Did Radio DJs Kill Kate Middleton’s Nurse?

The Christian Diarist ^ | December 8, 2012 | JP

[chris37]

No, fraud is a specific crime with clear definitions.

Giving advice is not. Givng bad advice is not. A prank phone call is not.

You are offering examples of crimes and relating them to situations that are not crimes.

In the example of giving advice to a person, the resulting decision made is still the ultimate repsonsibility of the peron making it, and that person will bear the consequences or fruits if any, and not the advice giver.

In the example of the Nigerian scam, the scammer certainlly committed fraud and may or may not be arrested and charged for such, but the person who gave away their money in the hopes of gaining more money is responsibile for giving away their money, and they will bear the consequence of that decision.

Because another person successfully exploited the known human flaw of greed, that particular crime could not have proceeded further without another participant who decided that it would proceed further, and that participant is responsible for that decision at the point in time that it was made.

[Joe 6-pack]

Again, we're skipping back and forth between "legal," and "moral."

I never said giving bad advice was a crime, but would you agree that if it was given deliberately with the intent of steering somebody the wrong way, that it's immoral?

Would you agree that when a person trying to make an informed, correct decision comes to you for advice, you have a moral obligation to give them the best you see fit? Would shirking a moral obligation be immoral?

You asserted that people are responsible for their decisions. In this I concur, but I also recognize that decisions are not made in vacuums. I'm in my mid 40's and to this day, I can say that many of my good decisions are made because of the values instilled in me by my parents. I would suspect that had they abdicated their parental duties in my upbringing, I would probably make many more poor decisions than I do. Of course, I am not just a product of my parents, but also my schools, my military experience, my personal relationships, books I've read, my civilian work experience and my own personal drives, impulses etc. All those play a role in the decisions I make. That's not to, in any way, dodge responsibility for my decisions and the consequences thereof; I own those.

While we all own our decisions, we should also be cognizant that we influence the decisions made by others, sometimes very directly (as in the case of solicited advice) and sometimes remotely. We can never know how, when or to what degree we might influence others there is something to the notion of, "leading an exemplary life," so that even when we unknowingly influence another's decision(s), it is for the best. In cases where we know we will have direct influence on others I don't see how one can not feel a moral obligation to make our influence as positive as possible.

[chris37]

We are skipping back and forth.

Legally, they are not responsible for her actions, I believe that much is obvious.

Morally...well that is an area that is more gray. Many factors apply there. Are the DJ’s moral people? One could argue that perhaps they are not, or that they are less than moral, because the very act of playing a prank on someone is essentially making a fool of someone so that the pranker and any audience of the pranker may laugh about it at the expense of the fooled.

Furthermore, who here is going to hold them accountable for any such moral shortcoming? We do not have a morality police. They may hold themselves accountable. You know, they may look themselves in the mirror and say perhaps I did not envision this outcome, and had I, perhaps then I would have chosen a different course. But they may also not do this, and in a way they would be right to, because personally speaking I believe the nurse’s course of action was extreme, not the response of most people to the same circumstance, and likely the result of something along the lines of insanity.

I would also agree that the Lord can choose to hold these men accountable for being less than moral here, but what punishment do they actually deserve? The Lord should not hold these men accountable for her death, because they did not cause her death.

I can appreciate your distinction between morality and legality, but I do not know what’s to be done of it. If we lived in an ideal world, then all people would be nice to each other all the time, and no one would commit suicide regardless of any circumstance, but that is not the world we live in at all.