| From: | Tania Evans <Tania-Ann.Evans@****.UNI-REGENSBURG.DE> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: Spell Permits(Long) |
| Date: | Mon, 5 Oct 1998 17:43:57 +0200 |
think it was Marty), any kind of legal debate concerning
spells/magic would be heavily influenced by public opinion. Evereday
average people want some kind of guarantee that they and their
families are safe from some psycho's fireball/control
spell/whatever. Education being what it is, especially in the SR
universe, don't take for granted that the public's view of magicians
would be in any way just or realistic. What about magic and its
representation in the media? And spells should be freely available
for all? Free fireball-spells for free citizens? I cannot see how the
majority of the people (those 99.9% average, mundane, persons
mentioned somewhere) would tolerate this. And another thing, if
people feel awkward about their neighbours looks and habits (I am a
foreigner in this country, so I had my share of suspicion), how on
earth would they feel about MAGICIANS? ("You know, dear - I've heard
from Mrs so-and-so today, the Xs, they're supposed to be magicians,
you know. Real ones. Like we saw on trid yesterday... I do feel
a bit queer walking past their house, I must say - after all, you
never know..." (to be continued.) Plenty of voters, consumers and
anxious parents advocating spell permits.
How can knowledge be an illegal thing? It can. All you need is a law
that says so, e.g. there were times when women were barred from
studying. Knowledge of medicine could so, for a woman in the 19th
cent. here, become an illegal thing because it had been obtained
through illegal means. She was not allowed to know this, by the law.
As for discovery - granted, difficult. But as someone on this list
pointed out (I forget who), there is forensic magic.
To cut a long story short - I can't imagine there _not_ being any
efforts made by government, law, the anxious public etc. to control
the stuff. How, is an entirely different matter, as well as wether
that attempted control would be effective. BTW - I guess most of you
people have heard of the witch trials in Europe from the 16th into
the 17th cent. None of those supposedly millions of people were
guilty. They can't have been. But - in public opinion they were
guilty of the crime magic, and subjected to a rigid law that catered
specifically towards this kind of - impossible - crime...
Just some food for thought.
