Posted by Dinah on August 19, 2003, at 20:54:33
In reply to Lou's response to Dinah's post » Dinah, posted by Lou Pilder on August 19, 2003, at 20:42:27
Doesn't that assume that the underlying condition is something that was shameful? Otherwise why would anyone feel that defamation was being practiced. And I don't think it's at all shameful to have bi-polar or schizophrenia. The person would just be mistaken, not defaming. Now if the accusation included an untrue statement about someone having a disease, along with an implication that that disease made someone unfit to be someon'e friend, or unfit to lead, or something of the sort, a totally different sort of defamatory statement has occurred. A statement that defames everyone with the disease, not just the person accused.
There is a poster who often comes to the board and says I have schizoaffective disorder, or a thought disorder. And I will confess that I find it a bit distressing because it is untrue. And I think that it may possibly fall under the civilty guideline of jumping to conclusions about others, since I have never stated that I have any such disorder. But I don't think there is anything shameful or loathesome about the diseases themselves.
poster:Dinah
thread:252280
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20030808/msgs/252328.html