His crime was being pedantic about the definition of rape around people who can't even differentiate rape from underage sex, which are probably the same people that are interpreting it as Him defending underage sex.
Yes he did:
"I am skeptical of the claim that voluntarily pedophilia harms children." *
Stallman was driven out because of decades of abusive behavior and opinions. The most recent incident was just the final straw. Ignoring that historical context is rather disingenuous.
Anyway, he subsquently said that he changed his mind on that point, after discussions with other people about it. You ought to include that if you're going to try to represent the man's history.
We're discussing his resignation and the pressure that was surely brought to bear on him to do so. Which almost certainly is related to his history of pro-pedophilia comments, not just the most recent ones.
But at the same time the other side is arguing that the tactics used to this end involve misquoting and lying about what he said.
In the end it is two groups of people having two correlated (but different) conversations.
Many (not all, but many) of RMS "defenders" here would completely agree if not for this backhanded tactics, as some are only asking for proper representation of facts.
The fact that a lot of "takedown" pieces continue to lie means that they force together two groups of people that do not necessarily agree.
If sex without consent is rape, and minors can't meaningfully consent to having sex with an adult, then having sex with a minor is kinda rape.
His comment about 17 vs. 18 years old shows that he's detached from reality. The law has to draw the line somewhere, it's necessarily arbitrary to some extent. It's still okay to discuss such nuances, but then don't be snarky. Context matters too. What point was he trying to make here and why?
Have you actually tried talking to a lot of children about this topic?
(it would be funny if you did; it would also be equally funny if you didn't, and are surprised that children didn't express said argument, even though you didn't give them the chance)
You are generalizing. I am doing a MicroMaster in data science from MITx and they grant the equivalent credits of the first semester. It's worth something if I ever apply to a similar master program.
