Might want to throw a TW up at the top for rape. I have a paper due in an hour, but I might write more once I get back from dinner.
Edit: I'm back
I think there are 4 separate issues tied up in this discussion
* Should rapists be allowed to participate in activities such as Magic if they are not a current threat to others?
* Should they be given all the rights and privileges during these activities typically given to everyone else?
* Do they have a right to privacy?
* Why, to all 3 preceding?
The initial post was focusing on 2, but the discussion on reddit very quickly spilled onto 1 and 3, while shitting all over 4. I think that forbidding reformed rapists from activities unfairly punitive to them
as long as they've actual shown real progress to reform. I also think that it's fair to make moderate changes to how they are treated with the proper justification, in respect to the fact that a rape isn't something that can go away. One example of this, focused on in the initial tweet, is that I don't think he should be included in the randomly selected "feature matches" which are broadcast online. There are plenty of competent players that didn't rape anyone, and I don't feel comfortable making a rapist, even one who is probably currently a better man than I, an unofficial face of Magic. As for privacy, I believe they have a right to privacy fairly similar to everyone else, but I would not feel that it would be too much of an invasion of privacy to say something true about someone from 10 years ago. Maybe that's just because 10 years ago I was barely conscious, but I believe people will, in general, understand that you 10 years ago is not you today. The information was just a Google search away and a matter of public record, so I'm just not sure how much it counts as an invasion of privacy.
As for why, that's where it feels like everything goes off the rails. It's not for nothing that the
highest upvoted comment
on the old thread was submitted to Prime. The argument that simply because someone went through the legally mandated punishment, there can be no further questioning of them or social sanctions, is pure bunk. Sitting in a box for some number of years does not fix everything. The girl was still raped. What does show that they've changed is actual evidence that they've changed. Saying that we should totally ignore peoples former crimes follows the same fallacious thought pattern that leads to saying "I don't see color." It does not require a denial of fact to treat reformed criminals with respect, just a belief that people can change.
So I recommend giving criminals who seem to be back on the right path a chance. If a rapist truly regrets what they've done and tries to do everything possible to fix the consequences, it's ok to give them the normal amount of respect. It doesn't make them not a rapist, but on the long term, they can be a decent person. It's not just time, or being in jail that makes the rape less significant in the judgement of the person, it's the deliberate attempts to do better which were (hopefully) done in the meantime. It seems that Jesse's post hit that fact, but the rest of
/r/magictcg
missed it entirely.