Quote:
R and All wrote
(Post 508555)
Ah, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
Hopeless!
|
I wonder why? Three states (Maryland, California and Colorado) make the theft of free newspapers a crime because it is the most perfect textbook example possible of how the first amendment can be abridged. Other states handle it at the local level under existing statutes against theft. Free does not mean that anyone can do anything he wants with the product/object taken under false pretenses. (google " theft (free newspaper)" for more information. Much more than you have time to read this month or next. "Lydia" did not describe very clearly the reason such theft is a crime but she is correct. It is a crime.
I should also point out that it is mostly student newspapers that get stolen and for the reason Lydia alludes to. Student fees are used to support the publication of student newspapers at most universities and the university usually supports the enterprise with space, equipment, computers, etc. So taxpayer money subsidizes these kinds of publications and, consequently, their theft is a theft from students and universities who have helped pay for them. Free is not very free, after all.
The other analogy is also excellent. It is quite irrelevant that the wafers are mass produced and are easily replaced. Upon consecration they become a sacred object. Her analogy easily conveys how believers feel. It only fails if, in fact, you have nothing that means anything to you. No souvenir of an event that was memorable, no dried flowers from your wedding, no bronzed baby shoes, no letters from someone you loved, no irreplaceable photos, etc. If you really do not cherish anything that has no monetary value but is, nevertheless valuable because it points to something of value, then you will not understand.
That doesn't make the analogy bad; it demonstrates that you are either very inexperienced in life or, else, heartless.
|