A couple of days ago I read a horrible story in Metro with many sides, all of them horrible. Apparently, a 14-year old boy had become to babysit a girl of 5 for the evening. Sometime later, maybe next morning, the girl told her father that she had been sexually abused by the boy, who was charged with rape. After the trial, the judge dismissed the boy on the grounds of that "society and the world were responsible for the boy's criminal offense".
The story is full of gaps. No less than 30 questions can be asked as a practice for young reporters. I have never been very good at asking questions but I like trying. At this time, already tired, I won't make a big effort. However: who was the boy, who the girl? Did their parents know each other? How? Did they had any relationship? What were their parents doing? Was it on weekend? Under what circumstances the boy ended up babysitting the girl? Where did it happen? Schools? I can hardly imagine a girl of 5 telling her father: "I have been raped". Can a girl of such an early age be so articulate?
It is nevertheless striking the verdict of the judge. To my ears it sounds absolutely fantastic, but I realize that it reflects a standpoint and a course of thinking of huge popularity: this World is shit and it is the fault of the financially well-off, i.e. you and me. Come on!... In the first place, what is the World? What, the Society? I guess I am part of it. But am I then, who have just learned about the crime and have so many questions, accountable for it?
As a matter of fact, this way of thinking is entirely Christian and is embedded in the story of the Original Sin. The tale does not move in forward direction, from the facts to the consequences (i.e. the Sin of Adam and Eve made us all sinners) because, to begin with, Adam and Eve did not exist: they are a literary and religious creation, of great value, though. The power of the story lies precisely in the fact that the author or authors of that part of the Genesis already realize of Sin and Crime as inherent elements to the World. Their main objective in writing the story was to understand a question, a really hot philosophical question throughout the centuries and especially nowadays: "Why do we suffer? Why does suffering exist?". Their answer was quite original: God is harmony and created Man; and He made Man free to choose, and it is Man who, by choosing to be away from God has created Sin, and has become Sinner. In other words: Man is responsible for Sin. And sins are concatenated: the bad done in one part of the chain is transmitted to another. The former Pope Jean Paul II used to call it "Sin Structures".
The world is full of perils and our life is a constant struggle to uproot the weed of the gardens of civilization. That is the purpose of Education. That is the role of parents. That is the point of getting acquainted with ourselves, learning to know our weaknesses. To keep civilization up and against the serpents of our instincts. The myth of the Good Savage is a fake, only existing in the perverse mind of a twisted Rousseau. Quite appealing, it is true, but it is just a myth, I am afraid. In the beginning it was the primitive Man and all our Society and World -so much despised- is the resultant of ages of evolution. We live in a fine meta-stable equilibrium, and a small perturbation can lead us down into the abyss -as we are quite used to witness.
Justice must work in a different way, though, and judges must do their work. Otherwise, saying "it's the World's fault" is like saying "it's nobody's fault". (In Spain we say that you walk the street, you fell and you blame the pebbled road... It is funny how, in terms of security and safety, the legal systems in the UK actually work this way). The question is, Mr. Judge: will the world be a better place after letting the boy and his crime go unpunished? Will Justice prevail? Will the verdict prevent similar crimes in the future?... No, I don't think so. Treat the boy like a criminal and make his parents accountable: they are legally responsible for him.
(PLEASE, LEAVE YOUR COMMENT).
The story is full of gaps. No less than 30 questions can be asked as a practice for young reporters. I have never been very good at asking questions but I like trying. At this time, already tired, I won't make a big effort. However: who was the boy, who the girl? Did their parents know each other? How? Did they had any relationship? What were their parents doing? Was it on weekend? Under what circumstances the boy ended up babysitting the girl? Where did it happen? Schools? I can hardly imagine a girl of 5 telling her father: "I have been raped". Can a girl of such an early age be so articulate?
It is nevertheless striking the verdict of the judge. To my ears it sounds absolutely fantastic, but I realize that it reflects a standpoint and a course of thinking of huge popularity: this World is shit and it is the fault of the financially well-off, i.e. you and me. Come on!... In the first place, what is the World? What, the Society? I guess I am part of it. But am I then, who have just learned about the crime and have so many questions, accountable for it?
As a matter of fact, this way of thinking is entirely Christian and is embedded in the story of the Original Sin. The tale does not move in forward direction, from the facts to the consequences (i.e. the Sin of Adam and Eve made us all sinners) because, to begin with, Adam and Eve did not exist: they are a literary and religious creation, of great value, though. The power of the story lies precisely in the fact that the author or authors of that part of the Genesis already realize of Sin and Crime as inherent elements to the World. Their main objective in writing the story was to understand a question, a really hot philosophical question throughout the centuries and especially nowadays: "Why do we suffer? Why does suffering exist?". Their answer was quite original: God is harmony and created Man; and He made Man free to choose, and it is Man who, by choosing to be away from God has created Sin, and has become Sinner. In other words: Man is responsible for Sin. And sins are concatenated: the bad done in one part of the chain is transmitted to another. The former Pope Jean Paul II used to call it "Sin Structures".
The world is full of perils and our life is a constant struggle to uproot the weed of the gardens of civilization. That is the purpose of Education. That is the role of parents. That is the point of getting acquainted with ourselves, learning to know our weaknesses. To keep civilization up and against the serpents of our instincts. The myth of the Good Savage is a fake, only existing in the perverse mind of a twisted Rousseau. Quite appealing, it is true, but it is just a myth, I am afraid. In the beginning it was the primitive Man and all our Society and World -so much despised- is the resultant of ages of evolution. We live in a fine meta-stable equilibrium, and a small perturbation can lead us down into the abyss -as we are quite used to witness.
Justice must work in a different way, though, and judges must do their work. Otherwise, saying "it's the World's fault" is like saying "it's nobody's fault". (In Spain we say that you walk the street, you fell and you blame the pebbled road... It is funny how, in terms of security and safety, the legal systems in the UK actually work this way). The question is, Mr. Judge: will the world be a better place after letting the boy and his crime go unpunished? Will Justice prevail? Will the verdict prevent similar crimes in the future?... No, I don't think so. Treat the boy like a criminal and make his parents accountable: they are legally responsible for him.
(PLEASE, LEAVE YOUR COMMENT).
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