AD HOMINEM ALERT: Ben Domenech says that my post on teen sex means I can’t be a father. In the comments section on his page he responds to those who correct him by saying that “I’m aware the man has children in the paternal/biological sense. It’s his Fatherhood that I’m disputing.” There is, however, no actual response to the substance of any of my comments. (Compare this thoughtful post from Mark Byron).

This is more or less the same as those Sharpton types saying that Clarence Thomas’s views mean that he’s not really black, rather than responding to his views. Domenech should be embarrassed by this statement.

UPDATE: Now Richard Bennett seems to be saying that I’m only for teen sex because I’m sleeping with teenagers. Uh, no. And surely that’s not what he means, though I’m not the only one to read it that way. (See the comments on Ben’s page). I’ve gotten a variety of hate mail on this too from a number of people along these lines.

I’ve managed to talk about this without accusing any of those who disagree with me of being sexually repressed, neurotic, or priest-ridden, and without making any teen-sex-priest comments. I must say that I would have appreciated the same courtesy.

Sadly, it’s this kind of discussion that serves to remind me why it is that — despite my position on the war, say — I’m just not a conservative. At least, not the kind of conservative that likes to tell other people how to live their lives, and that enjoys the role of moral censor. That sort of thing is just another species of PC bossiness, sharing far more ground with the intrusive left than it wants to admit.

UPDATE: I notice that Bennett (also in Ben’s comment section) has rather profanely clarified that he didn’t mean to charge me with infidelity or — what’s the word? –ephebophilia. He doesn’t actually use that word, but I wanted to — it was a new one to me as of a few weeks ago, and I like new words. Strangely, it didn’t appear among the exotic terms I studied when preparing for the spelling bee in my youth.

Here are some wise comments on the subject by Gena Lewis.

UPDATE: And N.Z. Bear has some comments on fatherhood.