Rape is never an answer…

Over on Twitter, I was talking about the jury of Larry King's murder trial becoming confused over whether shooting someone with a gun was premeditated murder. Someone else looked over the article I was riffing off of and declared, "I hope they get gang-raped in prison."

And I felt that moment of conflict, which comes up every single time an ally says something dreadful or misguided. Do I let it slide for the sake of maintaining peace? Or do I speak up and attempt an education of an ally, even if it risks distancing them? Obviously, I went with option B, and I want to explain this to y'all in a slightly expanded post. I can't type fast or angry, but on this topic, I'm relatively calm. So we'll see what happens.

I'm sure lots of my allies don't see a big deal wishing rape on a bad person. But the simplest explanation to counter this is, "So long as you celebrate rape as a tool of justice, the other side has justification to do the same to innocent people like me." And it really is that simple. You may think that it's okay for you to feel that way about criminals, because they're just thugs and killers, or whatever. They don't matter.

But the religious hate groups take your attitude about hardened criminals and apply it to other people they don't like who, while not violating civil ordinance, are in violation or some religious belief. So if you can see corrective rape as a form of justice against real criminals, they can use the same "tool" against innocent people. In fact, when asked not to, these people will point to you and say "They do it too."

This is also how Americans justify racism in their country, by pointing to Europe and saying "They do it too." So, forget leading by example or setting a good example for others. Let's just all be dicks because "they do it too." And, why don't you recall what your mothers said about this: "If everyone else was jumping off a cliff, would you do it too?"

Wishing rape on someone or celebrating rape as justice is a morally reprehensible view, but it's a socially acceptable view as well. The people you're wishing violence on aren't real people. They're criminals, which means you can debase them without guilt. But your inhumanity for the least of us is the justification used by righteous people to keep the cycle of violence going.

If you folks on the left stopped celebrating raped criminals, the people on the right would be left alone to support their backwards views of justice and mercy. So long as you agree with them that certain people deserve cruelty, they will be allowed to expand the definition of who deserves this treatment. Again, you stop, and they have no choice but to follow suit. Yes, it really is that simple.

But, the hard part is actually getting y'all to let go of your hate and stop wishing for violent revenge. You want to break this cycle of violence? Then be the first to step back and say, "No more."