I think adultery should be illegal

[Sea of red]

I like IC. He's a good fellow.

He's Canadian so by definition he knows the members of Rush personally.

[lilpixieofterror]

I didn't see anything remotely anti-American in his post.

Sure he was by trying to imply that you are somehow unsafe and that the US is the worst nation on earth because he wants to claim there's a higher chances of being held up by gun or knife point. Of course, stats do not tell us the reasons why this happens or where this happens at. I know people who have been held up and it hasn't been because of their purse, car or anything like that, but mainly due to their job as working in a convenience store or gas station. From what I remember on my travels overseas, I don't recall nearly as many of these stations in over seas locations, out in the middle of nowhere, vs what you'd find in the US. It is misleading to leave out critical facts of why, such as stuff like that.

[KingsGambit]

Sure he was by trying to imply that you are somehow unsafe and that the US is the worst nation on earth because he wants to claim there's a higher chances of being held up by gun or knife point. Of course, stats do not tell us the reasons why this happens or where this happens at. I know people who have been held up and it hasn't been because of their purse, car or anything like that, but mainly due to their job as working in a convenience store or gas station. From what I remember on my travels overseas, I don't recall nearly as many of these stations in over seas locations, out in the middle of nowhere, vs what you'd find in the US. It is misleading to leave out critical facts of why, such as stuff like that.

You may want to reread his post.

[lilpixieofterror]

You may want to reread his post.

I did and his hatred of the US bleeds though in almost every post he makes. You can't just cite stats and call it good. That is being plain lazy.

[KingsGambit]

I did and his hatred of the US bleeds though in almost every post he makes. You can't just cite stats and call it good. That is being plain lazy.

But he was calling the American crime rate low.

[lilpixieofterror]

But he was calling the American crime rate low.

If it's being recorded as 'assault' rather than 'robbery' then the lifetime occurrence rates are about 2% here, 14% in Canada, and 21% in the US... so these things will never happen to the vast majority of people in their entire lifetime.

Not according to that sentence.

[KingsGambit]

Not according to that sentence.

There's no indication the second portion of the sentence doesn't includes the US.

[Starlight]

Not according to that sentence.

LPOT, to repeat myself, the vast majority of people living in the US will not be assaulted or robbed in their entire lives... hence my surprise upon reading I.C.'s post implying that it's common in Canada, which led me to wonder if maybe it is much more common in Canada or the US than it is here, but it's really not much more common at all.

Incidentally the methodology I used to approximate lifetime occurrence rates from the raw data will be overestimating the higher numbers somewhat. And trying to compare the crime statistics of different countries against each other (as opposed to just saying "these are all low" like I did) gets problematic fast because countries often define crime categories slightly differently, and cultural factors will heavily affect the rates of reporting of certain types of crime (eg rape). In terms of violent crime and theft, the only category the US really stands out on is that it has 2-5 times the homicide rate of other first-world countries, but obviously the homicide rate is pretty small in almost every country.

[Irate Canadian]

well, starlight missed the point. although you can't really expect much out of the guy. I was not trying to make it sound like it's common, I was responding to DE's statement that robbery does not hurt people. So you drastically missed the point here.

[Darth Executor]

well, starlight missed the point. although you can't really expect much out of the guy. I was not trying to make it sound like it's common, I was responding to DE's statement that robbery does not hurt people. So you drastically missed the point here.

I never said robbery does not hurt people. I said theft does not physically hurt people.

[Jaecp]

DE does have a point with the distinction between theft and robbery (and, say, burglary) since we have a bunch of specific words for specific crimes, best to keep them used as precisely as we can, even though we might use them interchangably in casual conversation

[Jesse]

There are a lot of things that are bad, but should every bad thing be illegal? Do we not have enough stupid laws on the books as it is? This idea that if I don't like something or think it is bad, it should be made illegal is a disturbing trend in this culture.

[Joel]

I reject the premise, but this thread isn't meant to be about divorce anyway.

The legal argument against adultery would be that it is breach of contract.

[Darth Executor]

There are a lot of things that are bad, but should every bad thing be illegal? Do we not have enough stupid laws on the books as it is? This idea that if I don't like something or think it is bad, it should be made illegal is a disturbing trend in this culture.

Adultery is not a minor offense.

[Irate Canadian]

I doubt such a law could be brought back in the US today (Lawrence v. Texas), but practicality aside, I think adultery should be illegal. I think the harms it does to families are enough. What do you all think?

(I'm not inclined to make exceptions for voluntary adultery, i.e. swingers, but I suppose that could be debated. But I think if you don't want to be faithful you shouldn't get married.)

Curious, what do you think punishment can be?