That’s the feeling I got too. It’s difficult to take such articles seriously, articles that parse what people said in minute detail with insertions of conclusions for the reader to agree with. It’s like the reader is being led on to the conclusion the writer wants.
IMO Stallman has no idea what he’s talking about and drawing arbitrary lines in the sand, but doing so on a subject that people feel very strongly about - and it’s not a harmless debate about vim vs emacs, but actual human experiences. Topics involving young people evoke something in most people and Stallman is treading right into it. Well, at least in the cherry-picked quotes he is. I have no desire, time, nor will to read investigate what some dude thinks on the topic.
You’re right, DeVault probably made a leap in accusing Stallman of describing sex with teenagers socially acceptable. But I can see where he comes from since Stallman is very insistent on the delineation of children and teenagers especially when child sexual abuse cases are in the news.
On the second point, I think he did say that attraction to minors is normal. He defined adolescents as minors before and he’s saying attraction to them is normal here.
As an example of exaggeration: one mailing referred to these teenagers as “children”, even the one that was 18 years old. Many teenagers are minors, but none of them are children.
So I believe that he thinks that a “minor” is someone who is below the age of 18. “Many teenagers are minors” meaning not all of them since 18 and 19 year-olds are not minors but the rest are. I think this is a good-faith interpretation of what Stallman means. Stallman also said
In this case, the effect of that mislabeling is to smear Wilson. It is rare, and considered perverse, for adults to be physically attracted to children. However, it is normal for adults to be physically attracted to adolescents. Since the claims about Wilson is the latter, it is wrong to present it as the former.’
Thus, he most likely means that the adolescents he was referring to are minors. Unless he counts 18-25 year-olds as adolescents which is very unlikely in my opinion. Unless something is wrong here with my interpretation, DeVault asserting that Stallman thinks being attracted to minors is normal is a totally reasonable thing to say.
OK I see the problem here. When I see the word “minor” I think of a teenager. Usually when someone says minor they mean not-quite-an-adult, not necessarily all people under 18. I don’t think your interpretation of DeVault is fair here to be honest.
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That’s the feeling I got too. It’s difficult to take such articles seriously, articles that parse what people said in minute detail with insertions of conclusions for the reader to agree with. It’s like the reader is being led on to the conclusion the writer wants.
IMO Stallman has no idea what he’s talking about and drawing arbitrary lines in the sand, but doing so on a subject that people feel very strongly about - and it’s not a harmless debate about vim vs emacs, but actual human experiences. Topics involving young people evoke something in most people and Stallman is treading right into it. Well, at least in the cherry-picked quotes he is. I have no desire, time, nor will to read investigate what some dude thinks on the topic.
You’re right, DeVault probably made a leap in accusing Stallman of describing sex with teenagers socially acceptable. But I can see where he comes from since Stallman is very insistent on the delineation of children and teenagers especially when child sexual abuse cases are in the news.
On the second point, I think he did say that attraction to minors is normal. He defined adolescents as minors before and he’s saying attraction to them is normal here.
Removed by mod
Stallman said
So I believe that he thinks that a “minor” is someone who is below the age of 18. “Many teenagers are minors” meaning not all of them since 18 and 19 year-olds are not minors but the rest are. I think this is a good-faith interpretation of what Stallman means. Stallman also said
Thus, he most likely means that the adolescents he was referring to are minors. Unless he counts 18-25 year-olds as adolescents which is very unlikely in my opinion. Unless something is wrong here with my interpretation, DeVault asserting that Stallman thinks being attracted to minors is normal is a totally reasonable thing to say.
Removed by mod
OK I see the problem here. When I see the word “minor” I think of a teenager. Usually when someone says minor they mean not-quite-an-adult, not necessarily all people under 18. I don’t think your interpretation of DeVault is fair here to be honest.
Removed by mod