But that's true everywhere else. So we have a disdain for fictional life. That's not a very convincing argument. In fact, it has nothing to do with the discussion.
No, I wasn't referring to fictional life. I was referring to the ease at which American society as a whole accepts the death of human beings.
And I didn't mean to offend anyone. I was referring to the fact that I've spoken to American gun owners on this forum and elsewhere, and
most ETA
some of them have stated openly that they would kill a person if they felt they had to. Most have said that they believe that they have a right to kill people. One even said that he would kill a person, unilaterally, on his own authority, if he felt that it was necessary, and sleep well that night. Such a statement is profoundly disturbing to me, and it has stuck with me for a long time. The person who said it is currently posting in this thread, by the way, though I think he might have me on ignore.
I apologise for generalising. That was hasty and ill-considered. Let me temper my statement by saying that I believe that there would be a higher proportion of Americans who would express such disdain for human life than there would be of Australians, or Britons, or Danish, or Germans, or for that matter nationals of any other developed nation. This forum has a very liberal bias, so I believe the proportion of Americans on this forum who would express such views is smaller than the proportion of Americans in general.
If you think I shouldn't be referring to you - if you, like me, believe that the preservation of human life is the most important of virtues, then no, I'm not referring to you, and I apologise for not choosing how to express myself more carefully. Sometimes it's easier to make a pithy generalisation than it is to carefully craft four whole paragraphs.