Alright, fair enough, I mentioned the custody thing because of its relevance to the Newdow case - technically you didn't say you were in the exact same situation in your theoretical world. Point awarded.
On the second and third points, however, no, I wasn't defending corporal punishment. I suppose I could have paid closer attention to your hypothetical and described my own feelings about corporal punishment - which no, are not in favor of it - but I didn't. I was taking your example - which might as well have been about just about anything a parent doesn't like about their child's public education, and the list in this country could be pretty long on that point - and responding to it. The custody thing in particular is a pretty big deal. A parent who is *raising* a child has so much more right in my mind to speak on their behalf than one who is not. So yes, if my understanding of your hypothetical changes, so does my response to it.
I would be more interested to hear your opinion on whether the phrase in the pledge is really having the effect Mr. Newdow claims it is, as I notice you didn't respond to that part of my post. I think that's a much more interesting discussion - and much closer to the heart of whether he's using his daughter as selfishly as I feel he is - than a theoretical debate about another subject. |
