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Originally Posted by OpieCunningham
I'm going to start another thread, because this would be going way off-topic - but this AIDS/responsibility/disenfranchisement thing is too much to just let pass.
But I will say that you are not making your case by repeating the apparently magical phrase "accept responsibility for your actions". Are all mistakes inexcusable? Apparently, they are - if making one mistake is enough to eliminate your right to vote forever. Why not just lock up anyone convicted of a crime forever? Being imprisoned is the punishment for a serious crime, it is a punishment that typically has a time limit - where is the connection with perpetual disenfranchisment?
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I was asked my opinion. That's what it is. I'm not making a case for changing your mind. I'm saying ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR OWN ACTIONS.
Whatever the consequences of your actions bear, that's what that means. Simple, if it happens to mean in 1950s that you are ostracized from the community, or in 2000s where the community is more permissive and forgiving. Or in the 1800s where marijuana or cocaine possession was legal, to the current past 20 year war on drugs. Times change. Viewpoints change. Laws change.
I have a few friends that died of AIDS. How did they contract it? A permissive gay lifestyle. Simple. They did not ask for it, it's what was a possible consequence for the lifestyle they lead and they lived very full lives up until their deaths.
Even a 14 year old who impregnates a girl may not fully understand the ramifications of the actions, but there is a consequence that must be accepted along with a responsibility. The concept I am trying to express is simple, we may not know what ALL the consequences are for all our actions, but we must be willing to accept the responsibility that there are some consequences to our actions, good or bad, temporary or permanent.
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Originally Posted by cthulu23
Criminal sentences are not handed down by God. They are meted out by humans. Saying that someone should be punished doesn't mean that any type of punishment whatsoever is justified. What if the US government wanted to reinstitute stoning or crucifixion? Should we just "accept responsibility" then and lie back?
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If you did nothing to combat it, then yes, lie back and accept the responsibilty of your actions, in this case inactions. The US government does not do things in a vaccum. There's time to discuss, implement, execute, study, and sometimes upon discovering new things not working return to previous methods. Since the governement is composed of humans, it's safe to say they will make mistakes, and humans will then have to correct them.
As a believer in survival of the fittest, life is not fair. Plain and simple. Is that black or white? No it's not, there's many factors that come into play, but ultimately each day the lion has to run faster than the slowest antelope, and
conversely the fastest antelope only has to run faster than the slowest lion.
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