......no, my lack of compassion for two parents who caused the death of their own child due to their ignorance does not put me on their level
'don't fight fire with fire' arguments don't do anything but contribute to oppression
Lack of empathy - inability or unwillingness to see another's perspective - is exactly what puts any and all of us 'on their level'. It's what we have in common with the Alcorns.
I understand how much Leelah's story upsets you. It's clear from your posts. and I've personally dealt with bigotry all my life, so I get it, I've
lived it. But while your argument is passionate, it isn't logical.
Let's say we do fight fire with fire. As Alex has suggested, let's put them on the stand and take away everything they have left. When they tell us how they see the world, and how Leelah's perspective was wrong, then we'll tell them how we see the world, and how
their perspective is wrong. And we will become the oppressors; we will be the same.
I somewhat agree with you, however there's still a level of responsibility being a parent brings. They're still adults with no mental defects and this is a terrible mistake and there's no way they couldn't see the toll it was taking on their child. No matter the circumstance, a parent is always responsible for the welfare of their child and this was a severe case of neglect/emotional abuse.
Honestly, I don't know what sort of punishment would be appropriate, though I vaguely feel there should be one. Perhaps the pain of their baby's death is punishment enough.
But there's something we're failing to see here. There's something our society at large has not yet picked up on, and it's at the heart of what happened and how we proceed.
A child with no mental defects does not have the same responsibilities as an adult. You can't vote, drive a car, or buy booze until you reach a certain age, because most people at those older ages have mentally developed to where they can handle those choices.
There is an exception in cases of violent crime and death. Children can be tried as adults in extreme situations. And my honest opinion is that it is primarily the extreme emotions involved with violent crimes that cause us to deviate from an otherwise logical system. We revert to a pre-logical way of thinking.
But our system is generally logical, and it's much better than what we've had in earlier epochs. The problem is that it doesn't go far enough. We recognize that there is a developmental difference between children and adults, but we don't recognize that there are developmental differences between adults as well. Differences that are just as fundamental, just as significant.
We imagine that all adults have reached the same level of cognition, and therefore we treat them all the same. Yet it should be completely obvious that Leelah's parents are
not at the same level of cognition as all other adults. Their entire community is ruled not by rational inquiry, but by the authority of tradition.
Until we recognize this distinction, and we stop hating non-rational people because they are not like us, the path ahead will be bloody indeed.
