Too much sympathy can be dangerous

Tart Cider, who’s been a wee bit Leafs obsessed lately, puts his myth-slaying skills to somewhat more ambitious use to by debunking some thoroughly questionable Canada-bashing numbers.

Those so inclined will see the skewing of sexual assault stats as an indictment of the UN. Others will take aim at victims’ rights groups. Me, I fall more into the latter camp.

It’s highly unappealing to criticize victims’ rights groups, in no small part because they tend to be led by well-intentioned people whose close family have suffered horrific crimes against them. (Joe Wamback, whose organization Tart Cider takes aim at, is of course the father of Jonathan Wamback, the teenager who suffered serious brain damage after nearly being beaten to death.) But actually allowing those groups to set public policy – as certain parties, or at least certain members of certain parties, are inclined to do – would completely distort the justice system.

Appealing as vengeance against rapists, murderers and other violent criminals may be, it can’t be the driving force behind the system. For the record, I’m all for tougher sentences than the ones that currently tend to be handed out. But justice has to be cool-headed, not reactionary. And related policies can’t be determined, much as it may be noble to try to do so, by catering to the tiny percentage of the population whose vision of how society usually functions has been clouded by their own tragic experiences.