X-Message-Number: 1610
Date: 14 Jan 93 06:19:31 EST
From: Paul Wakfer <>
Subject: CRYONICS Ideas a threat?

I am, once again, astonished that so many particpants in CRYONET do not
know the meaning of the word "threat".  "Threat" does *not* mean the
same as "powerful" or "dangerous".  An idea is *not* equivalent to its
implementation or to the harm that any person does with it.  Ideas do
*not* cause harm, people do!  Believing that ideas cause harm and are a
threat is only one step removed from advocating censorship,
book-burning and other restrictions of free speech. 

By immediately recognizing and appologizing for his error, Dave Pizer
has improved a notch in my evaluation.

By continuing to misunderstand the fundamentals of free speech (eg.
equating the ideas of communism and nazism - which can be filtered out
by human choice before being implemented and causing harm, with the
bubonic plague - which is directly, causally responsible for human
deaths), Keith Henson sinks farther below the line of acceptability.

Paul Wakfer

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