"But....it's okay to bully sex offenders, isn't it?"

Bullying is very much in the news right now. My friend Marie over at Notes from the Handbasket posted a brilliantly done piece today.

And someone called Scoot at wwl.com wrote a most thought provoking piece about bullying.

These are the jewels gleaned from his piece.

"It is imperative for every parent to teach their children the coping skills to deal with bullying. The first simple lesson is that nothing anyone else says to you, or about you, can actually change who you are."

"We now live in a society that has developed the collective belief that we have a right to go through life and not be offended by anything or anyone. There will always be things that offend us in life and no one should expect, or demand, a world that is free of things we find offensive."

"Our quest to achieve a politically correct society has contributed greatly to the idea that we have this right not to be offended. Younger generations have been protected and coddled by their parents’ generations to the point where they are no longer taught the emotional survival skills we learned."

These are tidbits that may more appropriately fit with the philosophy, with which I totally agree, of another blogger friend, Lenore, over at Range Free Kids.

But I started with the Handbasket Notes, and there I will return.

Those who are registered sex offenders, their children, and their families, know first hand about bullying. It has been an element in the suicide of many a person who is accused of a sexual crime or who was on the public registry and found life intolerable. It has been the cause of misery, torment, property damage, and actual physical assault up to and including murder for many, many more. Research done by Jill Levenson and Lynn University in Florida documents the extent to which bullying of registrants and their families has gone.

In the arena of cyber-bullying, that against registered sex offenders as a class exceeds any other. Any article about a sex offender issue draws comments that are vile and vicious. The Internet offers anonymity, and that is when our true natures come out. I cannot judge the condition of another's soul, but if what they write when no one knows who they are is any indication, their souls must be as black as the jaws of Hell.

"Too bad the shooter was such a poor shot!" This was posted on an article about a registrant being shot, barely escaping death, just because his name was on the public registry.

On an article about legislation to forcefully castrate sex offenders at their own expense, we have, "Make them pay for it? I would cut their balls off for free," and, "I would vote for this in a heart beat. In fact, I think these pricks needs to be stripped naked, marched through city streets to a public area where he will be on a high platform for everyone to see...." What follows turned my stomach and made me wonder if all humans really come from the same beginning.

And finally, on an article about a man who was just accused of sexual misconduct being beaten within an inch of his life by a mob, a poster nailed it: "If the government didn't want the registered sex offenders assaulted and beaten, they wouldn't have them register so the public can find them and beat them. I say every one registered should get same treatment as this offender got, if not worse!"

Out of the mouths of vigilantes.