beastie wrote:I didn't ask if anyone took your threat seriously. I would assume they did, particularly since it was not a singular threat.
But what I asked was if we should have taken your threat seriously.
I guess I will have to spell it out for you. You tell us now, and Dan assures us likewise, that you were never really threatening anyone, that this, apparently, was some sort of temper tantrum, or perhaps you were under Satan's control. Who knows. But you never really were a threat.
But somehow you now ask us all to believe that those who engage in polemics, I suppose mainly on RFM - much milder polemics than threatening to kill missionaries, no matter what you pretend - should be taken seriously, because, apparently, although you were not capable of following through on your threats, they are capable of following through with violence.
In your case, we're supposed to believe that you were just acting out in a fit of temper. We're supposed to forget about it - it was five years ago. But, for those on RFM, it's a different story. They aren't just acting out in a fit of temper. No, they are either capable of real acts of violence or encouraging those acts.
There's no need to answer. There's nothing you can say - except, of course, call me a name or something, or tell me I should eat dinner with scratch.
As if I didn't know you were coming with this. Yawn. Okay, can we go back to a basic level?
Do all threats, of any nature, materialise? Truth be told, I hear them almost every night, like when someone gets angry at security at a nightclub, and they hop in the cab and say, in real anger, "I could have killed that SOB, and he's lucky I didn't". Serious, I hear this often. We live in an increasingly violent society, and sometimes I'm at my wits end trying to predict who might, or might not be violent. I've had police called three times so far, just as a precaution. I honestly often don't know who might, or might not pull a gun or knife. Last Saturday night there was a stabbing at a nightclub, and two months ago a club patron was shot dead. One month ago a man asked his neighbour to turn down the early morning music, and when he didn't, he yelled threats. The music continued, and the angered man got a gun, walked into the other's man home, and shot him dead in front of his family (but he was a former criminal). Front page news here. You don't believe me - read:
http://illawarra.yourguide.com.au/artic ... topstories
I do not lie when I say it's impossible to know who will do what. I pick up and transport volatile people all the time, but in MOST cases I know the threats are simply verbal expressions of real anger, and in most cases, fortunately, the violence doesn't actually occur. That doesn't mean it can't, obviously.
What I have said in tha past about potential future violence, is exactly that - potential. We do not know how much more violent society can, or will become.
I have to end here, because I have to go. I can continue next week. But I doubt you're getting the drift of my point.