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Register panders to society's fetishes

Garbage posters

Last week we reported the conviction of a British primary school headmaster for downloading under-age gay pornography onto a school computer (see Another headmaster caught looking at youth porn).

We ran into some flak: following one email which accused of us conflating paedophilia with homosexuality, we edited the original piece to read youth porn, instead of kiddie porn.

We changed the article because the reader made a reasoned point: in Britain, the age of gay sex consent is 18, so the headmaster could have been downloading pictures of 16- and 17- year-olds. Is that paedophilic? We don't think so.

Then there was this piece. Following publication in Flame of The Week, the author sent us a second email, which we have posted below the original.

From: lelldorin
Date: Wednesday, February 16, 2000 6:00 AM
Subject: Another headmaster caught looking at youth porn

How can you guys justify yourselves as a responsible member of the media when you post this garbage?

I do not appreciate people being hounded for merely VIEWING images that happen to turn them on. I also believe in freedom of speech. I realise that everyone, including yourselves, can post arguments against the freedom of speech. However, it is immoral and dangerous to suggest that people cannot be allowed to even LOOK at what they want. Look, this guy has not been hounded for what he has DONE... he has done LESS than many millions of British public, who abuse their wives, abuse their children, steal what they can, defraud the government from their taxes, I could go on and on. All he has done is looked at something that makes certain people's eyes light up and say 'look, there's someone that is probably a pedophile, god doesn't he make me sick why can't he be normal and want to copulate with women and look at pictures of naked women like all NORMAL guys', and the media decide to persecute him for the publicity.

I'm looking forward to the time when society will be held accountable for it's actions, like what eventually happened to Adolph Hitler.

Get my point?

Posting informative articles about technology is one thing. Pandering to society's fetishes is another.

Email reproduced in full (except for the signature touting a Web site) and unedited. Email address supplied.

LellDorin wrote to us again, following his entry into the Register Flame Hall of Fame. He says (again in full):

I really wasn't expecting you guys to take that email seriously ;-) (but I'm kind of flattered that you did.) You do make me wish I'd spent a bit more time on the wording of that one however, I kind of lost the plot halfway through I think (although I'm sure I wouldn't have made Flame of the Week if if wasn't a bit incomprehensible).

Still, one flame of the week out of one email isn't a bad start ;-)

Seriously, what really annoyed me about the original story was the mention that he would be placed on the sex offender's list if convicted. I don't believe that this is a just outcome, and hopefully other readers came to the same conclusion. I lost the plot in that I got angry after reading that point, and since the writer of the story was the only person handy to flame, I decided to let loose.

I was also having a bad day, I had just come home from my car being hit from behind while stopped at lights, for the second time in three months no less. ®

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