Call Em, are you perhaps implying that just because Toto is not in a position of authority, his actions are not important? And no, ranting about an individual has not gotten to 9 pages, condemning him and his actions during and after has gotten to 9 pages. Anyone who has such blatant disrespect for another human being would get the same treatment here as they rightly should do. Especially when said person chooses to justify their actions. That is the real crux of the matter. That anyone would consider their actions defensible in a situation like this is ridiculous. Indeed had he apologized for his actions in and of themselves instead of trying to attach "I'm a really good person... and this is why", then I suspect it wouldn't have gotten this far. But he didn't. And that in itself shows his character.

And as a member of the same society as himself, I DO have the right to judge him, as he has the right to do so to me. Keith is actually a close cousin of mine. And even if he wasn't I would still be angry. Him being a good or bad person is important to all of us because in a community as small and interconnected as Bermuda, his actions may actually affect me. What if he had chosen to do something demeaning to any of our mothers? Is that justifiable because he does other good deeds??

And to deflect the issue of the thread by commenting that "others do" is horrible, surely you see that? That is not an excuse that anyone should be proud to stand behind.

Piglet was merely expressing the sentiment that most of us on here seem to agree with - that it is impossible to defend, by any excuse, an act which was flagrantly disrespectful to a fellow human being... it's like trying to justify the Holocaust - it can't be done.

I also agree with Rummy that locking down a topic simply because of a rising page count or because some people are getting bored with the subject is contrary to the spirit of this forum and would not prevent the users who wished to, quite rightfully, express their feelings simply starting another thread with a different title. Don't forget that quite a few of the regular members were around over the weekend when all this initially erupted - they may be reading all of this, for the first time, today and wish to add their 2 cents to the thread... If it is getting boring then don't read it - it's not mandatory, at least the last time I looked at the rules it wasn't!

Over the weekend I said my piece and made my thoughts known about toto's actions when this first surfaced... having said all I wished to say and watched others say the same things although much more effectively (Kudos to Thaao, Piglet, TC, Rummy et al. on that one) I was content to sit back and watch but this thread seems to have developed onto a different theme which I find a little disturbing - the right to free expression and its attempted suppression to try to defend the indefensible - which is the only reason that I am back here now.

I think the saying goes something like... All it takes for evil to flourish is that good men and women to look away and do nothing.

There but for the grace of god go you or I... given a few wrong breaks in life, you or I could so easily be in Keith's situation - if I were to find myself in his situation I would like to know that there were a few "good souls" who at the very least wrote a few indignant words trying to explain that whatever I have become I was, once upon a time, a human being with the same rights, hopes and aspirations as everyone else.

In reality we on BdaSucks are pretty powerless to do anything concrete about injustices that we perceive happening... making our feelings known by venting them here is usually our only safety-valve. Please don't take even that away from us by implying our contributions are boring and unwanted.

 

SevenT

Yessss... but it is a bit troubling that people are apparently learning these things at circa 20 years of age, and not at a much earlier age. I'd hope that not being demeaning to other human beings was a lesson given much earlier, when it could help with other social ills (e.g. bullying in school).

Noel

alsys30,

I missed the joke - my apologises for that.....

Piglet

I pointed this out in my first post, and I am now re-reading all of my communications on this site to check my spelling, punctuation and grammer is all correct and above board. Can't have the grammar police after me 

I do agree though that some of the stuff written on this particular subject is almost unreadable. There is one in particular, that if you were able to read it, you probably could swim from here to the UK under water without the need for a breath.

I always love this one.

Sorry.

I know, hence my careful quote choice!!