Shimmer
Well-known member
Quote:
Mainly, because the legal system and the justice system are two entirely separate entities, and being a part of one does not necessarily merit being a part of another.
I have no qualms with removing a danger to society...I never have. I don't consider those creatures deserving of much of anything, particularly after they've committed the acts they commit.
Quote:
It can't be changed unless they want it to change, and quite honestly, if they wanted it to change, they wouldn't have done it in the first place. There's no way anyone of sound mind could possibly state for even an iota of a second that rape or child molestation is okay under any circumstances. Likewise, there's no way anyone could say that they didn't know it was wrong. Ever. Period. Ever. Evereverever. There's nothing that anyone can say that would make that possible.
These people choose to deliberately act in a manner that is 100% harmful and detrimental to their victims and to society. They choose to do it, because they know it's wrong and they do it anyway. It's not a case of 'oops I was walking behind you with a weapon and slipped and fell and when I did, well, your pants jumped off you and my cock accidentally like..slipped in." It's not a case of "The little boy was totally on board with all of it! He like...slipped me a roofie and shit!" It's purely, every time, a case of it's wrong, the offender KNOWS it's wrong, and s/he does it anyway.
Quote:
Sure they do. If that's their idea of penance, then leave them to it. That's perfectly fine.
Quote:
There are people I would point out, within my family, as shady characters who would do that. I'm not going to lie. They're also people I don't ever leave ANY of my kids with. Ever. And I won't leave other people's kids with them.
There's no way to stop people from doing what they want to do, ultimately. None. You can't make them not do it, if they consider it a worthy action, regardless of what the punishment is. And that is what makes them so unworthy of compassion in my eyes...because regardless of the punitive measures taken, they're going to do it anyway.
So I, as a parent, as a mistrustful unbelievably realistically cynical person, educate my kids, and maintain constant vigilance. Yes, my kids miss out on sleepovers sometimes, but you know what? They're here and they're safe with me. I know where they're going, I know what they're doing, I know who they're with, at all times. I give them their freedom to an extent, but I also take every reasonable (and some would say unreasonable) measure to protect them.
That's how we prevent it from happening.
Originally Posted by ratmist
It's your choice to trust or not to trust. Either way, you have to live under the same laws as everyone else, and abide by them or be punished for the transgressions. You've seemed happy enough with the legal system if it's punishing people who break the law. However, in the case of sex offenders, it seems you're more comfortable with taking the law into your own hands, and dispensing justice as you feel appropriate. Whether that's just sentiment expressed behind the safety of the internet or the reality of what you would choose to do should the situation arise, remains unknown. I'd like to believe you, a soldier who protected the law and stood for its freedoms, would defend it no matter what. |
Mainly, because the legal system and the justice system are two entirely separate entities, and being a part of one does not necessarily merit being a part of another.
I have no qualms with removing a danger to society...I never have. I don't consider those creatures deserving of much of anything, particularly after they've committed the acts they commit.
Quote:
| At no point have I argued that sex offenders are simply human beings that simply "made a mistake". I have consistently argued that if the possibility exists that their behaviour can be permanently changed, and if we are in a position to learn more about why this problem even exists in the human psyche, we should do what we can to think carefully about what we should do in regards to these people's lives. |
It can't be changed unless they want it to change, and quite honestly, if they wanted it to change, they wouldn't have done it in the first place. There's no way anyone of sound mind could possibly state for even an iota of a second that rape or child molestation is okay under any circumstances. Likewise, there's no way anyone could say that they didn't know it was wrong. Ever. Period. Ever. Evereverever. There's nothing that anyone can say that would make that possible.
These people choose to deliberately act in a manner that is 100% harmful and detrimental to their victims and to society. They choose to do it, because they know it's wrong and they do it anyway. It's not a case of 'oops I was walking behind you with a weapon and slipped and fell and when I did, well, your pants jumped off you and my cock accidentally like..slipped in." It's not a case of "The little boy was totally on board with all of it! He like...slipped me a roofie and shit!" It's purely, every time, a case of it's wrong, the offender KNOWS it's wrong, and s/he does it anyway.
Quote:
| And some victims/survivors have gone on record to state that they would prefer their offender be do the hardest time of all by being forced to face his crime in therapy. (Phyllis Turner-Lawrence, Victim Services and Restorative Justice Consultant, go here for the full statement: http://www.ncianet.org/publicpolicy/...ortJan2006.pdf) Do these victims' opinions not matter either? |
Sure they do. If that's their idea of penance, then leave them to it. That's perfectly fine.
Quote:
| If it makes it easier to cope with the topic, happily dehumanise away. But the raw fact is that these crimes overwhelmingly happen within families, perpetrated by people we trust and maybe even love. That's the terrifying thing about it, in my opinion. You may think these people have no humanity in them - and maybe you're right - but that doesn't get us very far in trying to understand how this happens and why, and how to prevent it from happening in the first place. Victimization of juveniles usually takes place within families (34%) and among friends (59%). Juveniles are rarely victimized by strangers (7%). Victimization of adults generally occurs among acquaintances (61%) and family members (12%). Victimization by strangers is far less common (27%). Nearly half (44%) of men imprisoned for a sex crime victimized their own child, stepchild or other family member. Rarely (7%) was the victim a stranger. The vast majority (84%) of sexual assaults on children below age 12 occur in a residence. From U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Sexual Assault of Young Children as Reported to Law Enforcement: Victim, Incident, and Offender Characteristics, July 2000, NCJ 182990, table 6. I don't know about you, but there isn't a single person in my family that I could point out as being a possible sex offender. But going by the statistics, there's bound to be someone that might. And the same goes for everyone else's families. All I'm saying is that dehumanising and demonising pedophiles doesn't get us very far in trying to prevent this from happening at all. Until we understand the nature of the disorder and how to fix it, there isn't any hope for any of us or our children. |
There are people I would point out, within my family, as shady characters who would do that. I'm not going to lie. They're also people I don't ever leave ANY of my kids with. Ever. And I won't leave other people's kids with them.
There's no way to stop people from doing what they want to do, ultimately. None. You can't make them not do it, if they consider it a worthy action, regardless of what the punishment is. And that is what makes them so unworthy of compassion in my eyes...because regardless of the punitive measures taken, they're going to do it anyway.
So I, as a parent, as a mistrustful unbelievably realistically cynical person, educate my kids, and maintain constant vigilance. Yes, my kids miss out on sleepovers sometimes, but you know what? They're here and they're safe with me. I know where they're going, I know what they're doing, I know who they're with, at all times. I give them their freedom to an extent, but I also take every reasonable (and some would say unreasonable) measure to protect them.
That's how we prevent it from happening.
