3. Absence

"WTF!

In Sweden a 13 year old girl gets brutally gang raped by 3 guys in their 20's who are refugees from a middle-estern country. They go to court and the guys say the girl was unconcious during the ordeal - the girl claims she was drugged. The court rules that because she was unconcious she couldn't fight back and therefore it is not considered rape - the guys are set free.

Is it just me or is this just fucking insane! What kind of a justice system is this?

I'm so infuriated I'm lost for words..."

Posted by my buddy Oliver. Reading his post (http://yelpo.blogspot.com/) , it kinda reminds of this incident that happened sometime back. This is a long rant, so be warned...

Ok, I have a friend who once got a girl drunk so he could have sex with her. When I say drunk, I mean flat-out catatonic road-kill holy shit that ain’t right lala-land drunk here. The undertaking didn’t take much, just take a sprinkling of sweet-talking, add lots of beer, a bit of whiskey here and there, and finally, some tequila shots thrown in for good measure (just to finish off the job). Flawless design really.

Right, so after a long heady night of boozing, and up to the point where she could pass for a dead trunk, he decided that it was a good time as any to take her back to his place. I guess the strenuous effort in getting her limp body into his car in the first place was just too much for him because he was pretty worn-out by the time he got there. So like the civil chap that he is, he used a, now wait for it, supermarket trolley that he kept at his place to cart her in (those darn things always come in handy, you never know when you have a unconscious chick to lug around). What happened then in his room is just too gory to detail (I still have recurring nightmares) so I’ll spare you any further psychological damage. But I can tell you that after he was done, he was even more knackered (bonking inanimate objects tend to do that, fact). So he used that handy supermarket trolley of his to cart her out back to his car and promptly sent her home. Let’s just say he doesn’t do one night stands (one hour stands were much tidier, no need to explain to his folks about the chick who’s spewing in the toilet). I guess you can call it a quick hump and dump.

Ok, before we go on, I’m sure there are many thoughts running through your mind. What a bastard! What happened next? Who in their right mind would cart a girl round in a supermarket trolley for heaven’s sake? More importantly, who the heck keeps a supermarket trolley at their homes in the first place? Well, I guess some things are just not meant to be known to man, like some ancient mystery just beyond the scope of comprehension, so close yet always unattainable. This is one of them. But that won’t stop us from lying awake in the early hours of morning, drenched in sweat and fearful in the dark as we ponder them. I mean, a supermarket trolley for Pete’s sake! What next, metro-sexual footballers? Erm, ok, let’s move on.

Well, I’m not even going to debate the rights and wrongs of his actions that night (and debating the rights may be a wee bit harder to do, let’s see, he did send her back didn’t he?). Let’s just safely assume that his deeds will not get him nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. And it’s very convenient for someone, perhaps you over there, to say “My Lord! Baby Jesus weeps! Such abhorrently wicked and sinful deeds! I for one would never go to such low depths to bed a chick! Never!” Sure you won’t. Just like you don’t masturbate and don’t watch porn. Okay, maybe committing what is akin to date rape is not something any Ali, Abu or Ah Chong would do. But most guys would absolutely do just about anything else to get laid. Lie, cheat, steal, all sorts of stuff, let’s not kid ourselves. But that’s in no way justifying what he did. If you're rightfully giving the girl the benefit of doubt, we can safely say that he violated her without her consent. And if anyone would even think that she wanted it to happen because she allowed herself to get flat-out drunk, well power to you then. You’re the type of person who’d believe that women secretly want to be raped because they have breasts or wear skimpy outfits. Ok, back to my friend. It’s a moot point now if she really wanted him to bonk her or not. All I know is that he continued to have, shall we say, special relations with that same girl over the course of a few weeks or so after that infamous incident. But still, that supermarket trolley incident happened on their very first date together. What if she wasn’t really up to it and he indeed did force himself on her? Well, I guess he’ll be calling himself Betty to someone’s Butch in the local jailhouse this very moment. Instead, he got himself a short-lived and unfulfilling relationship with a girl based purely on him satisfying himself. As for the girl, well, God knows what.

Well, being his very close friend of his and all, of course I had to talk about what he did behind his back with another close friend of his (yes, it is what we simple-minded folk do, gossip and bitch). Typically, we took the moral high ground about the whole matter. You know, expressing our righteous indignation by asking how could he do such a thing. What was he thinking and blah, blah, blah. We even hammered him about it during one of our normal meaningless mamak sessions. Don’t you feel guilty? Don’t you know that you effectively raped her? How much fun could you have when she’s unconscious? Was it even enjoyable at all? Is a drunken woman even a good fu-ah, forget it, you get the point. He just shrugged his shoulders in that nonchalant manner of his. So what? He simply said he could tell that she wanted it. How? Well, through those damn signals that chicks are supposedly sending out to guys all the time every time they wished to get drunk, bonked, and presumably, shipped out in a supermarket trolley, not necessarily in that order. Considering that he described the act in graphic detail, and that she was quite comatose during the entire sordid episode, I didn’t quite buy it. But, nothing came of it, so I guess in the end, maybe he was right. But still, it got me thinking, more on his response than the actual act itself. So what? Interesting. She wanted it. Yes, maybe. That’s also what most convicted-rapists sincerely believed their victims wanted.

In the case of the rapists, there is no doubt that what did they did, coupled with their response to it clearly indicates that all is not right in their hearts. Something is clearly lacking there, something that makes them, for lack of a better word, good. So, if they’re not good, what are they then? Bad? Nasty? Naughty? Or something much more dramatic and extravagant (cue jarring evil music chord in the background) evil? Now, in no way am I labelling my friend, whom I’ve been close friends with for more than a decade and who I’ve concluded is not going to turn out to be the next Charles Manson anytime soon, as evil. That’s just too far-fetched. And I don’t have to be seated on my moral high horse and ask if those who are guilty of raping women and little kids are evil. The answer is plainly obvious. But there’s something about that response from my friend that in a way, as the response from unrepentant rapists, that disturbs me when I think about it.

Firstly, what the heck is evil anyway? Well, let’s safely omit Dr Evil-evil from Austin Powers from this discussion. How about Adolf Hitler-evil or Ida Amin-evil? Or something more contemporary, we can say Osama bin Ladin-evil and, arguably, George Bush Jr-evil (depending on where your political allegiances lie). Okay, maybe we should go right to the beginning, not any beginning mind, but THE beginning. When a little fella, let’s call him Big, Red and Horny, fell spectacularly from Number One’s grace and decidedly to take most, if not all, of mankind with him for an eternity of endless sunburns and damnation. Now, isn’t ‘ol Big, Red and Horny the pre-requisite of how we should judge evil by? Because he is evil personified ain’t he? And isn’t it through him that all evil originates in the hearts of men? But wait, if we are to believe the story of Creation, than isn’t God the creator of all things? He created the angels, he created men, he created the universe, and he definitely did create Big, Red and Horny. And if so, surely He created evil as well, right? So, therefore what does that make Him? Is the supposedly benevolent King of Heaven the source of evil? Compelling right? That’s precisely why many reject the notion of Creation, for it’s supposedly flaws. I mean, how can we believe in a God that created all the evil in the world? Not so actually.

A couple years back, I read a good article once questioning what evil really is (I forget the author’s name but will definitely post a link if I can remember!). The article was actually a very scholarly piece written as a commentary on the nature of evil as written by Tolkien in the Lord of the Rings and personified by the main antagonist of the tale, the Dark Lord Sauron. Now, for those few who are not acquainted with the book or the films, Sauron is this bad mother who has a flaming eye and an overall bad hangover in general from being continuously beaten by the good guys. So he comes up with this evil ring thingy so that he could submit the will of men, elves, dwarves, Republicans and Democrats under his rule. To do this, he is willing to stomp, main, disembowel and torture anyone and any nation that stands in his way. Kinda sounds like George Bush right? So anyway, it’s safe to say that Sauron is a big baddie, in the classical sense of the word. There’s absolutely no good about him, he’s that guy a chick would dread to take home for a one-night stand with cause it’s all penetration and no foreplay with him and you could tell that he doesn’t do it not because he doesn’t know that the chicks dig it, but because he takes pleasure in depriving you of pleasure.

Right, so the author of the article than proceeds to talk about in great length the nature of Sauron. That Sauron was actually once a servant to a greater lord called Morgoth, the ultimate Dark Lord one might say. Now Morgoth in his origin was actually a Valar, an angel-like being that fell from the grace of the Creator, sounds familiar? So Morgoth undertakes a long battle with the good Valar for control over the world and dominion over it’s dwellers, the merry elves, dwarves and men. And he recruits other like-minded beings to his cause, Sauron being one of them. Now, Sauron himself was an angel-like being that was created to serve the good, just like Morgoth. But in his desire for dominion and order, he too strayed from that path. Then there’s everyone’s favourite evil wizard, Saruman. Now Saruman was also initially an emissary of good, but fell down the wayside upon reasoning that he had to first subjugate the people before he could lead them to a higher plateau. See a trend yet? If I’ve completely lost you the moment I mentioned the word Valar than please raise your hands. Okay, that many eh. Actually, in non-geek terms, what the author was trying to illustrate that all the great evil of Tolkien’s works were originally good in their intent and purposes. But somehow, just like Anakin Skywalker, felt that the grass was greener on the other side. I mean, the chicks dig the bad ones right?

But what made planted the seed that could turn them evil in the first place? Was it because the Creator overlooked a tiny detail in his blueprint for creation and accidentally created evil personified to torment his children? Well, not exactly, the author argues. Evil, by definition, doesn’t really exist at all. What? What’s that you say? What do you mean it doesn’t exist? Explain Posh Spice then. Well, I will, in a minute.

Right, let me digress for a bit. Firstly, what is the definition of word cold? Isn’t cold explaining the state when there is no heat present? Cold is the absence of heat and quite simply, absolute zero is when there is absolutely no heat left. We only created the term to describe how we feel when heat is not there. How about darkness? What exactly is darkness but the absence of light? Darkness is a term used to describe a situation where no light is present. So what’s the point of all of this? Simple. If you look at it, evil is the same thing. Evil doesn’t really exist. Impossible you say? What about all the rape, murders and violence in the world? What about those slow working government bureaucrats that take two months to process your passport? What about those idiots who don’t turn off their mobiles in the cinema? Well, think of it for a moment. A common theme in all these offenders is that they act and behave that way because they are lacking something, something undeniably good. Let’s say it outright shall we? What they’re actually lacking is the presence of God in their hearts. And why is that so? Well, one thing that all of us share, besides our distaste for stale beer, is that we are born with free will. God gave it to all of us, and we can choose to accept the good in our hearts or reject it. Quite simple, by rejecting it, by shunning these qualities, thus we are termed evil, for what is evil but the absence of God? Evil isn’t like truth or love, for these are virtues that exists just like heat or light. Evil is simply a state when God is not present, like cold without heat or darkness without light.

Ok, so maybe I spewing some pseudo philosophical mumbo-jumbo, but alas, there could be some truth yet hidden beneath all the bullshit. Think of it, how could any rational man commit murder. Why do they call it cold-blooded murder in the first place? Well, the word cold explains it doesn’t it? There is an absence of a virtue like heat here. And, in this case, it’s the absence of any feelings of remorse and pity for the victim. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is when evil is allowed to thrive.