Ethics Class, Monday, 2-4pm

[brambless.livejournal.com]

"Angelus is gone," Tara informs the class solemnly. "Now, I know you've all heard the 'evil soul' excuse before, and that you're sick and tired of it. I am too. It would be nice if you could just trust that each person had only one face. However, with the number of unrelated identical twins running around the place, that was never going to happen, so let's all just let it go and deal with what is. Angelus is gone, and Angel is here.

"Most of you know that Angelus and I are Sunnydale expatriots. I assure you that I am in a better position than almost anyone you can think of to guarantee that he and Angel are very, very different people.

"With that in mind, today's discussion is about punishment for crimes done - and I say with that in mind, because if Angel does have the courage to walk through that door today, I will not tolerate anyone accusing him of crimes that were committed through his mouth and hands, but without his knowledge or consent. Please think of him as an unrelated identical twin, as different as Archie and Lee, or Cameron and John Crichton."

Comments

Re: Corporal Punishment

[actingltcrumpet.livejournal.com]

I understand that corporal punishment is frowned upon in this day and age, and even in my own time it is starting to acquire a certain disfavor -- though one would likely be ridiculed as "soft" and "liberal-minded" to publicly state such a thing. Yet -- again, purely within the context of my experiences in my own time -- I do not necessarily see it as such a bad thing. I live in a harsh environment, where punishment must be severe, and executed publicly, in order to be taken seriously. We simply haven't the time nor the manpower to spare for exacting a less severe form of discipline, and often making a public display of one malcontent serves as a highly effective deterrent to others who may be considering the same, to say nothing of the effect such humiliation may have on the punished.

Bear in mind here that I am speaking only of corporal punishment, not capital; I fail to see the purpose in making a display of the latter, and find it a base and undignified treatment.