Re: Silence

["Jim M" <petenotped@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message ----- From: "O'Neal, Kevin W."

> I'm talking about Pete's personal diary entry dated 5/8/03 and titled "I
WAKE UP FREE - BUT >BRANDED".

Sorry, my bad.  I didn't look closely enough at this posting and I thought
it was the same one.

>You mean you were arguing your ass off with me, yet you didn't even read
(or know about) Pete's diary entry that was/is the cause of much of my
anger?????????????????

Yes, I read it.  I understood your point that the tone seemed a little less
serious than might be appropriate.  I also didn't like the way Pete used the
same phrase (soul-trauma) to describe what he's going through and what child
sex abuse victims go through.  That's just insensitive, no other word for
it.

However, I was reacting to the people who maintain that what Pete did was
"just as bad as" or "equivalent to" raping children.   As others have
expressed, intent matters to me.  And, Pete's intent was to actually be a
part of putting an end to this kind of abuse.  People have asked what Pete's
reasoning was.  I'd say it was, "Surely a few dollars in their pockets now
is worth it, if it helps bring about their demise."  The sooner the site was
shut down, the sooner they would stop paying people to send them pictures of
babies being raped, and he felt he could help.  By bringing evidence to the
IWF, by putting pressure on credit card companies, he actually thought he
could make a difference.  Is that arrogant, naive, foolish?  Sure.  All of
the above.  But, there's no doubt in my mind that that's what his intent
was.  If his intent was self gratification, or if his actions were driven by
a compulsion stemming from his own abuse, the police would have found
evidence.  You simply don't have a problem like that and act on it once.
And it's not like it was for lack of looking.  They poured through his
computers, his videos, everything they could get their hands on, for months,
and they found nothing.  If they had found one reason to suspect that his
intentions were anything but what he claimed, they'd have charged him, I'm
absolutely convinced of that.  So, we're left with a man who did an
incredibly stupid thing out of a desire to help others, and ended up paying
an enormous personal price.  I see no reason to crucify the man, he's
already been punished.

> Oh man.
> I'm going for a walk.

OK, just remember, while you're out there....Breathe.

Jim M