Yes, they made poor decisions, but that does not lessen the acts of those that have taken them. Bashing them is wasted energy and stupid.
Just because one walks through a dangerous neighborhood does not mean one is giving consent to be harmed. They may have been naive, but does not lessen remotely the acts of those who decided they had the right to take them.
I agree completely deciding to go hiking on holiday in Afghanistan as a westerner was a poor decision, but it still doesn’t mean that they are not the victims of those who are harming them.
I know its not happening with this wussy of a president, but I do hope that special forces will begin to take out the groups that do these things, quietly and completely.. SO they learn no cave, jungle, or anything else is remote enough that when you pull this crap you will not feel the wrath of the west.
HamiltonJay, please don’t take this personally (because I certainly don’t intend this as any kind of personal attack)
I don’t feel that pointing out the profoundly STUPID and “poor choice” they made in traveling to Afghanistan in any way decreases the level of responsibility assumed by the Afghans who took them hostage.
I simply don’t feel these two things are a zero-sum equation. That is, strong condemnation isn’t mutually exclusive. And I do feel that strong condemnation for the parents of these children is in order. Keep in mind I am condemning both sides in this very strongly, but for different reasons.
I feel that this man and woman share just as much responsibility for endangering their own lives, the lives of their children, the lives of any other westerners who may have been emboldened to travel there hearing about their story, and any of our military personnel who may be endangered having to rescue them (if it comes to that) as the muslim captors have for taking them hostage.
Sure, walking through a bad neighborhood can get you hurt or killed, and it happens to people who don’t know any better, they get lost, pull off the highway to get gas, whatever.
But people who knowingly go to places where westerners are routinely taken hostage and sometimes brutally killed deserve all the abuse that may be heaped on them.
In our society, there seems to be this movement to brand “judgment” of others as close-minded, wrong and hateful. I couldn’t be more in disagreement.
The stigma associated with judgement by a society is intended to serve a variety of purposes, and one of those is to warn simple-minded, stupid, arrogant, or misguided people (who are unable to think things through for themselves) away from dangerous activities which may harm them and those around them.
I see what these selfish, stupid people have done with their young children as being no different than taking a boat out into the water, chumming for man-eating sharks, and taking their children in the water with them to observe the sharks in their natural habitat so they can learn more about them, and see that sharks don’t really eat people, it is a prejudice by humans that has demonized the sharks so that we fear them. We should be their friends, and to demonstrate it, we will swim with them.
Or put the way I see it, their trip is no different than taking a hike into the Afghan countryside, offering themselves up for western-hating muslim zealots, and taking their children in the countryside with them to observe the Afghan muslims in their own country so they can learn more about them, and see that Afghan muslims don’t really kidnap and kill Westerners, it is a prejudice by Westerners that has demonized the Afghan muslims so that we fear them. We should be their friends, and to demonstrate it, we will wander through their country with them.