The false equivalency drives me mad...

[Toastess]

I was chatting with a group of colleagues today. Somehow the conversation moved onto Rolf Harris, and one woman said how she'd loved Harris's music as a child and how horrified everyone was to discover his paedophilia. A few other names were mentioned (Stewart Hall, Jimmy Savile etc.).

Then a man said "Oh that's like with JK Rowling, I loved Harry Potter and now she's a monster." I don't know the group well at all, we're at work, I'm not proud but I just said "she's not a paedophile, it's a bit different!". His response - "she's still an absolute monster".

How on earth can JK be in the same category as convicted sex offenders?! How has the blind hatred reached this level?!

Well, coming out swinging for Jimmy Saville's honour is a bold take I never thought I'd see on FWR but here we are 👀

I don't like to label humans as monsters, even the worst ones. I think it gives them a special, iconic identity when in reality paedos, abusers, murderers and rapisits are nothing more than shameful, broken humans who hurt others for their pleasure and who deserve society's derision and harsh punishment.

I guess you could argue the stupid colleague was right in a way - JKR has indeed become a fictional bogeyman for TRAs. It's all nonsense.

What a bizarre distinction to make, between convicted and non-convicted sex offenders - do you think it makes any difference to the children they abused?

Mentioning JKR and the likes of Savile in the same conversation is disproportionate, irrational and nonsensical.

Let's switch the focus from the perpetrators to the victims of
Savile, Gary Glitter, the prolific sex abuser of children who lived around the corner from me, and all the other paedophile monsters, famous or not, convicted in a court of law or not.
Let's notionally 'line up' their victims, the thousands and thousands of abused and damaged children.
Then line up all the similarly abused and damaged victims of JKR's alleged offences.

Anything, alcovecupboards?

I would be very concerned if anyone didn't choose an alive baby sitter over a rotting corpse/urn of ashes, irrespective of how the parents view Her politics!

Yeah, cos that's exactly what that poster meant 🙄

Again, another attempt to deliberately misunderstand to ridicule a decent point.

You know what that poster meant. It’s a good point, right?

Doesn't 'mutatis mutandis' anything to you? aka 'oh don't be so silly' !

Let's put it another way: if it was JKR who lived around the corner from me instead of the prolific child abuser who did live around the corner from me, timescales adjusted, I would have walked by that house in total safety.

Even if she did one or two things that are considered 'shady' by some posters, I and the other neighbourhood children would have been safe because it was JRK and not a paedophile monster who lived there.

If people can't see the difference, and put JKR in the same category as child abusers, even in the same sentence as them, they are beyond reasoning with.

The dishonesty and bad faith posting from the TRAs on this thread is outrageous.

Can you all cut the crap and explain what it is that she has done that makes it in any way reasonable to mention her in the same breath as Saville?

They share the same first initial?

Di you ask him why he thinks JK Rowling is a monster?

You know you’ve made yourself look like an idiot with poor reasoning skills don't you?

That's QUEER THEORY for you!

No one is above criticism, in my opinion JKR’s books could do with more editing…however to compare her to perverts and criminals is appalling.

I would have asked colleague to stop minimising pedophilia. I'm concerned at the poster attempting the same on this thread.

The dead/alive babysitter joke did amuse me though, I'm afraid

I am not GC and don't agree with what JK says but can agree with the OP that her colleague is a massive idiot. No comparison at all.

Oooh, what shady things?

you wouldn't know them, they go to a different school

As far as bad faith arguments go, this is really, really scraping the bucket, wow.

Agreed. I still can’t believe they thought this was an appropriate thing to post. As someone else said, imagine going out to bat for Jimmy Saville.

I can't believe I'm actually typing these words
"in fairness to alcovecupboards..." but...

in fairness I think alcovecupboards was just saying that Savile had never been arrested or convicted as a sex offender, not that he wasn't a paedophile monster sex offender.

A pointless distinction to make, and a desperate attempt to justify putting JKR in the same conversation, let alone the same sentence, as Savile.
But not exactly 'going out to bat' for him.
In fairness😒

Well maybe, but I think @alcovecupboardsneeds to understand how such desperate whataboutery comes across

I think it’s possible they were lining up a ‘zinger’.

You are capable of reading the thread, I assume?

Do back that assertion up.

So you're just ignoring what I actually wrote in place of vile suggestions. I see what you're doing.

Chances of that happening seem slim I’m afraid.