"I don't actually think anyone suggested that Angie deserved to be bashed to death with a fire extinguisher."

Learned Hand wrote: "So, a rapist was murdered. I will not give my opinion on this, but I would like it if people were consistent on their answer to the question of whether rape justifies murder. The same rules should apply to male rape victims as female rape victims. If it is ok some or all of the time for them to murder their rapists, it should also be ok some or all the time for male victims to murder their rapists. If murder is never ok for a rapist this must apply to women as well as men."

At least one other poster wrote something similar.

Thank you for returning this debate to murder.

I don't want to feed and honor Rosenkavalier and his girlfried because he's the T in GLBT, but because I've tried to live a life of equalizing. As a teacher, I always tendered more care to the unloved child. As a foster mom, I always chose the kid no one else wanted. As a city dweller, I fed the craziest of the street people. Of course, I can't equalize, but I can make it less inequitable. I believe Rosenkavalier when he asserts it's been hard. I don't want to be another hard spot for him. I want to be a pillow. Of course, I also admire his mind and his eloquence and so he'd likely be a charming dinner guest.

And I've expressed affection for many non-LGBT posters at Salon. Read through my long, long list of letters. You'll see.

You: "People are people. Heterosexuals shouldn't criticize or take lightly the sexual preferences of others. But that works both ways. You don't seem to get that."

We're seeing two very different things here. You're seeing sexual preference. I'm seeing murder. I know I've got a blindspot here. The position I've taken precludes my being concerned with the murderer's ego, which ceased mattering for me the moment he brought that fire extinguisher down on Angie's head. I hope you understand that you have a blindspot too, which is why I urged people to imagine Angie's corpse. It's not a cheap, emotive parlor trick. I've dealt with murdered kids in closed coffins. This isn't a hypothetical, ideological exercise for me.

Thank you for sharing your story. I wish I knew you. I wish I could invite you and your gf into my home to feed you and honor you.

Frankly, I was ready to quit Salon and then I read your post. As The Jim just embodied in the post following yours, there are plenty of people ready to mock/debase/libel/hate me in a thread attached to an article about hate.

Sigh.

Where have I wished death upon anyone?

Quote me.

I'm defending the dead.

So, I'm a PC bully.

And you, with your endless ad homs, are a...?

I'm defending the dead.

You're defending the murderer.

And that makes me PC?

Well, good then!

BTW, have you taken the Coffin Challenge? If not, why not?

It's the recipe for decency!

Buy a tank of oxygen.

Go to Angie's grave.

Dig.

Open.

Enter.

Close the coffin.

Open the oxygen valve.

Have your pals rebury the coffin and set their watches for 24 hours.

In 24 hours, they'll dig, open the coffin, and extract you.

Hopefully, at that point, you'll have a measure of understanding of Angie's world. Hopefully, you'll identify more with Angie than the murderer.

Yep, we're all liars.

And I deeply believe that those who don't recognize the ubiquity of deception are either Diogenes' one honest man or the greatest of liars: the self-liars.

Hey, I've thought of another analogy: A young Serb, circa 1992, sleeps with a young hottie. Later, he discovers she's Croatian. He bludgeons her with a typewriter. He crushes the cartilage in her nose. Only her molars remain. He dislocates her jaw. Her mother identifies her daughter's corpse by the remaining shoe. Is this a hate crime?

Nope. I have, however, written for Ms.

Here's the recipe for decency:

Buy a tank of oxygen.

Go to Angie's grave.

Dig.

Open.

Enter.

Close the coffin.

Open the oxygen valve.

Have your pals rebury the coffin and set their watches for 24 hours.

In 24 hours, they'll dig, open the coffin, and extract you.

Hopefully, at that point, you'll have a measure of understanding of Angie's world. Hopefully, you'll identify more with Angie than the murderer.

"You are Galilei fighting against the church censors."

Yeah, right. Your analogy only works if Galileo was a Pharisee and the church censors were the radical reformers. You represent the status quo, dude. Straight people have the power, the mob, the weapons, and the privilege. Geez, not only are you a drama queen, but you lack a basic understanding of history and the present.

Read the fucking thread. What you just wrote has already been stated by many posters.

This thread is ugly.

Our species needs more shame.

Or perhaps some people need to spend the night with Angie, in her coffin. Oxygen would be provided, of course. Nothing helps along empathy like experiencing another person's plight. Don't worry. Her coffin is all satiny. And Angie won't be able to rape you: that's been fixed.