tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8776899.post114962008092682817..comments2024-03-06T03:15:58.539-05:00Comments on <b>THE NEW REFORM CLUB</b>: The Scandal of the Conservative MindHunter Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14961831404331998743noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8776899.post-1149700246503840382006-06-07T13:10:00.000-04:002006-06-07T13:10:00.000-04:00In saying that, Jesus was saying exactly what I've...In saying that, Jesus was saying exactly what I've been saying here.S. T. Karnickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05971214612730402709noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8776899.post-1149694663623476192006-06-07T11:37:00.000-04:002006-06-07T11:37:00.000-04:00Michael Simpson wrote,"The fact that the hiring of...Michael Simpson wrote,<BR/><BR/>"The fact that the hiring of the stripper is a *voluntary* exchange doesn't make it just fine, no more than it is fine that plenty of college boys in my town frequent the couple of 'adult' establishments where they can ogle women to their heart's content. I think hiring a stripper for a keg party is execrable and boorish to boot. It trains and reinforces the view of women as primarily objects of lust and binds men together around activities that are surely more vice than virtue. I'm not sure why you can't see that."<BR/><BR/>Because it's not true. It's your opinion, and mine differs. To describe the hiring of a stripper for a keg party as execrable is exactly the kind of claim I think damages conservatives in the eyes of others, and rightly. The act involved is not something we ought to do, but it's not execrable. Not everything that shouldn't be done is unspeakably evil, unless you're talking on the level of all sins being equal, etc., in which case nobody can ever criticize anybody. If we accept that some things are worse than others, then we must be careful not to use extreme words to describe less than extreme actions, lest those words lose their power. No amount of feminist rhetoric will change that reality. I'm asking for perspective, not condoning bad behavior.S. T. Karnickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05971214612730402709noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8776899.post-1149631660851276572006-06-06T18:07:00.000-04:002006-06-06T18:07:00.000-04:00I suppose drinking any alcohol at all makes one a ...I suppose drinking any alcohol at all makes one a classless punk in the eyes of those who claim that any use of alcohol by a minor is excessive. But I don't agree. And as K. C. Johnson's article noted, those boys are anything but classless punks in every other way, and therefore it doesn't sound either fair or Christian to be throwing around names like that. And by acting like boors, do you mean having a party and a stripper? To be a boor is to be rude and insensitive, whereas the transaction involved in having a stripper is voluntary for both parties. It's not a good thing to do, but come on, that stretches the definition of "execrable" way beyond usefulness, and it doesn't "thoroughly embarrass" a person except in very puritanical eyes. You ask, "In what sense has the lacrosse team *not* embarrassed the wider university?" Good question, and the answer is, in every other way but in this one incident that has been blown far out of proportion because of a false accusation attached to it. These guys aren't perfect, but they're better than average in their deameanor and accomplishments, according to the school's own report, and therefore to describe them as punks and their behavior as execrable is surely excessive and unfair.S. T. Karnickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05971214612730402709noreply@blogger.com