# Hey, guy passing out fetus dolls at a Halloween event, come on down to the pit. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 8, 2011, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-guy-passing-out-fetus-dolls-at-a-halloween-event-come-on-down-to-the-pit/602279 "2011-11-08T15:12:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-guy-passing-out-fetus-dolls-at-a-halloween-event-come-on-down-to-the-pit/602279/41 "2011-11-08T18:23:43Z")
In my opinion, Halloween should not be used to try to spread a message for or against abortion. Children are not exactly the target audience for this, or at least they should not be. Words fail me. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-guy-passing-out-fetus-dolls-at-a-halloween-event-come-on-down-to-the-pit/602279/42 "2011-11-08T18:26:29Z")
I am so down with condoms being passed out to trick or treaters. I may do this next year. ---
**Author:** ![mkecane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@mkecane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mkecane)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-guy-passing-out-fetus-dolls-at-a-halloween-event-come-on-down-to-the-pit/602279/43 "2011-11-08T18:27:27Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > You mean to tell me that if you turned around in your chair right now and saw a fetus behind you, you wouldn’t scream like a little girl?:dubious: I would, but more in a “Beatles on Ed Sullivan Show” way. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-guy-passing-out-fetus-dolls-at-a-halloween-event-come-on-down-to-the-pit/602279/44 "2011-11-08T18:52:49Z")
Trick-or-treating ain’t the venue for social commentary, however, the caterwauling of the pro-choice offended is bizarre. Fetuses are simply tissue OR they are dead babies, you can’t have it both ways. Handing out plastic eyeballs or dismembered hands to trick-or-treaters is exactly what Halloween is for. ---
**Author:** ![Troppus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@Troppus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troppus)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-guy-passing-out-fetus-dolls-at-a-halloween-event-come-on-down-to-the-pit/602279/45 "2011-11-08T19:02:04Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > Trick-or-treating ain’t the venue for social commentary, however, the caterwauling of the pro-choice offended is bizarre. Fetuses are simply tissue OR they are dead babies, you can’t have it both ways. > > Handing out plastic eyeballs or dismembered hands to trick-or-treaters is exactly what Halloween is for. That isn’t the problem. This guerilla activist chose to introduce an adult topic to pre-pubescent kids. ---
**Author:** ![Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omg_a_Black_Conservative)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-guy-passing-out-fetus-dolls-at-a-halloween-event-come-on-down-to-the-pit/602279/46 "2011-11-08T19:02:07Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I can read-can you? I asked if you thought they were being sincere with their answer. Of course. > [@leftfield6](#): > > OMGABC, see if you can follow along now… > > So, using little Suzy’s Halloween bag as a vehicle for delivering political or religious messages is okay with you, right? > > So, let’s experiment. Lets replace the fetus doll with: > [ul] > [li]a copy of the Bible[/li][li]a copy of the Book of Morman[/li][li]a copy of the Quran[/li][li]a giant dildo[/li][li]a loaded firearm[/li][li]a copy of Hustler magazine[/li][li]an R rated movie[/li][li]a photo of Michele Bachman[/li][/ul] > > Anything on that list you think over the line for our little Suzy? I mean, damn, we are not supposed to be “irrationally afraid” of anything, right? Just trying see where YOUR line is. > > BTW, lots and lots of people disagree with me, I know they are not all (or even mostly) obtuse. You, wow, well, I guess… You know, the more threads I read on the Dope, the more I laugh. I really can’t believe you’re at all serious with your post. Sometimes you just have to wonder who really is the nut and who is not. Anyway, do you know what a false equivalency is? If not, just look to your post, because it’s chocked full of them. I guarantee you that if, say, we were to both go to, say, a preschool, with me handing out fetus dolls and you handing out religious texts, porn, fire arms and sex toys that not only would I receive far less backlash than you, but I also wouldn’t be in jail, whereas you would be. But you want to talk about other people being (mostly) obtuse? Please. Anyway, I’m **still** waiting for you to tell me what the problem with a fetus doll is. You think a fetus is offensive? I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that the majority of people simply do not. What could possibly be offensive about a stage of development? ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-guy-passing-out-fetus-dolls-at-a-halloween-event-come-on-down-to-the-pit/602279/47 "2011-11-08T19:03:15Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > Trick-or-treating ain’t the venue for social commentary, however, the caterwauling of the pro-choice offended is bizarre. Fetuses are simply tissue OR they are dead babies, you can’t have it both ways. Nonsense - 2 oz. of cut-off human fingertip is also simply tissue, and would creep people out too. People generally try to avoid handling dead human tissue, fetal or not, with the exception of the really common tiny bits of dead skin. Even the bits of dead skin have social taboos around them. One isn’t supposed to tear off fingernail bits or hangnails during a job interview or at a dinner party. ---
**Author:** ![Troppus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@Troppus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troppus)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-guy-passing-out-fetus-dolls-at-a-halloween-event-come-on-down-to-the-pit/602279/48 "2011-11-08T19:13:39Z")
**Omg a Black Conservative** , if you ever notice a lack of responses to your posts, please don’t pat yourself on the back for making an uncontestable point. It’s far more likely that you are being ignored because you are dense as lead. But just for funs, I’ll entertain your bullshit baiting: no one is horrified by a fetus doll. They are rightfully pissed for having an adult topic foisted upon a bunch of pre-pubescent children too young to concern themselves with reproductive issues. But that is how religious conservatives get a foothold: indoctrination at the earliest age possible. Based on your support of this fundie’s tactics, you support sex education as early as what…ages 4-11, right? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-guy-passing-out-fetus-dolls-at-a-halloween-event-come-on-down-to-the-pit/602279/49 "2011-11-08T19:18:04Z")
Anti-abortion people are batshit crazy. What else is new? [Going into a church and shooting someone dead, and then asking what the victim was doing in a church?](http://www.bibleprophecyblog.com/2009/06/what-was-tiller-doing-in-church.html) Why not? ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-guy-passing-out-fetus-dolls-at-a-halloween-event-come-on-down-to-the-pit/602279/50 "2011-11-08T19:25:24Z")
> [@wevets](#): > > Nonsense - 2 oz. of cut-off human fingertip is also simply tissue, and would creep people out too. People generally try to avoid handling dead human tissue, fetal or not, with the exception of the really common tiny bits of dead skin. > > Even the bits of dead skin have social taboos around them. One isn’t supposed to tear off fingernail bits or hangnails during a job interview or at a dinner party. Please don’t tell me the Headless Horseman offends your sensibilities. > [@Troppus](#): > > That isn’t the problem. This guerilla activist chose to introduce an adult topic to pre-pubescent kids. Agreed, it’s just the level of disgust about tissue that seems odd, I doubt parents would get upset if their child was exposed to adult topics like refinancing mortgages. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-guy-passing-out-fetus-dolls-at-a-halloween-event-come-on-down-to-the-pit/602279/51 "2011-11-08T19:25:40Z")
> [@miss\_elizabeth](#): > > I am so down with condoms being passed out to trick or treaters. I may do this next year. Heh - one of the best graffitis I’ve ever seen in a public washroom was on the condom machine - it said, “Don’t buy this gum - it tastes like rubber.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-guy-passing-out-fetus-dolls-at-a-halloween-event-come-on-down-to-the-pit/602279/52 "2011-11-08T19:27:34Z")
> [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > Anyway, do you know what a false equivalency is? If not, just look to your post, because it’s chocked full of them. I could also look at your post earlier in this thread in which you said “So you consider a piece of feces to be equivalent to a fetus” in response to **Euphonious Polemic’s** offer of putting a turd in your Halloween bag. I just took your tactics to ridiculous level. > [@](#): > > I guarantee you that if, say, we were to both go to, say, a preschool, with me handing out fetus dolls and you handing out religious texts, porn, fire arms and sex toys that not only would I receive far less backlash than you, but I also wouldn’t be in jail, whereas you would be. But you want to talk about other people being (mostly) obtuse? Please. Never said I wanted to do that, just trying to see where your line was in determining what was okay to be foisted on our little 3 year old Suzy. I’ll admit that some items were added to my list just for comedic value, but I’ll simplify it for you below. Also, you misplaced my “mostly” modifier there, completely changing what I said. I’m sure that was an accident.:rolleyes: > [@](#): > > Anyway, I’m **still** waiting for you to tell me what the problem with a fetus doll is. You think a fetus is offensive? I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that the majority of people simply do not. What could possibly be offensive about a stage of development? Simply put, there is nothing inherently offensive about a fetus doll. Slipping it into a kid’s bag at a Halloween event, that is the offensive part. Okay, so here is your simplified list. Which of these would you not be okay with in Suzy’s Halloween bag? [ul] [li]non-christian religious texts[/li][li]condoms (wish I had that on the original list, dammit)[/li][li]anti-gay pamphlet[/li][li]Little Debbie Swiss Rolls[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Troppus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@Troppus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troppus)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-guy-passing-out-fetus-dolls-at-a-halloween-event-come-on-down-to-the-pit/602279/53 "2011-11-08T19:29:31Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > Please don’t tell me the Headless Horseman offends your sensibilities. > Agreed, it’s just the level of disgust about tissue that seems odd, I doubt parents would get upset if their child was exposed to adult topics like refinancing mortgages. Yeah, mortgages aren’t quite as polarizing a topic, and kids don’t tend to impulsively dick around with their credit score when puberty hits. (You are joking with this comparison, right?) ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-guy-passing-out-fetus-dolls-at-a-halloween-event-come-on-down-to-the-pit/602279/54 "2011-11-08T19:34:43Z")
“Trick or Treat!” “I choose Trick, kiddo. Here ya go. Have a nice fetus doll.” Way to go, jerk. Why involve children in the abortion debate? This needs to be debated right now, on Halloween? Some people have no sense. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-guy-passing-out-fetus-dolls-at-a-halloween-event-come-on-down-to-the-pit/602279/55 "2011-11-08T19:36:07Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > Agreed, it’s just the level of disgust about tissue that seems odd, I doubt parents would get upset if their child was exposed to adult topics like refinancing mortgages. Actually I probably would. If instead of candy, you gave a bunch of four year olds a brochure on mortgage refinance rates to the local bank branch you work at as a way to drum up business, I’d be pretty pissed off. ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-guy-passing-out-fetus-dolls-at-a-halloween-event-come-on-down-to-the-pit/602279/56 "2011-11-08T19:37:45Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > Agreed, it’s just the level of disgust about tissue that seems odd, … For fuck’s sake, it’s not the tissue thing that’s offensive, it’s the context of passing out paraphernalia about (insert controversial adult topic here) to kids!!! ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-guy-passing-out-fetus-dolls-at-a-halloween-event-come-on-down-to-the-pit/602279/57 "2011-11-08T19:41:07Z")
> [@leftfield6](#): > > just trying to see where your line was in determining what was okay Good luck with that. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-guy-passing-out-fetus-dolls-at-a-halloween-event-come-on-down-to-the-pit/602279/58 "2011-11-08T19:44:11Z")
> [@leftfield6](#): > > For fuck’s sake, it’s not the tissue thing that’s offensive, it’s the context of passing out paraphernalia about (insert controversial adult topic here) to kids!!! Yup. It is highly offensive to prostheletize about social issues on a kiddie holiday like Halloween. The fact that it is on a topic of no interest whatsoever to pre-adolescent children makes it offensive _and_ incomprehesibly stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-guy-passing-out-fetus-dolls-at-a-halloween-event-come-on-down-to-the-pit/602279/59 "2011-11-08T19:45:26Z")
> [@wevets](#): > > Even the bits of dead skin have social taboos around them. One isn’t supposed to tear off fingernail bits or hangnails during a job interview or at a dinner party. Well, what if your host is Jeffrey Dahmer? Anyway, I don’t believe OMG is actually laughing about things he reads on this board. I believe he _says_ he’s laughing because he lacks the wherewithal to challenge or refute arguments he doesn’t like on some vague conditioned-reflex level, so claiming an opponent’s viewpoint is laughable is _kind of_ a response, I guess, though not a particularly profound one. The issue is abortion. People who are pro-choice (an subset of the group OMG has vaguely identified as “liberals”) will probably respond in a particular way. Therefore, he automatically embraces whatever superficially seems in likely opposition to that. Hur hur hur… ---
**Author:** ![Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omg_a_Black_Conservative)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-guy-passing-out-fetus-dolls-at-a-halloween-event-come-on-down-to-the-pit/602279/60 "2011-11-08T20:06:42Z")
> [@Troppus](#): > > **Omg a Black Conservative** , if you ever notice a lack of responses to your posts, please don’t pat yourself on the back for making an uncontestable point. It’s far more likely that you are being ignored because you are dense as lead. It’s more than likely the first point, but you’ll convince yourself it’s the latter. > [@](#): > > But just for funs, I’ll entertain your bullshit baiting: no one is horrified by a fetus doll. They are rightfully pissed for having an adult topic foisted upon a bunch of pre-pubescent children too young to concern themselves with reproductive issues. If I may: “What’s that?” “It’s a fetus.” “What’s a fetus?” “It’s what you looked like before you were born.” “Oh, okay.” No mention of abortion or whatever. Your assertion that giving a child a fetus doll will have an adult conversation hoisted upon the parent is, quite frankly, ridiculous. It doesn’t require a conversation of abortion to explain what a fetus is. In a day and age where young children see their mothers walk around pregnant, where they can view ultrasounds of their soon-to-be sibling (or even a friend or other family member’s sibling) and can see pregnancy openly on TV, giving a kid a doll of a fetus is going to spark a conversation on abortion? Really? Sounds like a lot of fearmongering to me. If we’re going to follow this crappy chain of logic, then giving a kid a doll of a baby should be equally as wrong as it should also spark a debate on abortion. Because, you know, babies equal sex and sex equals a conversation regarding reproductive issues or however it goes. Pardon me while I go roll my eyes. > [@](#): > > But that is how religious conservatives get a foothold: indoctrination at the earliest age possible. Who knew that giving a kid a fetus doll constitutes indoctrination. > [@](#): > > Based on your support of this fundie’s tactics, you support sex education as early as what…ages 4-11, right? Nope. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-guy-passing-out-fetus-dolls-at-a-halloween-event-come-on-down-to-the-pit/602279.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-guy-passing-out-fetus-dolls-at-a-halloween-event-come-on-down-to-the-pit/602279.md?page=4)