I heard something so mind bogglingly stupid on the radio the other day I was flat out enraged that anyone with two brain cells to rub together could take it seriously. Unfortunately I hit upon it as i was channel surfing so the show and the person expressing these views eludes me.
A woman was talking about bullying. Now, I think its safe to say that bullying is a bad thing. I've been on the receiving end of it. I think nearly everyone has at some time in their lives. The woman who was speaking talked about herself getting bullying for sticking up for a kid with Downs Syndrome. This lead to an assault on her. The kids responsible received in school suspension, which means they spent their school time stuck in a detention room, and the ringleader received out of school suspension. This is pretty telling of the the time frame as if this occurred all the assailants would be expelled. The tolerance for fighting is zero, and that means that if one student is beating the crap out of another student than the student getting the beating had better not throw a single punch to defend himself or he's expelled.
The story went on that the ringleader, Jerry, returned to school and pushed the speaker into moving traffic. This is not the sickening part. The woman was pretty much advocating punishment by way of hugs and pie for this kid. She found out that Jerry's father had lost his job and when Jerry returned to school after his suspension he was ten pounds lighter. The course of action she said she wanted was the school administration to take Jerry into their office and say "Jerry, you're a good kid, tell us what's bothering you."
News flash: Jerry was not a good kid. Good kids don't bully. Good kids don't bully kids with Downs Syndrome. Good kids don't seek revenge by pushing others into traffic. Jerry was a scumbag. The excuse was made that Jerry was hungry and that's why he did what he did. There's a lot of hungry kids out there who don't push other kids into traffic.
The speaker is a fool. There's good and bad. You can't hug away bad. Compassion is a noble thing, and to show it to your enemies is admirable BUT not if its going to get you hurt. There are those out there who are beyond compassion and see it as a weakness so showing it makes you a target.
Rule one of self defense: don't be a target.
I saw a similar sentiment concerning Islamic Radicals. "If we just knew what the terrorists wanted..." They want you dead for not believing what they believe and you will convert, serve them or die. After a terrorist attack in the UK one por old woman expressed that she wished the terrorists knew that she wasn't the enemy. What she did not understand is that by he very existance and the beliefs she heard that she was indeed the enemy. These terrorist are indocrinated and made to believe that there are Pillars of Islam that don't exist. They believe that to be a good Muslim they must war against those who don't share this belief, and that includes other Muslims. There's no reasoning with them, so you have to beat back the madmen and not tolerate their actions.
It is honorable and good to hold out your hand to aid those you feel need it. However, if you're holding out your hand to a snake, and you know its a snake, don't be surprised if you get bit.
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