Within the walls huddled some 20, people, a mix of orthodox Catholics and heretic Catharists, a gnostic sect notorious for their sexual license.
One is that, in the latter case, our devil is truly among us. There really are sexual harassers and abusers—far more than I ever imagined—who must be rooted out. Obviously all three actions are morally wrong and have rightly been brought to light, but if we fail to distinguish among them, we will also fail to devise appropriately proportional responses.
As Jack Hunter observed in a recent article for Rare Politics , politicians have the luxury of finishing out their terms. This enables accused public servants like Franken, John Conyers, and Joe Barton to contemplate how different offenses should be punished. Yes, Rapp was underage, but the alleged incident happened more than 30 years ago when Spacey was, or at least claims to have been, heavily intoxicated.
Spacey even issued an apology, albeit a very strange one. My question is this: When should the accused be made an utter pariah, and when should an apology be good enough?
These people deserve to be exposed and corrected. This is about justice for the victims, not pity for the perpetrators. But if we fail to plan for the day after, this unprecedented movement could collapse under the weight of its own lack of discernment. Some of the accused, like Weinstein, should be permanently exiled to the wilderness, but others should be allowed to return after their 40 days and nights.
