Reply #166: The substitution test:

[Wilmer]

Although it's not the sort of thing that any of us can prove, I share the impression of many here that the judge in this case is abusing his power, probably owing to his personal religious beliefs. Consequently, he's not fit to sit.

That said, I also tire of anti-Christians statements that fail the Substitution Test. I tried inserting the words "Muslim" and "Jew" and "Wiccan" and even "Atheist" in place of "Christian" in some of the remarks in this thread (especially the ones accompanied by statements like, "I know all about these people....!"), and came up with lots of new sentences that, I suspect, would have been purged from this site so fast our heads would spin.

But even more to the point: Had this been a case of a middle-aged male making sex noises within earshot of a 10-year-old girl playing just outside her home, I suspect a lot of participants in this thread would be reacting very differently, As in: 180 degrees differently.

Had that been the case, and had the parents asserted that the child felt traumatized, could you imagine someone on this site responding by saying "Poor baby"...?

Me neither.