lbb

So much drawing of conclusions, so much drawing of lines...so little information, so few facts. We don't know what happened. We don't even know what is alleged to have happened. All we know is that, according to one article on one website, there have been allegations.

Everyone knows that there are adults who engage in sexually inappropriate conduct towards minors. Anyone who is not painfully naive also knows that all you have to do in the present-day climate is to make allegations of same, and before you can say "Think of the children!", the witch-hunt is on and someone's life is ruined. People's minds are made up in an instant: no subsequent evidence to the contrary will change them.

There are those who argue for expedience, that this is a regrettable necessity, to err on the side of caution in order to "protect the children". Maybe so, but OTOH, isn't it possible that this is a false dichotomy? Isn't it possible that there are more alternatives between allowing risky situations to persist, and presuming guilt? And what does it say of us as a society that we fail to find them -- and that some of us actively and belligerently shout down any suggestions that there may be another way?

I hope that the allegations are untrue, and that if they prove to be so, those who have argued in favor of "erring on the side of caution" take an active personal role in repairing the damage to the accused.