Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by 2_listerine_pls 2471 days ago
He didn't suggest underage sex was OK.

His crime was being pedantic about the definition of rape around people who can't even differentiate rape from underage sex, which are probably the same people that are interpreting it as Him defending underage sex.
3 comments
pr0zac 2470 days ago
Yes he did: "I am skeptical of the claim that voluntarily pedophilia harms children." *

Stallman was driven out because of decades of abusive behavior and opinions. The most recent incident was just the final straw. Ignoring that historical context is rather disingenuous.

* https://www.stallman.org/archives/2006-may-aug.html#05%20Jun...

link
jlokier 2470 days ago
His comment begins with "I am skeptical".

Do we consider skepticism to be abusive now?

Anyway, he subsquently said that he changed his mind on that point, after discussions with other people about it. You ought to include that if you're going to try to represent the man's history.

link
2_listerine_pls 2470 days ago
In case you haven't noticed, we are talking about what He said in the recent emails, not in 2006.
link
mr_overalls 2470 days ago
We're discussing his resignation and the pressure that was surely brought to bear on him to do so. Which almost certainly is related to his history of pro-pedophilia comments, not just the most recent ones.
link
afiori 2470 days ago
But at the same time the other side is arguing that the tactics used to this end involve misquoting and lying about what he said.

In the end it is two groups of people having two correlated (but different) conversations.

Many (not all, but many) of RMS "defenders" here would completely agree if not for this backhanded tactics, as some are only asking for proper representation of facts.

The fact that a lot of "takedown" pieces continue to lie means that they force together two groups of people that do not necessarily agree.

link
x0x0 2471 days ago
She was a child. And trafficked.

Minsky committed rape.

link
dao- 2471 days ago
If sex without consent is rape, and minors can't meaningfully consent to having sex with an adult, then having sex with a minor is kinda rape.

His comment about 17 vs. 18 years old shows that he's detached from reality. The law has to draw the line somewhere, it's necessarily arbitrary to some extent. It's still okay to discuss such nuances, but then don't be snarky. Context matters too. What point was he trying to make here and why?

link