Thousands call for Turing apology

Discussion in 'Top Secret' started by Elven6, Sep 1, 2009.

  1. BottyWWFC

    BottyWWFC Member

    I have to agree with Vitesse on this one.

    Turing's contribution to the war effort is immeasurable and he should be honoured and remembered as such.

    But to make the present government answerable for the way Turing was treated would be to totally ignore the zeitgeist of the time. I personally abhor the persistent clamour for present day Britain to feel ashamed for slavery and other actions of our fore-bears.

    Gays were persecuted because homosexuality was frowned upon by the church in a society which was overwhelmingly religious. Society is no longer so overwhelmingly religious and as such, values have changed. Nobody demands incessant apologies from the German government or population for the actions of the SS, mainly because the civilised world now recognises that the current German population are far enough removed from the indoctrination of Nazism to accept that particular ghost has been exorcised.

    Yes Alan Turing fully deserves his lofty placement in British history but there is no way any of us here and now should be made to feel ashamed about the way he was treated for his sexual preferences nearly 70 years ago.
     
  2. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    A Man from the Future

    In commemoration of the centenary of the birth of the brilliant British mathematician and pioneering computer scientist Alan Turing, Neil and Chris began work in 2012 on what they have described as "a rather epic piece of music." Based on what we know about it so far, it will apparently take the form of a suite or song cycle dealing with his life and work
     
  3. Mike L

    Mike L Very Senior Member

    I have to say I am with Vitesse and Botty.
    Turing was a brilliant man and his achievements cannot be underestimated but like many brilliant people he had his problems and fell foul of the laws that existed at the time.
    I can only imagine that 'chemical castration' (not castration at all, an attempt to reduce sexual impulses by use of drugs that is I think still used today for sex offenders in the US) was at the time a relatively new and untried 'solution' and quite probably contributed to his later suicide.
    Should an apology be made? Yes - but only if an apology is made to every homosexual that had similar 'treatment' at the time.
     
  4. Dresden

    Dresden Junior Member

    Sir winston Churchill said : "It's impossible to get a conviction for sodomy in England, half the jury is doing it, and the other half
    believes it cannot be done."

    Here is what likely happened, he pissed somebody off who could really screw him to the floor, and they did.
     

Share This Page