June 18, 2012

Innocent Until Proven Guilty

There are so many moral dilemmas in this story that I'm not even sure where to begin. It is, in all honesty a mine field for a practising philosopher.
I'll tell you the story though, as best as I can, without any of my views.
Last week, a family in Texas had a gathering of some people round to their house. Other members of the family were outside tending to the horses, when the father came back indoors and caught one of the 'guests' allegedly sexually assaulting his 4 year old daughter. The father then repeatedly punched the alleged attacker in the head, the attacker was pronounced dead at the scene.

The 4 year old was taken to hospital to be examined before being released.
According to CNN, Lavaca County Sheriff Micah Harmon said, "You have a right to defend your daughter. He acted in defence of his third person. Once the investigation is completed we will submit it to the district attorney who then submits it to the grand jury, who will decide if they will indict him."
Wow, tricky situation on a number of accounts but surely, we can all accept that it is wrong to kill.
Fact 1. Initial autopsy results showed that the cause of death was blunt force trauma.
Fact 2. The person who died is only an alleged child molester, they have not (and now cannot) be tried in court. There are no unbiased witnesses, only the report that the father found his daughter with Jesus Mora Flores and his underwear at his ankles.
Fact 3. The father of the 4 year old must live forever knowing that he took someone else's life.
Now I know that the father is apparently very remorseful for what has happened, but he can't take away the fact that another person died at his hands. Ok, there may have been some underlying reason for the death of the other person, but only time will tell.
So here is my predicament. Is it ever right to kill?
I know that it is wrong to kill. However, I have no idea what I would do to someone I caught molesting my child.
What I can say with a heavy heart is that, my tree-hugging hippy, Wiccan earth mother persona would get tossed out the window as some demon possessed version of Xena Warrior Princess would appear. Even more of a worry is that, I'm not sure that I would be able to stop if they hit the floor.
I guess it is really true, you can't judge an Indian till you walked 10 miles in his moccasins.

As a foot note: the father will not be charged, here is the link
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-18522383
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