postsemgirl, calm down, heck is not a bad word. in truth, neither is hell. its a place. technically it does not even fit into words aht are considered curses al pi halacha. the ones that are are ones that are cursing hashem, as in damn, since its really saying damn god, or sh.., which is god is taking a “stool” on me in this situation, etc. you get my point. the word hell, it may not be nice, and some may find it brash, but in essence, its actually fine. but the word heck, that is definitely fine. (moderator, the words used were for learning purposes, and as such should stay).
as for zalman, take your analogy, and put books in it, as all forms of assurey einayim are made into book form, so i guess learning from a book (sefer) would not be permissible. its actually a perfect analogy, as the internet has both, and books have both. thanks zalamn, i no longer have to learn, since you have paskened for all that learning from a sefer is assur.
btw, zalmen, im assuming that one of those friends in your story is actually you, as you are on the internet yourself!
illini07: thanks for the backup, but she is post sem, so she is post brainwashed! its really not her fault.