Reply #172: I assure you...

[trotsky]

that if you had made coherent arguments, I would have paid attention to them.

Look, we are approaching this from fundamentally different positions. You continue to cite fictional PLAYS as "proof". The works of Shakespeare are FICTION, dude. They didn't really happen. Do you understand? Can you comprehend the difference between FICTION and REALITY? It would be like me pointing to "Goodnight Moon" as proof that little bears really do sit on chairs.

Here in the REAL WORLD, criminals can and do escape consequences for their actions. Have you never seen the show Unsolved Mysteries? Hint: they're "unsolved" for a reason.

The rest of our disagreement stems from what exactly constitutes an "equal but opposite reaction." Personally I don't think it's very "equal" for untold tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis to have been slaughtered just so Shrubco could get their oil, and EVENTUALLY Iraq might just be able to stand on its own. We don't know that. They might just end up in worse straits under an Islamic theocracy. As compared to life under a secular dictator, it's hard to know which is worse.

And it is indeed backing off to simply say that actions have repercussions. That much is obvious - the negative repercussions of a rape are immediately felt by the victim. But the rapist might only have "positive" repercussions - his rage was released, his violence against women made him feel better. And if he gets away with it, that might just be all he ever feels.

And pointing to a written WORK OF FICTION isn't going to convince anyone otherwise.