@Arella Mae,
Quote:I will use whatever feature I choose to use on this forum. It is my right just as it is your right. I vote you down to show my disdain for your disrespect and absolute lack of compassion.
I agree completely.
However, I'd also add that his claims that he is speaking "the truth" are absolutely absurd. Whatever statistics have been posted by us, regarding sexual assaults, are all from highly reputable sources that are widely accepted as the best we have to go on at this time. We are not making anything up, we are not promoting "an agenda" of any type, we are not trying to win a debate. We are simply trying to discuss the problem of rape, the different situations in which rape occurs, rape prevention, rape myths, and rape awareness.
To play with statistics, as Billy Buffoon has done, in an attempt to minimize the problem of rape, or to claim that a substantial number of all rape reports are false allegations, is not only a deliberate distortion of all of the available facts, and grossly misleading, it is also beside the point. None of that changes the fact that rapes occur, that rape is a reality of life for females, of all ages, around the globe. Rape also affects males as both victims and as loved ones of females who have been sexually assaulted. Trying to sweep the problem of rape under the rug, or to minimize its impact and often devastating consequences, is to perpetuate the problem of continuing sexual violence, particularly toward women. It is only by talking about it that we can work toward trying to contain and deter rapes, and help us understand the factors that contribute to rapes. Only by talking about it, can survivors of rape gain the understanding, and support, and help that they need.
The one who has been promoting "an agenda" is Billy Buffoon. With belittling, insulting, sarcastic, insensitive, and frequently downright offensive, comments, throughout this entire thread, he has tried to subvert the discussion of rape as a reality of life in the lives of far too many females and males. His agenda has been mainly to promote the claim that men are victimized at the hands of lying, untrustworthy women, something that is so universally condemned it hardly needs him as an advocate, but it is an issue he has exploited out of all proportion to a discussion of the realities of rape in the lives of most people--particularly the lives of those who have been sexually assaulted, or those who fear they might be assaulted.
Whether we choose to ignore him, or vote him thumbs down, so we can read this thread without his often malicious "clutter", is frankly none of his business. His latest game playing, in trying to vote down our posts, is apparently his final effort to trash this thread. Having tried every other way of expressing his hostility toward women in general, toward the women posting in this thread, and toward me, in particular, for starting this thread and keeping it going, he is now trying to make our posts disappear with his own voting down antics. Does he really think we are so dumb that we would believe that an entourage of lurkers have quite suddenly appeared, quite late in this thread, and are all suddenly voting down our posts, including posts that are no more than recent innocuous unbiased news articles that have appeared on the Web? Brooke recognized what Billy Buffoon, the master of multiple IDs and computer stealth, was doing, and she exposed his pitiful ploy with his voting down nonsense.
Billy Buffoon has fully earned the disdain and disrespect he has gained from the women, and most men, who have posted in this thread. He seems to garner similar disdain in most threads in which he posts. Rather than seeking the causes outside of himself, he should take a long, hard look at what he says, and the manner in which he presents it, if he really wants to understand why he garners the overwhelmingly negative reactions that come his way.
Regardless of what Billy Buffoon does or says, this thread will continue as long as someone has something to say about the topic of rape. He's not going to silence a discussion of this topic. He is free to continue to make a fool of himself, and we are free to continue to ignore him.
In this thread it has been different because responding to him has become pointless. We have acknowledged the valid on-topic points he's made, and he's repeated those same few points ad nauseum, but he doesn't reciprocate or respond in any way that helps to facilitate a discussion of the problem of rape, and he's persisted in insulting us. At this point, enough is enough. I've had it. I don't want to bother with his posts any more, so they get a thumbs down. 