<div class="quote_poster">Chutney Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Yea, my bad about saying you were blaming the victim. What I meant to take exception to is the way you're diverting blame away from the culprit. And also the way you implied that 18 being the age of consent doesn't make sense.
The scrutiny placed on the offender should not be any less, just different in nature. You can't criticize Foley for preying on an unsuspecting/innocent child, but you can criticize him for breaking a law of consent and taking advantage of his position of power. The problem that I have with you questioning the age of consent is that it's a never ending argument. If we place it at 16-17, then kids may begin developing socially and politically faster than before. And then another argument follows it, about perhaps lowering it another year, etc. It become perpetual and illogical. The fact is that the current age of consent correlates well with other social rights that are given to a teenager. It also correlates well with the level of independance that the majority of kids begin to recieve. To make an exception on a law that has worked perfectly fine before, for one case with a messed up individual is preposterous.
Again, you can't make a legal distinction between these incidents, because it depends so much on the victim. How can you objectively measure how mature a teen is in comparison to others? It just spirals out of control, if you start interpreting laws in respect to every specific incident. Precedent is set up for a reason.</div>
Well first, I don't really care what happens to Mark Foley. I am speaking in general when I speak out on this issue.
What I am saying, is that 18 can remain the "legal" age, if one wishes it so, but one should always realize the difference between real pedophilia and flirting with people in their late teens. Hitting on Sophomores and Juniors in Highschool deserves less of a punishment as they are not as innocent or stupid as elementary/middle-school kids (hence, why they can recieve the death sentence in the court of law).
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting bryce40ww:</div><div class="quote_post">
Huevon, I see where you're coming from, but think of it this way. If an old lady were murdered should the punishment be less than if a grown man was killed? Would that make the offender any less of a murderer because she was closer to death? Of course not. The case is the same with Mark Foley. The law clearly defines this as wrong, and unless this law is changed there is no argument for this man to be treated any easier. Also, I am also constantly frustrated by the over-analysis of 24 hour news channels. Could you elaborate on how this is their fault?</div>
The analogy that was made earlier about the granny being murdered, is not valid. Murder causes severe trauma(pain) when it occurs at any point in one's life, whether or not one is a mature adult; whereas flirting with a 17 year-old will not make them go insane or feel great pain, they can handle themselves at that age.