Posted on 06/23/2002 10:08:41 PM PDT by stlnative
Haha, I was going to post something similar. I immediately thought of Gallagher when I saw this guy's photo.
you are an embarressment...
why do you come here if you only want to hear yourself talk?
so any news/gossip/insinuations that go against you or apparently your church are not to be talked about or read I guess
This is an open exchange of ideas here, bud..
there is enough Catholic bashing here that I don't feel very welcome but, you know what, I read every bit of it to learn, to understand , to acknowledge
I will read what ever newspaper I want to..I will listen to any radio or tv show I want to...i will read what ever magazine I want to...and I will then decide for myself what is believable
the way some here are carrying on me thinks that the NE story probably is true....you know," the lady does protest too much"
I know you're right, but I am NOT doing well on this one, because of the extreme, raw emotion surrounding this girl's disappearance.
I'm a guy, a big, tough guy who likes baseball, cookouts, lawncare and all the other "guy" stuff connected with livin' in the 'burbs.
But I find myself near tears in dealing with this situation. I have three older daughters, in their twenties, and I have a 12-year-old. I don't even want to deal with the transference to them. I have such a low threshhold regarding violence against children that I can't even deal with reading the stories.
Yes, I guess I do take it personally; I put myself in the Smarts' shoes, and then think "on top of it all, how would I deal with rumors and vicious, hellish gossip by all of Satan's imps, to the effect that I was responsible for it?"
Can you see where I'm coming from?
Second, for every diatribe such as yours, I get FIVE FReepmails saying "I agree with you 100% but I can't speak out as you do because I can't take the flames from the gossip-mongers."
So there.
Is there anything that anyone could say to you at this point that DOESN'T raise your suspicions about the Smarts? I am beginning to think you can probably trace your roots back to the "witnesses" at the Salem witch trials.
Seriously, no one is stifling reasoned debate. It's just that when bald assertions from the NE are accepted as "reason" and are not balanced by cooler heads that the discussion approaches the bizarre.
That's not my beef. My beef is the concoction out of whole cloth--with a little "National Enquirer" thrown in--of the wildest accusations and innuendo. Also, the assumption on the part of many that the Police aren't even looking into all these leads the "geniuses" here have thought of.
One tiny example: This oft-repeated "sketch artist" farago. I ask this: "How do you know that they HAVEN'T brought in a sketch artist? How do you know they DON'T have a sketch? What if there is a very good reason why you aren't seeing this, or many other aspects of the investigation?"
My assumption is the authorities have enough intelligence and enough competence to do what needs to be done.
Meanwhile any thinking person who cares about this case is well within their rights to be suspicious of anything and everyone. In fact, I'm suspcious as well. But I don't treat my "suspicions" as the baseline for reality, as so many of the most maddeningly deluded--and evil-minded--people on these threads are doing.
This subject makes us address our worst fears. The safety of our children violated in our home. We're talking bottom rung of Pavlov's hierarchy of needs. People deal with this kind of stress in many ways.
I become very analytical and lose tolerance for those who aren't. Some people "whistle past the graveyard" by developing theories to assure themselves in can't happen to them, and look for distinctions in the victim's lifestyle to reinforce that notion. That's where alot of the ham-handed theories here arise. "It couldn't happen to me because I'm not MORMON," or "I would NEVER forget to set my burglar alarm," or, if there are no obvious differences, then they resort to "there must be secret depravity involved." The last one works best because it titillates AND reassures at the same time. This is the modus of the National Enquirer, by the way. As I said on an earlier thread, if Ed Smart had been a big burly he-man, they would have found "investigators" to say he was violent and secretly beat his wife and children.
You seem to be frightened by the notion that Yes, Virginia, it COULD happen to you, perhaps because you are of similar background to the Smarts, or perhaps are more astute.
At any rate, railing against moronic comments is only making you sick. Try to understand where these comments are coming from.
And remember that old saying about faith. For the faithless, no explanation is possible. For the faithful, no explanation is necessary.
Hey, but she is the victim! And the rest of the family isn't? I do think it is odd that many of the flyers around town say Non-Family abduction. What's the point?
Maslow, perhaps?? (just had a Pavlovian response to type this while drooling and, well, it had to be done)
p.s. respect for your comments and analysis found on these threads....
i see you relaxing in a nice pair of swim trunks on your boat; don't need no stinkin' britches....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.