"Dad Again" continues to get passionate responses from readers. This week's column provoked a near-riot in the Fray as posters discussed whether they had ever felt inclined to kill their babies.

Subject: Blaming the Victims
Re: "Dad Again: Infanticide to Infatuation"
From: Thrasymachus
Date: Wed May 22  7:15 a.m. PT

I was struck by how much the author sounded like the victim in an abusive relationship. "Well, she's mean and nasty most of the time, it's true … but you don't understand! There are moments when we really seem to connect!" If you couple the psychology of an abusive relationship with the social conventions insisting that parents stick around, it's easy to see why parents come to be so devoted to their children. Like wives in the 1950s, they don't really have any choice in the matter. They come to see themselves as they're treated: as a means to an end. Of course, unlike 1950s husbands, small children really don't have any choice in how they treat their parents; and parents are bound to put up with it. But they don't have to pretend to be happy about it.

[Find this post here.]

Subject: The Difficulties of Eternal Vigilance

Re: " Chatterbox: Is Bush Hyping the New al-Qaida Threat?"

From: Loran

Date: Wed May 22  7:50 a.m. PT

What if Bush and Co. reacted to the memos and intelligence and "chatter" immediately? What if, in June or August or even September, they had started dragging in Middle Eastern men in flight schools for interrogation? ... Probably [the plot] would have gone down at another time. Our country doesn't do fear and loathing very well. Threats or not, after a while we get back to work, back to school, back to worrying over the ten thousand crazy things that occupy our minds every day. That is our knack for taking care of business, for taking care of family, for taking care of what's important at this time. The vigilance would have evaporated, just like it is right now. That is our strength ... and our vulnerability.

[Find this post here.]

Subject: The Flock as Sheep

Re: "Home Fires: My Priest, the Child Molester"

From: Will Allen

Date: Thu May 23 3:24 p.m. PT

Since when does forgiving people mean allowing them to avoid the consequences of doing damage to innocent parties? What on earth is wrong with these parishioners? Has belonging to a congregation or a large, organized religion completely stripped them of their presumably God-given ability to engage in independent thought? Radicalize? There oughta be a revolution!

[Find this post here.]