#respect victims

[livinces]

The amount of losers replying to my comment to defend mocking the brutal murders and illness deaths of thousands of people is so fucking vile, I can't wait for Miss Karma to do her job on all of them. 🙂

[celticseawych]

After a great deal of thought, here is my two cents worth on the allegations about Neil Gaiman.

I have been struggling with this, as, I am sure, many others have.

In my view, these women who are coming forward are genuine, despite it being on a right-wing outlet. My belief is based on NG's admissions of behaviours that, at best, were seriously misjudged. Also, Amanda Palmer's song

https://genius.com/Amanda-palmer-whakanewha-lyrics

It's very, very sad and disappointing, to say the least.

But I don't believe in completely canceling people. And here is why, if you will bear with me.

Protesting, expressing concern, boycotting are all excellent ways of registering opposition. They can bring about change.

Canceling people on the basis that they are irredeemably evil is counter productive. It allows for no debate. It leaves no room for redemption.

And it is also, very much, "casting the first stone".

It's the kind of behaviour favoured by fundamentalists and totalitarians.

It's predicated on a sense of moral superiority.

And it's nearly always focused on perceived sexual transgressions (including but limited to, "immodest" or "loose" women, divorceés but not divorcés, single mothers, women who have had abortions, members of the LGBTQ+ community, rape victims, etc, etc, etc, and, latterly, sexual predators).

Meanwhile, there is nary a whiff of outrage about the grievous offences committed daily in relation to other "sins".

Moral indignation is valid, of course, but, I would argue, needs to be tempered with the understanding that we are all capable of, and probably guilty of, truly reprehensible things. We should be honest enough to recognise this, even as we quite rightly recognise the pain of victims and the transgressions of others.

As a long-time lapsed Catholic, I still believe in the qualities of compassion, forgiveness, empathy and self-examination.

*****

And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?

Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

Matthew 7: 3-5

*****

and

"Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do"

Luke 23: 34

Please, let us always continue to choose love and compassion for everyone, even for those who we might feel don't deserve it.

[zoennes]

“Zoë. That asshole did not only almost fuck up your relationship with Senne, but he took nudes of you while you were sleeping.”

“Yes, I know that.”

“He blackmailed you for sex.”

"He didn’t succeed, did he? So, what’s the problem?”

“No, not with you. But who knows with whom he did get away with this? Really, guys like him, they know that their victims will never go to the police because they feel ashamed of what happened to them. Isn’t that right, Robbe?”

[spriankakhan]

A woman advocating the right to have an abortion: “My Body, My Choice!”

Some anti-abortionist who lacks knowledge about pregnancies: “Make your choices before you conceive your baby, not after.”

First of all, a fetus is not the same thing as a baby. It cannot cry. It cannot laugh. It cannot see. It cannot speak. It lacks the power to think. It is not a living, breathing, intelligent being. It barely even looks human. Second of all, some women who advocate the right to have an abortion, seek an abortion, and/or say “My Body, My Choice” are victims of sexual assault or rape. The women who were impregnated by the men via rape or sexual assault and seek abortions DID NOT CHOOSE TO BE IMPREGNATED BY THE MEN WHO RAPED OR SEXUALLY ASSAULTED THEM!

Therefore, no one should tell a woman who seeks an abortion that she should have thought about her choices before getting pregnant. That woman could have gotten her pregnancy via rape or sexual assault. Anyone who chooses to tell that woman that she should have thought about her choices before getting pregnant anyway lacks sympathy and is, therefore, living garbage.

[extremistz]

If you support the well being or career of a rapist or physical abuser you can

F U C K. O F F.

[spriankakhan]

Ridiculing victims automatically empowers their abusers.

Silencing victims automatically empowers their abusers.

Demonizing victims automatically empowers their abusers.

Simply declaring “I do not support (the abuser’s name)” is not enough to validate that you do not support the abuser. If you choose to mock or curse victims, especially when they defend themselves, but choose not to call out their abusers, YOU AUTOMATICALLY SUPPORT THE ABUSERS! You especially strengthen the abusers when you speak more horribly and harshly of the victims than you do of the abusers.

To anyone who thinks that this statement is radical, you're a part of the reason why victims suffer.

[renecarpenters]

"Sharon Tate and her friends"

"Sharon Tate and four others"

"Sharon Tate and six others"

Say their names.

Jay Sebring

Wojciech Frykowski

Abigail Folger

Steven Parent

Leno LaBianca

Rosemary LaBianca

It isn't like the victim-count was in the dozens or hundreds or thousands!

Say. Their. Names.

[moltenapathy]

Nikki Addimando, found guilty of killing partner, seeks release from prison

Addimando, who said she was abused by her partner for years, has the support of a legal team hoping to bring systemic change for criminalize

Again, there needs to be more support and initiatives to help victims. They not only have to fight for their own survival, but they have to fight against the backlash when you stand up against your abuser. I hope she's home by 2022. Albeit, weird century to get out but I'm sure COVID is NOTHING compared to what she faced at home everyday with that abusive POS. Stop enabling r<pist and abusers. OMFG.