In Reply to: Re: some sort of reply posted by Mr.Don on April 16, 2008 at 21:31:10:
The problem is that you asked it in the midst of a somewhat adversarial conversation about corporal punishment of children in which you seem to have taken the opposite view to mine (I'm not entirely certain on that last point as I don't think you have stated your position yet). Therefore, it did not seem to me to be a sincere attempt to get to know me better after all these years, as you now claim.
Part of the problem of asking me that in this context is that answering it could easily lead to me discussing matters that might violate the privacy of third parties. So, even if the question was relevant to the issue, which as I explained it is not, I still wouldn't have answered it.
However, if my identity was not known and I only posted anonymously, then it would be far easier for me to discuss my personal situation as the privacy of third parties would not be an issue. That is certainly a factor that favors the policy here of allowing anonymous postings, since that does allow people more freedom to discuss things of a highly personal nature.