see it.

I have spent a lot of time reading the posts on this thread. It is a very sad society that looks at expressions of love and sees deviance and evil (and just to make it clear I am not referring to child abuse here..... homosexuality does not equal child abuse, just as heterosexual behavior does not equal rape). If you enjoyed the Harry Potter series prior to the author's statements, I cannot understand any justification for changing your mind now. Shouting or ranting about evil and immorality, is not a valid argument. I do have a suggestion for people who disapprove of the books..... um don't read them. Personally I am more disturbed by narrow minded bigots than I am by gay wizards. Isobel

If the majority disapproves of Arnold, how did he win the election? Maybe the majority is a bit more open minded than you realized?

Melanie, your daughter didn't go to school and that's a sad thing for you as a parent and for her as a young woman beginning to make her way in an adult world. It is a very sad thing that she had to make such a choice. It was probably the same choice I would have made. I have been reading all these comments and saw a few rants that ran off in all directions (I won't name names). The world is changing. I know it's hard but I think it is important to remember one of the biggest changes has been in communication and we are seeing and hearing things faster and more intensely than ever before. Is the world more dangerous? I suppose it is, it seems to be, but with so many "watchers" around, one wonders how the "bad people" are succeeding? How much of what we are seeing is real or reliable? I think it is also important to remember, it is in the best interests of some pretty powerful people for us to be afraid. The truth is we have always had dangers. Maybe it was easier to put these dangers out of our minds when we were not confronted with them every second of every day. Maybe the world is really worse than ever, but even it is, we have to live here and so do our children. Maybe we all need to take some time to deal with our stress. All you can do is look around and make choices based on what you know and what you see and make sure your little piece of the planet is as safe as you can make it. I don't have a lot of answers, but I wanted to offer support to your daughter for making her way in these difficult times. I also thought it was time this discussion went back to the original issue. Um, before I go, just one more thing. I don't want a society that puts people to death and I sure as Hell don't want a society where the accused have no representation......if you think life is scary today..... think back to the Spanish Inquisition days..... Ok, I did my first post .