Quote Originally Posted by Wolfscout View Post
And i do think it is possible to abuse someone severely enough in one instance. BTDT.
I agree it's possible to thoroughly shock and offend somebody in one instance, and it's happened to me on several occasions. But, I'd never call that 'rape' and I wouldn't call it 'abuse', unless the individual who offended me persisted in doing so. That's when it becomes abuse, and existing laws can deal with that.

For the most part, I'm talking about one-off acts of offensive behavior that are shocking and deeply disturbing. Individuals that act in this way are certainly mentally unbalanced, but are they 'criminals'? It may well be that some of the perpetrators are simply immature teenagers (or adults) who aren't fully aware of the consequences of their actions.

However, I can imagine a case in which something grossly offensive happens unexpectedly in an otherwise trusting, online relationship. This has happened to me. After perhaps a year or so of a very enjoyable online kink relationship, this man unexpectedly revealed himself to be about as sick an individual as I've ever had the misfortune to encounter anywhere. I'm not going to mention exactly what he did but suffice to say, it made me physically sick and left me terrible shaken for many months. Should he have been punished? Probably, but on what charge?

In his defense I'll say that, though he deeply shocked and offended me, all he is really guilty of is expressing something he thought. There's an old saying - "There are no taboos in the human mind." This becomes especially apparent online, where people such as the aforementioned can give a voice to their thoughts.

People can think some pretty weird things, that's for sure, but should we allow governments to legislate and make laws about what we can think? I realize that once a thought manifests in text on the screen it's no longer a thought, but our best defense against objectionable text is the delete button. If the person sending it persists in trying to offend, intimidate, or whatever, it's abuse and existing laws are in place to deal with it. But as long as they're on one side of the screen and I'm on the other, it's never going to be a case for 'rape'.

anonymouse