The Defence Rests
Musings October 27th, 2006Mm more late night musings.
Maybe I’m just being biased here, but do you find it that it’s more common place to call people “defensive” than it is to call someone “accusatory”? Why is that when arguments arise, it seems oddly acceptable for the complainant to use the “you’re just being defensive!” to dismiss everything you might say in reply to the accusation? Why is it almost seeming that once someone has thrown down the gauntlet and pointed the finger at some heinous crime that they alleged you did, that you’re seemingly instantly guilty of it, and that anything you say in response to that is seen as “defensive” AS IF THAT’S A BAD THING? What happened to a fair hearing in the realm of social interactions?
Imagine this:
Prosecutor: JURY! This… PERSON here has done something terrible! *proceeds to lay out reasons*
Jury: *after some murmurring* That’s it! We pronounce the alleged offender, GUILTY!
Alleged offender: Wait! Can’t I say something in defence?
Prosecutor: SEE?! THEY’RE BEING DEFENSIVE!! That makes them twice as guilty!
Jury: We pronounce the alleged offender DOUBLE GUILTY!
Judge: *bangs gravel* DONE! The offender will serve DOUBLE the sentence for DARING to try to defend themselves!
Gee, I wouldn’t want to live under THAT legal system.
I’m not saying that what defence may be given is a good one. But if people legally have the RIGHT to offer their side of the story (whether it be a weak or strong argument) why don’t they get the same right socially? Why did “being defensive” ended up turning out to be some sort of incriminating practice unto itself, so that ANYTHING you might say in your defence is thrown out simply because you’re “being defensive”?
Next time you accuse, consider that you exercising that right automatically means that the person you’re accusing has the same right of rebuttal. If you’re going to accuse someone then go “BLAH BLAH NOT LISTENING BECAUSE YOU’RE BEING DEFENSIVE” then you’re at best acting like a 5-year-old and at worse acting like some sort of zealous lyncher. And really, who takes the opinion of those people seriously?
P.S. First “Toybox” page up! I hope you guys would at least look at (and maybe comment on) the Six-Word Story.
P.P.S. Join Duskglow! And Machine while you’re at it. New forums deserve lots of love. <3
16 Responses to “The Defence Rests”
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that is why i always say if you assume something just remember you are makinking an ASS out of U and ME!
Haha. You make a good point. I never really thought about it before. But I agree with you, if someone is being accusing the accused has the right to be defensive and not have it be seen as guilt. Because what else are they going to do when being accused of something that they didn’t necessarily do?
I’ve been looking for a new MB to join. I’ll go check ‘em out.
hm.. i agree. someone should be able to defend themselves if they are accused. it’s just wrong otherwise.
I am unfortunately guilty of using the “you’re just being defensive” phrase. I wish I wouldn’t, since I expect to be given the chance for defensiveness when needed. Something I ought to work on :)
You have a very good point.. And I definitely agree with you, although I must admit I can be a sore loser at times heh.. But I would hate to see the legal system turn into what you wrote there, although we probably are not far away of making it like that..
If that’s what our legal system might become, I might take the first plane out of here.
I understand where you’re coming from though. Nowadays anyone who tries to object to something automatically gets accused as ‘guilty’ because they are trying to cover something up. God knows I’ve said it jokingly to friends before. And then you have the people who slowly cross the line into out of control accusations. It’s ridiculous really, not allowing someone to at least TRY to ‘defend’ themselves from silly accusations.
That would be one screwed up legal system. Sadly, a lot of people do that. I always hear people telling others not to sound so defensive, or they’ll really think they’re guilty. How in the world does self-defense equal guilt?
Ooh, new forums! New friends! But bleh, I hardly keep up with just one forum. T_T
I can’t seem to comment from my computer, so I’m using a computer in one of my schools computer labs.
What I was going to say was that I tend to be defensive, and argumentative, so if someone says that I’m being defensive, it can be true.
But I do agree that it can be unfair. People tend to not look at both sides of the coin.
I know absolutely nothing about legal systems, so its quite difficult for me to say something rather intelligent on this subject.
But anyways, the new forums seem interesting… I might end up joining one of them!
I completely, utterly agree. I see that a lot on web page reviews. It’s like everyone has the right to be critical, but no one has the right to defend themselves. I mean, sometimes criticisms ARE much too harsh, or even wrongly placed, and the accused should have the right to say, “Wait, this is wrong,” and have people actually listen to them rather than making fun of them. It’s not fair to not let someone defend his own work, and it’s doubly not fair to be even more accusing when he tries.
I’m tired of all this little web elitism going on, where we feel we have a right to tear down someone’s page and then make fun of them if they protest. It’s rude, disrespectful, and downright mean. What happened to courtesy? Grr …
*breathes*
That’s a really good point. People these days…
The only time I see hat happening is for little things thankfully.
I never thought of that, but when now that I come to think about it, why do people assume defensiveness when in an argument? I guess people always like to think that they’re right…
I have had that phrase thrown at me so many times it drives me crazy >.
I never really thought about it in that way before… and I must admit, I’m guilty of throwing it at people myself. Only when frustrated though, haha. I think maybe I’ll try to be less quick to open my mouth in future, and to be more careful with picking my words… ho hum.
Hey Belinda! I know what you mean. Sometimes my friends and in school are acting like this. Good point! ;) Take care!