From: forb0004@student.tc.umn.edu (Eric Forbis)
Subject: Re: Back Again To Father
Organization: University of Minnesota
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 15:54:35 GMT

In article <1992Nov17.001707.10599@nas.nasa.gov> dking@raul.nas.nasa.gov (Dan King) writes:
>ef>In article <forb0004.59.721688277@student.tc.umn.edu> forb0004@student.tc.umn.edu (Eric Forbis) writes:
>dk>In article <1992Nov10.230421.15201@nas.nasa.gov> dking@raul.nas.nasa.gov (Dan King) writes:
> 
>dk>Husbands and wives talking may be a good thing, but is it worth 
>dk>letting government get involved to ensure they talk?  We would all
>dk>have to give up much of our privacy to ensure this.  I have had 
>dk>a vasectomy.  If I were to ever marry, I think it should remain
>dk>my choice if I do or don't inform my wife of this fact.  I very
>dk>much oppose someone using force of government into my personal
>dk>decision.
> 
>ef>Hey ladies, this is _great_! How do you like it when the shoe's on the other 
>ef>foot? Marry this character and you may not find out for years that you won't 
>ef>be able to have children. His decision dramatically alters your life, yet 
>ef>he denies you your right to know of such decisions. Without saying as much, 
>ef>he has drastically devalued the status of motherhood; yours isn't worth even 
>ef>the pittance of keeping you informed.
>
>When I posted this, I kind of figured that there would be some fool that 
>would have trouble understanding the difference between doing something 
>because you believe it is the right thing, and doing something because 
>the government is forcing you to do it.  Was I ever surprised when the
>fool that didn't understand the difference was also someone with no clue
>on how to use an editor.  I guess being clueless in one area can at times
>result in cluelessness in other areas. 

Do you have so little to say that editor flames are necessary? 
I briefly posted from a BBS that automatically stripped out _all_ the header 
data, and I was quickly the recipient of an enormous amount of hate mail 
complaining about not being able to track my references. Not knowing which 
reader used what portions of the header data, I left it alone. Recently a 
friendly net user (ask someone what this might be) who knew his editors gave 
some good advice; problem solved. Imagine that.

As for your government-notification-libertarian-paranoia trip, I'll steal a 
line from Drieux: Get a CLUE, get a BIG CLUE! Stating that a father has the 
right to know what happens to his children begins and ends there; this 
government agency tracking crap is your own personal nightmare.
> 
>Why don't you give a shot to answering the question I asked Will?  Is
>there any area of your personal life you would rather not have the 
>government involved in?  I would assume from your silly little 
>paragraph above that you believe the government should force men to
>inform future brides of their reproductive ability.  How would this 
>be done?  When a man has a vasectomy, would their name go in a 
>nationwide database that could be checked prior to marriage?  
>Would you also include laws saying you must inform future 
>spouses about sexual problems, appetites, or dis-functions?  Should
>there be a governmental enforced checklist along with lie 
>detector tests prior to marriage?

None of this is needed, nor has been suggested; seems to just be another 
slimy way to cheat fathers out of their fatherhood. You seem to have missed 
the point of the post: this is an example of spousal notifical with the shoe 
on the other foot. Did you see the recent Northern Exposure episode where 
Hollis, near- sterile, had deceived Shelly, who wishes to become a mother, 
for several years? It's simple fraud; the stuff of divorce and court 
action-- not invasive government agencies.

>
>What would you say is the value of motherhood Eric?  I would 
>guess it is something you know as little about as you know about
>editors. 

I value motherhood and fatherhood equally. You obviously don't.
---------

Eric Forbis      forb0004@student.tc.umn.edu
Newsgroups: soc.men