Go To Jail.

[Tim Regan]

Hi Debbie (& the list),

--- In HPFGU- Debbie wrote:
> "Aye, but [they] did not" (or so claimed the guilt-wracked 
> John).  Nor did Abigail need to reveal the details, or even 
> the fact, of the touching in order to convict John of 
> witchcraft, which makes this very different from Cindy's 
> example.  And also unlike the Kobe Bryant case, it's a study 
> of John's guilt.

I didn't mean to suggest The Crucible as a parallel to the Kobe 
Bryant case (of which I know nothing) but as a test of Cindy's 
blanket statement:

> the reason women report rape is that they were *raped,*

You are right that The Crucible is a study of John's guilt, but 
that's not all it is (it wouldn't be a good metaphor for the 
McCarthy trials if that was all it was about). It also shows how 
vindictive small minded people can wield huge devastating power when 
the courts loose sight of `innocence until proven guilty'; i.e. when 
the burden of proof is superseded by a fervent revulsion of the 
alleged crime. Such fervour seems especially dangerous when `the 
masses' find the crime titillating. This was true of witchcraft in 
the 1690s and was true of communism in the 1950s; we must ensure 
that it is not true of any crime today.

Cheers

Dumbledad