[LINK] Journalism

[Craig Sanders]

On Wed, Mar 09, 2005 at 10:55:55AM +1100, Howard Lowndes wrote:
> On Wed, 2005-03-09 at 09:52, Gordon Keith wrote:
> > On Tue, 8 Mar 2005 22:20, Howard Lowndes wrote:
> > >  More so why should the clergy have rights to confessional
> > > confidentiality - that is covering up far more serious offences than
> > > journos attempting to retain confidentiality.  I know of a serious
> > > sexual assault case that goes to court tomorrow where the accused is
> > > believed to have confessed to his priest to try to gain absolution.
> > 
> > Because it allows people an avenue to seek help.
> 
> So, the consideration here is for the perpetrator and not the victim.

1. *alleged* perpetrator. innocent until proven guilty in a court of
law, remember. even if a crime was recorded on video and thousands of
people have seen it, the alleged perpetrator is still innocent until
found guilty in court.

2. even criminals have a right to privacy....and yes, that does
sometimes slow down or hinder law enforcement efforts. it's a principle
that is worth the price, because it's better to live in a society where
freedom and privacy are valued than to live in a totalitarian big
brother state where there is no freedom and no privacy (and yes, privacy
is an essential component of freedom - you can't have one without the
other).

> > People who sin and repent need to have a way to get back to being
> > human again. This way back normally starts with confession, if we
> > don't admit to wrongdoing then we will keep doing it. For serious
> > problems the way back may require a great deal of counselling and
> > work.
>
> In the particular case I know of the church has distanced itself very
> firmly from the alleged offender. So much for counselling.

i always find it alarming when people focus on one case and use that as
justification for overriding important principles that are fundamental
to a free & democratic society.

freedom comes at a price, and that price is to resist the incursions of
the fascists whenever they want to reduce your freedom in exchange for
a little bit more "security". the fascists are very good at whipping
up hysteria and using fear, anger, envy, loathing to get vile &
reprehensible laws passed.

there's an old saying "the price of freedom is eternal vigilance" -
and that vigilance includes watching yourself and your own reactions
to current events in order to make sure you're not being emotionally
manipulated.  when you start thinking red-neck "law 'n order uber alles"
thoughts, then it's time to re-examine yourself.

the fact is that one case doesn't matter that much in the greater
scheme of things. no matter what the crime, and no matter what the
circumstances. it's far better that one criminal might get away with
their crime than that we are all treated like criminals and slaves.

craig

-- 
craig sanders <cas at taz.net.au>           (part time cyborg)