Child Criminals, The American Dream, and Fanatics (Response)
Prompt
Answer/respond to one of the following (based on the readings) then as usual, respond the posts of at least 3 classmates.
1. Since the 15 year old brain is not fully matured, treating a 15 year old accused of a crime as an adult, is unfair.
2. The American Dream is nothing more than a myth, it may have been viable 50 years ago but this no longer is true.
3. What is the point of Elie Wiesel’s essay “How Can We Understand Their Hatred,” aren’t all fanatics dangerous, can you make a case for the opposing point of view.
Relevant bits of classmate’s post
… At 15 we know the difference between right and wrong. We also know that there are consequences for out actions. Given that I think that there would be alot of factors that would determine whether or not they could be tried as adults. We’re they under emotion stress or have recently suffered trauma? Was the crime premeditated? Was there a history of violence that led up to the crime being committed? Were they remorseful? I think that these factors would be helpful indetermining whether or not a 15year old knew what they were doing when committing a crime. …
… I don’t think it’s the American Dream that it was in the past, but I think is does exist for those who want to work for it.
I think that fanatics are dangerous becase of their blind following of orders. They have lost the ability to process what is right and what is wrong. … They would feel no remorse at killing thousands of people becuase it was what they are being programmed to do. … Where I think the problem lies is that religion has not been updated in a few centuries. As a young woman … if I committed adultery, or slept with someone before marriage I could be STONED. … Today those practices (while not the best) are not a practice to kill over. I’m sure a relgious fanatic would see differently. … Where I think the problem is, is that they go to far and porclaim that their God wishes them to kill in his/her name. I don’t know much abuot religion, but I’m pretty sure no God wants innocent blood on their hands.
Response
As you hinted, before anyone condemns a person of any age to death, the evidence would have to be reviewed. However, if this person was a sociopath, one who cannot be rehabilitated, then I would not object to the death penalty for such an individual, regardless of age. The catch-22 to this is that some jurisdictions disallow the diagnosis of sociopathy in minors, referring to it rather as ‘conduct disorder’; therefore, in such jurisdictions the death penalty would automatically be averted.
My roommate’s family moved here from Serbia when he was 5 years old to avoid a revolution in the country. One of my ex-girlfriends family moved here from Poland to avoid a similar situation. Another friend’s family moved here from China (reasons unknown). He’s still in school but he’s already working in a financial firm on Wall Street. I come from a family of poor southern farmer’s and military-folk. I can’t question whether such a dream is possible. All of the specific families/people I’ve mentioned are doing well for themselves, not rich but comfortable. The American Dream differs among individuals, ranging from a nice modest family to a penthouse in NYC doing billion dollar transactions on a regular basis. I’ve seen both of these happen and, more frequent than not, the penthouse dream turns into the dream of a family with age. My personal dream seems to slowly be taking that turn.
With regards to the religious issues you mentioned, I can neither agree nor disagree. I find that most “religious” people today aren’t truly religious; by definition, religions seek fanatics, those who will follow blindly, or those who can logically support the religion’s beliefs. In this light, I cannot refer to myself as a religious individual, lacking the ability to have blind faith and not seeing complete logic in any organized religion. However, such fanatics are the only religious people I can truly respect. Why subscribe to something if you aren’t truly convinced of its convictions? On another note, you must realize that (most) fanatics today, at least in the U.S., don’t engage in religious wars. For Christians, the Levitican rules you describe, stoning and such, were disregarded with the coming of Christ and acceptance of Him as your Savior. For Semitics (Judaism), biblical sacrifices and punishments have been disregarded in favor of the Day of Atonement for the forgiveness of sins.
