General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: More on Matthew Owens beating - He did pull a knife on kids playing basketball. [View all]Saving Hawaii
(441 posts)I know a lot of people with a lot of common sense.
A friend of mine is an ex-Green Beret who was dishonorably discharged and spent a couple years in jail for a crime he committed on LOA. I don't want to dive into details, but... did he commit a crime? Yes. Was his action appropriate? No. Would I have done the same thing? Maybe. Was his action understandable? Very much so.
A lot of very ugly crimes are crimes of passion. They are not things we would do as rational human beings. But we are very rarely rational human beings, even you and I. Any psychologist could tell you that. Under stress people behave in irrational ways. We are biologically programmed to do that. My friend was trained to all ends as a Green Beret to function under stress but even he snapped under enough pressure. It's human. That doesn't mean it's right but that doesn't mean it's not understandable either.
At odds with your father BTW, given the situation we're discussing here my preferred plan of action would be to escort my children's basketball games. That certainly changes the dynamics of the situation. If Owens pulls a knife on me and my kid while I am standing there, it is no longer a deliberate act of assault to bloody Owens up. It's simply self-defense. And I learned self-defense from some of the very best. I'm sure most martial artists could drop me without trouble but I doubt many others could.
That would be my preferred response anyways. But you know under pressure as a human being I can't tell you how I'd respond to what happened that day. I can tell you what I would want to do, being a clever and rational thinker. But nobody is a clever and rational thinker in that sort of circumstance. Dumb decisions are made. Crimes of passion occur. It doesn't mean that they are not crimes, but I am saying that they are and should be understandable to all of us.