# Guilty by association? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 11, 2015, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-by-association/727595 "2015-08-11T23:02:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-by-association/727595/1 "2015-08-11T23:02:07Z")
I had one of those questions posed to me today that I really wish people would not ask. My group has an annual international event coming up soon. I have been making some calls using light persuasion trying to talk people into attending. My girlfriend asked if I would feel guilty if someone I persuaded to go had an accident on the way to the event. My feelings are that as long as I am not asking anyone to do anything abnormally risky it is a mute point. She seems to feel I will have guilt and maybe I shouldn’t persuade those to go who have been having second thoughts. Is my involvement any different than an advertisement? ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-by-association/727595/2 "2015-08-11T23:32:11Z")
That would be a lot of tangential guilt to carry around. If you fit into this category, you should just become a hermit and never interact with people. ever. again. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-by-association/727595/3 "2015-08-11T23:42:02Z")
Moot. It is a moot point. “Moot: 2. of little or no practical value or meaning; purely academic.” Your girlfriend is not making a rational point. Perhaps she has some other agenda against your making these phone calls, but the one she stated is just silly. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-by-association/727595/4 "2015-08-12T00:33:12Z")
What if you invited them to your birthday party and while they were walking over to your place they were hit by a meteor? You’d feel bad, definitely. You’d feel guilty, maybe. But just because you might feel that, doesn’t mean that you _are_ guilty. Tell your girlfriend that you can’t invite her anywhere, now, because if she died just because she was on a date with you, you’d never get over it. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-by-association/727595/5 "2015-08-12T00:56:38Z")
What if you decided not to invite people, and somebody you didn’t invite stayed home and got killed by a { meteor | earthquake | robber | red-light runner } (pick one) right there in his/her home town? ETA: P.S. If you cross a cow with an owl, you get a cowl. What does a cowl say? Moot! Moot! Yeah, I got that one from Highlight For Children magazine, about 45 years ago.