Sorry I didn't get to comment yesterday...lack of time.

We intervene when people try to take their lives, but not when they make general bad choices. I don't think we should. This would actually be another topic, on which I have a lot of opinions, so I'm keeping this short, but I will say, what one considers a bad choice for someone and what someone else considers a bad choice, can be two different thing, and I don't want someone else deciding for me what is good or bad.

Criminals will still get guns, legally or not legally. Those who can be responsible with guns should still be allowed to have them. If someone puts a gun to my head and I, too, have a gun, chances are, one of us will kill the other. Maybe both. But at least I have a chance. What chance do I have if I have no gun or weapon, and someone has a gun to my head? It has nothing to do with honor, it has to do with protection and survival.

Statistics won't sort anything. There are statistics supporting both sides. People on both sides say the other's studies are flawed.

What good is calling the police if someone has already broken into your house and has seen you or you can't get to a phone without him seeing you? I'm not saying you should go shooting someone instead of calling the police if you have the opportunity to keep them from seeing you.

I don't really give a damn if the rest of the world has different ideals than the US. I was raised to believe in freedom. You keep talking about how bad the US is, but I don't hear you talking about other countries, many which have plenty wrong with them.

Yes, I'm positive, there are people who believe we should be able to yell, "Fire!" in a theater and whatnot. They've said it in groups I've been in. Believe me, it surprised me, but I listened to what they had to say, and they're entitled to their opinions. I wouldn't say they were "campaigning" for it, but I don't know what they do in their personal lives.

I don't understand your question, "But how many have to be harmed in order for people to have a duty to obey the law which states that they should refrain from it?" Whether people have a duty or not, doesn't mean they'll obey a law, no matter what the law. I may agree they should obey the law, but I can't make everyone obey it.

You believe porn hurts people, but you don't have any real proof. You read statistics and studies, but how many of those studies cover people who are non-violent and non-sexually aggressive who read and use porn? It's all one-sided, and often refuted by opposite and neutral parties.

Whether messages are reinforced in porn or not, does not make a man a rapist. I think these ideas he might get come from other men and even women he's had in his life, especially during childhood. How do you account for the huge number of men and women who view porn who haven't committed sexual crimes?

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I've said repeatedly that rape is one of the harms. I've also repeatedly stated that there are other kinds of harms that I'm concerned about too. I'd prefer to focus on just this subject of pornography than rant about ALL the ills of the world, thanks.

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I was only addressing your complaint that we kept talking about rape. If you don't want to talk about other violence, that's fine. But then don't bring up any crimes, sexual or not, in relation to pornography. We'll talk about other things that have to do with porn. What do you want to talk about on that topic, then?

You speak of "evidence," but give no sources. If you have them, please share, but don't tell me you have evidence without providing it.

What Doc John thinks about rape fantasies, I don't know. You'll have to ask him. And, if you'll remember, I disagreed with disallowing that person from the boards, too.

I don't have a problem with someone having fantasies about anyone or anything, as long as they don't act them out if they're harmful. Why more people accept one fantasy over another, I can't answer.

On violent video games...sort of...I've watched horror movies all my life. I've seen gore, slashers, chopping, hacking, sexual torture, other torture, and all kinds of things. I have never gone out and done any such thing. I don't even hit people. I freak out just seeing an animal hit by a car, and seeing violence in real life, and I am not desensitized. I get angry at the news. I have met a lot of horror fans. Friends, fans, at horror conventions, online, etc. They're all great people, and I've never known any of them to do anything violent or horrible. Doctors have to get used to some pretty horrible things, but most of them still care about their patients.

I don't think gun ownership prevents gun crimes. I think it raises the chances of a victim surviving a situation, though.

The problem with "facts"--whether about porn, gun ownership, or anything else--is, studies can be flawed, and different sides can come up with different results. Even neutral parties can come up with different results from other neutral parties.

Of course rape and traumatic events can affect someone's sexuality, fears or whatnot. But those are usually sudden and shocking events. They're also often compounded with confusion, accusations against the victim and stress.

Erotic imagery has even been found in caves, on bone carvings and on stones, suggesting that even prehistoric man had an interest in pornography. I'm not saying that makes it right or wrong, but I'm saying porn goes back to the beginning of time.

If you think porn actors are usually abuse victims and are being re-victimized, what about porn directors and others involved in making it? What about women porn directors and creators? Are only actors victims?

Watching illegal activities isn't illegal. Otherwise, there wouldn't be movies about the mafia, bank robberies, violence, abuse, theft, etc. And you wouldn't have shows like CSI...although they're more about solving the crimes, they often show the crimes, too.

If a person watched child porn made with real children, um, that is illegal. It's illegal to possess child porn, as well as to make it.

What does who I'd leave my children with have to do with an individual's right to do certain things? I wouldn't leave my children (if I had any) with a lot of people, regardless of what they watched.

I'm not saying it's normal or good to have rape fantasies (nor am I saying it's wrong or bad). But I've learned that changing one's sexual desires is near-impossible, if not impossible, and frankly, if one is okay with it, I think it's ridiculous to bother changing it to please others. Why deny yourself pleasure when life is so short?

I don't think anyone here is advocating showing porn to minors.

The main thing about rape fantasies, and I've read quite a bit about them, is, the fantasy is about giving up control. However, the one with the fantasy controls what happens, unlike a real rape.