Quote:
Originally posted by AXJules
THEREFORE....would I accept a GANG member? Um no, because they chose to affiliate themselves with an organization based around criminal activity, petty or otherwise. No, that doesn't mean that they themselves committed a crime, but it means they made a conscious decision to affiliate with people who did. I don't respect that. I dont' care why they joined, the ultimate result is a person who hung around with criminals.
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Then you're basically saying you only want to accept people who have a similar background as your own. That's cool, and you're entitled to your opinion, but that's how it's coming across.
Look, it might be anecdotal evidence, and I know that doesn't count for much when you're trying to make an argument. All I'm saying is that there are young men and women who would
like to live their lives on the straight and narrow path, but because they live in neighborhoods that have a high level of gang and/or criminal activity, they have to join the gang --
or die. Thankfully I never found myself in this kind of situation -- and you should be thankful that you were born in different circumstances -- but if I were faced with a choice between life and death, I'd choose life.
And something else I've found -- there are different levels of activity within gang organizations. Not everyone is a kingpin, just like not everyone in a fraternity/sorority is the international president.
I'm not defending criminal behavior -- but I do understand what it's like to grow up in a bad neighborhood surrounded by folks like this. You learn very early on that life is not as cut and dried as you might think.