While I agree that one can only do so much to protect people from their own bad decisions and judgements, some comments that have appeared recently on this discussion group seem to me to be mean spirited. I'm reminded of the movie "The Magnificent Seven," where Eli Wallach, the chieftan of a gang of bandits that has been terrorizing a Mexican village for years, exclaimed cynically, "If God didn't want them sheared, why did he make them sheep?" I reject this blame the victim mentality, no matter the inclinations and predispositions of the victim, and it bothers me that the plight of the victim in this discussion group has sometimes been denounced in almost gleeful tones. I think our obligation as participants in the skeptical movement is not to lavish judgements on such people, but to present clear, forceful information about the issues we care about. Ric Carter wrote: > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Barbara Meissner" <Barbara.Meissner@utsa.edu> > > > I feel very little sympathy for him. Notice that his first email > > agreed to help steal a large sum of money from a poor African > > nation. > > ... But beyond that, he sounds like a low-level con man himself... > > Indeed. Just as the state lotto is a tax on math illiterates, so the > Nigerian Scam is a tax on the credulous and greedy. I see the scam as > a social-Darwinian tool to build character and judgment. One can > learn from their judgmental error(s) and gain wisdom, or not. This is > a case where experience is the most profound teacher. > > Ric "not selling videos of an ET dissection" Carter > > _______________________________________________ > Skeptix mailing list > Skeptix@lists.opn.org > http://www.lists.opn.org/mailman/listinfo/org.opn.lists.skeptix -- __________________________________________________________________ Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants. It is the creed of slaves. ---------------William Pitt the Younger