"Sunday too far away..."

[deathpixie]

Ah, Sunday evening. Time to curl up in the beanbag with the computer on my lap, drink a cup of caramel tea and enjoy the lst of my weekend. Not an overly productive one - not in the practical sense, any way - but I have been writing, and talking to people, and burning CDs and went out for dinner with my dad. All good stuff.

It's been a thinking kind of weekend. Lots of questions, lots of answers, lots of thoughts. Memories. In a good way, mostly, although some of the memories are sad, or wistful. Wishing for things beyond my reach. But in all, I'm feeling good. Better. Quieter.

***

I don't understand this thinking in absolutes. Good vs Evil. Right vs. Wrong. There's always another viewpoint, another perspective, another reason for why something happens. And in a way, thinking in absolutes limits us, over-simplifies the world. Turns it into one of those child drawings, all one-dimensional and flat. Stops us from thinking, stops us from feeling. Stops us from seeing the answers, and also the problem.

I never want to be limited like that.

Comments

Yes and no...

[msss.livejournal.com]

I think there are some things that are absolutes. Paedophilia is wrong, to pick a really easy example. That said, there aren't very many of them. The world is too complicated.

Re: Yes and no...

[deathpixie]

Ah, but there's always another point of view. ;)

Take your example of paedophilia. Yes, it's wrong. But what if the person perpetrating it is themselves the victim of abuse? Research shows that many abused children grow up to become abusers. Should we puish these people as harshly as those who have no excuse for their actions? And what about those who are considered below-average in intelligence? I know of three cases off the top of my head involving abuse of children by people who are intellectually handicapped, to the point they are children themselves. And, for that matter, what about other children who abuse? It happens. Should we treat all child abusers the same way? Of course not. But that's what people would have us do, because they see only the absolute - "Paedophilia is wrong." Absolutes, as I said, restrict our thinking, and our options.

*grins* Just playing Devil's Advocate a bit. ;)

Re: Yes and no...

[msss.livejournal.com]

I didn't say we should treat them all the same way! :)

I don't think the circumstances of the offender make any kind of abuse any more right. Yes, it is more morally blameworthy if a fully facultied adult decided to deliberately twist the mind of a child in their care. But it's still wrong, whoever does it. No child should have to go through that. The appropriate treatment for the offender is separate and dependent on their circumstances, obviously. But it's a failing of our whole society that the child has suffered.