Put your hands up in the air

Hello. Feeling very... hard to say this evening. University is about to kick in again and I've been bustling around frantically (as always in such matters) to get my immat papers handed in. Tomorrow nite's the first official event I attend - yay! Itz about time to get into this whole caboodle again if I want to be making headway. Nagging self-doubt is, of course, my perpetual companion, as has been an old temptation of mine recently. Great! A friend of mine once said that, from a Christian perspective, if you're being challenged in what you're doing, then presumably that means the devil doesn't like your attitude and is trying to stop you. I'm trying to believe that right now, though it's taking some determination. Gnnn! (teeth gritted)

(this pic taken by the lovely folks at www.tuebingen-info.de, ja!)

What struck me dumb yesterday was the national headline story (here in Germany) about a fourteen-year-old boy having forced a younger girl into acts of child pornography, the evidence of which he then spread around among friends and classmates. Fortunately, somebody finally gave him away and the whole story became public. Dear God. I still don't know what to say. I have never felt such nausea at hearing of human behaviour. There seem so many questions, and yet fundamentally, how does anything really matter? I mean, yes of course, the kid's background needs exploring, potential trauma that could lead to such abusive behaviour must be uncovered, etc. But at the same time - who cares? I mean, just WHAT have we come to in this day and age? How on earth could something like that happen in the first place? There has to be an environment in which we, the public, might be inspired to commit such acts following other people's example. I don't believe the offending child (which, at fourteen, is all he is) was being original; I believe he was simply emulating what he had seen or heard of in other places. I mean, we signed up for membership at the local video store recently and, in the public access, no-age-restriction, non-adult section there was a DVD named "Snuff Attack" or similar, showing a naked woman tied and apparently in mid-being-abused on the cover. You don't even need to go to the "adults only" part, and yet we're surprised when kids, who will do whatever they're told not to just to rebel and create attention, come up with such horrific behaviour. What I don't understand is how anyone could be a humanist in fact of such behaviour. I know, I know - I've made this point before and, in fact, I would much appreciate discussing the point with anyone out there who's willing to make a stand for the fundamental goodness of mankind in face of such evidence. I'd be happy to be convinced, but at the moment, I simply can't see how one could not believe that we live in a fallen world and are fallen beings ourselves, in need of redemption if we're to produce good. Please don't hesitate to comment or e-mail me if you feel you disagree; I promise not to be a bolshy right-wing fanatic hell-bent on disproving your point. Honest. Bye for now.