What is innocence?

international | rights, freedoms and repression | opinion/analysis

Tuesday December 28, 2004 12:38

by iosaf

a reflection on innocence.

As many Irish parents enjoyed their christmas giving presents to their offspring, I presume they felt secure that their innocence may allow them to grow, to enjoy "a good education" to become participative in their society, to the betterment of themselves.and maybe (hopefully) others as well.

And on the way naturally rebellion.
and little knocks.
and studying hard or not at all.

And little hurts-
And little laughs.
And belief.
in so many things which are wonderful.

Innocence is difficult to explain. As difficult as "luck" or "belief" but it is a concept common to all people be they humanist, christian, muslim, budhist, jewish. We all believe in "innocence". Hence I suppose we all believe in "guilt". Yet according to all beliefs, humanist, christian, muslim, budhist, jewish we are all guilty. Therein lies the mystery of redemption.
Some say they were "lucky" to have an innocent childhood. And most seem to agree.

the Internet may offer humanity a tool to grow and prosper and to learn and share the highest of our achievements. Or it may accelerate the decadence which resulted from the victory of a certain kind of mind after a century of inhuman conflict.

it is my opinion that many of us have to think carefully of the role played by new technology in the preservation or ending of innocence as perhaps any "thirty something" as a child was told not to read certain books or got to certian movies.

In time we did, of course we did.

But then in time we were glad we hadn't before.

Innocence is maybe about Taboo.

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Comments (1 of 1)

Too many people have confined their ethical debate

by i mac d

Wed Dec 29, 2004 19:27

when "invoking" the "innocents" to the matter of pre-birth, and not to the period of time after birth through childhood to adolescence.
We must debate more in all our societies how to protect our youngest, as thier elders become yet more saturated with so many conflicting routes of experience and self-awareness.
That is why we must remember the orphans left behind by the dictatorship of Romania, because they have grown up now. As in the international community which is "Ireland" and the "Irish" we are only recently coming to terms with the abuses of the Magadelene Homes and unchecked presence of abusers most notably in the church but also in state institutions. Equally the sexual exploitation of children in the media and new technologies. This is as much a matter of our civilised ethics as our collective security.
That is why yet again we must offer all assistance as "twenty first century mammy Teresas" to the children of SE Asia and most notably Thailand who have been the victims of the most cruel and corrupting exploitation which has generally not been palatable enough a subject to draw to the attention of the general public in either Europe or North America. But now it is being talked about, because a natural disaster has drawn attention to the human disaster which brought so many of the western tourists to that area during the Christmas vacations.
We need to develop strategies to help those of that region with hepatitis and HIV/AIDS and move to properly protect the rights of the child from birth to adolescence to enjoy their innocence.

We hold these rights to be self evident.
We hold these needs to be self evident.

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What is innocence?

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