Taylor Clementi committed suicide after his roommate, Dharun Ravi, posted a brief scene of him involved in gay sex. Read about it here. (Note this is on Huff Post, certainly not a "conservative" source.) Recently Ravi was found guilty of a group of charges that could get the teenager a ten year sentence in jail.
I find this problematic. First of all, consider the logical fallacy that because something happens AFTER something else, that event was the cause. Who knows what else was going on in Taylor's life? Unfortunately, suicide is not uncommon among college students and freshman year is the riskiest. Forty percent of college suicides happen in freshman year.
And a question. Had this been a heterosexual encounter would anyone pay the slightest attention? I have my doubts. But, a crisis is a terrible thing to waste and every suicide by someone gay has to be turned into a hate crime caused by anti-gay motivation. Although if the article posted at Huffington is accurate, Ravi had no problem with his gay roommate, he was just being a typical stupid teenage guy. Remember all those locker room jokes? There's a reason for them.
This situation is a tragedy for two young men. But it points to a bigger problem in our culture. Why are so many of our young people so unhappy and desperate that the only way out they can find is ending their own lives? It is one more victory for the culture of death.
It is just plain stupid to post pornography of oneself or very personal information on either Twitter or Facebook since the whole world (anyone who comes upon it)can see what one has posted. For that reason, although I lead a good life, I never get on either one of them. Burglars have used addresses and times people are going to weddings, funeral, etc. to burglarize houses. I either blog anonymously or with just a first name or with a penname, except the e-mails I send my friends. Even then one has to be careful because the "friend" could send it on to others if they wish to do so. I always get my friends permission before I send anything personal on to others, but some people do not have the decency to do so.
ReplyDeleteYes, this is a tragedy. This young man will live with the consequences of his actions for the rest of his life. He apologized too late and obviously showed poor judgement where his roommate was concerned. Who knows of anyone's state of mind and what will push them over the edge? There would be a lot of guilty people in the world if we all took the blame for saying or doing something stupid or hurtful to another person.
ReplyDeleteShould he go to prison for ten years..no.
I agree with your opinion about teens and suicide. How sad.