Thanks everyone, I've really enjoyed reading the responses in this thread. All of you have some excellent points and express them beautifully. When I raised this question in another forum (I wont say where because I'm not trying to be bitchy) it caused a lot of arguments and sadly people took it as an excuse to make personal insults and attacks. Its sad when people can't be accepting of other's opinions, especially BDSMers who are aware of the huge range of differences in people's kinks and fears.
So I just wanted to say how refreshing it is to see none of that here. Although everyone in this thread seems to be of a similar opinion, I'd be interested if anyone out there thought otherwise?