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| Thieves | |
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| Topic Started: Sep 15 2009, 01:44 PM (270 Views) | |
| Fernicia | Sep 15 2009, 01:44 PM Post #1 |
I aint teh veep
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I was just reading about how a student killed a thief in his house with a samurai sword and it conflicted me. On one hand I felt that anyone who has invaded your privacy and intends to take your belongings deserves whatever's coming to him, I also think that perhaps killing him is immoral and unjust. So... What would you do if you woke up in the middle of the night and it became apparent that there was a burglar in your house, and why? |
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| Brandon | Sep 15 2009, 02:43 PM Post #2 |
 
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The suspect lunged at him apparently. It doesn't appear to be an issue of protecting privacy or belongings but simply self-defense. |
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| Delirium | Sep 15 2009, 03:09 PM Post #3 |
Who Watches the Watchmen?
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My first instinct would be to scare the robber off by making noise. I would think if you're just stealing stuff, you would want to avoid confrontation. Still, if someone lunges at you in the middle of the night, you should be able to defend yourself by any means necessary. I don't think that person should have died, but it was the consequence of his illegal acts. There's going to be people that are not defenseless and when you finally run into that person, I guess you run out of luck and that's all that happened here. |
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| Nicola | Sep 15 2009, 03:22 PM Post #4 |
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How random would it be to actually be right by a samurai sword that you kept in the house? Personally, I could never kill anyone. I'd probably drop to the floor and curl up in a ball. I couldn't live with myself if I hurt - let alone killed - anyone. I doubt I could justify it to myself either. Definitely not something I'd do. |
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| Dennis | Sep 15 2009, 03:44 PM Post #5 |
Future Dennis does not necessarily condone the contents of this message.
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I'm all about "a man's home is his castle." If someone enters your house with intent to steal or harm, you in turn have the right to protect your life and property. The act of breaking and entering illegally is in my mind grounds to defend oneself with lethal force, if it comes to that. While I've never been in a situation like that, I do believe that I would do whatever necessary to defend myself and my family. This issue is intertwined with the idea of property and gun rights, and the right to life and self-defense, but I'm bored of typing. Dennis leaves again. |
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| Jaxion | Sep 15 2009, 03:46 PM Post #6 |
Member
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If a thief was in my house I would run somewhere and call the cops. I suppose though that by any means I would first try to scare the person away and make sure they don't get away with anything. |
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| Aaron | Sep 15 2009, 09:30 PM Post #7 |
Green Rocks Blue Socks!
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Fern the fallacy in your statement of it being immoral is that you do not know if that person in your house is really out to hurt you or some one else in that house, even if they are not they still may try to attack you. By entering a house with malicious intent you already proven your self to be a threat to the people living there, they do not know if you are armed or not, why should the law abiding citizens wait until you attack them to defend them selves and their livelihoods. If were I was living was to be robbed you sure as heck I would first (if the situation allows) try to put the robber under citizens arrest until the police arrived, should the first plan fail for any reason I can think of right now, I would (given this is when I move) shoot to disable/kill (police tend to suggest shoot to kill). This person has proven a threat to me and my family I have every right to defend my self and others around me, sure I may not like the idea of killing some one but unfortunately it would of been necessary under the circumstances. A week or so ago a robber sued a store owner, a clerk, and some other because after he robbed the store the clerk shot him as he ran away I forget where but obviously it was non-fatal. The robber said he would come back and kill them if he found out they were lining about not having a safe. The lawsuit was dismissed (thankfully) but once again bodily harm was threaten why should law abiding citizens curve the the demands of thieves and others who are out to harm others. |
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| Justin | Sep 15 2009, 10:10 PM Post #8 |
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I was in a similar situation a couple of years ago when I was woken by my dog growling, to find that two men had broken into my car. Naturally my first instinct was to call the police, but my adrenaline had gotten pumping so everything seemed to happen so fast. Luckily, about seven police cars showed up within three minutes. When it actually happens, it's a lot scarier than just reading about it. I had no idea if they had weapons, were going to try and break into my house next, or what was going to happen. Thank god I didn't have to find out. Honestly, I don't know what I would have been able to do if they had been in my house. 
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| Fernicia | Sep 20 2009, 06:34 PM Post #9 |
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I aint teh veep
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That sounds scary as hell. The closest encounter I've had with burglary was when someone tried to rob my dad's car. He smashed the window open and gave up because he had scared his arm on the window shards. But I suppose the fact they steal your property is the smallest of problems. Would I be correct in assuming it's the disgusting invasion of privacy that would lead someone to harm or kill a thief? In the past few years I've gotten fairly taller and more confident with my physical capabilities so if I was awoken by an intruder (also due to the fact I live in the countryside so the crime is probably directed personally) I imagine I would find a weapon and wait for an opportune moment to incapacitate him. I don't think I'd be emotionally capable of killing anyone regardless of the situation. |
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| OcelotJay | Sep 20 2009, 07:12 PM Post #10 |
<3 mine Miaow
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The trouble is that while we can hold our moral beliefs up and discuss it rationally as civilised people, it's a very different matter when it actually happens. Neither the gun toting defenders lethal force nor peace-loving run-away-and-scream types can really be certain what they would do in the situation. Unless you've experienced it, you really don't know - and even then, there are things to consider. Firstly, the situation varies depending on where it happens, who it happens to and what's happening. Robbery is a very narrowed term for a broad range of possible sequences, and each experience is seldom the same as any other (albeit there are clear similarities). Secondly, the interesting thing about humans is our ability to develop strong, life-shaping beliefs that drive our life down particular paths and simultaneously possess (often hidden) deep-rooted brutality. Epinephrine is a truly amazing thing. It has the ability to turn cowards into fighters, and can make brawlers flee like a cheetah that's just realised it left the gas on. While I would like to think I wouldn't kill an intruder unless I was defending my life (because I don't believe my false sense of "privacy", which is invaded each day by virtually every other person on this planet, is worth killing for), I don't believe that I'm incapable of doing it. My instinct to protect my family and preserve my life is an evolutionary imperative and could quite easily overcome my desire to avoid unnecessary confrontation; before I know it I'm covered in another man's blood. Or possibly dead. It's a nice sound bite to assume every life is sacred and equal, but it doesn't hold water when you look at the real world. Something like the situation presented does not occur within civility, it's a raw moment of uncensored base human behaviour - you might jump under the table and quiver, you might flee the scene or you might decide to take up arms (with or without the intention to kill). This is why we (fruitlessly) debate it over and over again, and why there'll never be consensus. And I say that as someone who thinks America's gun culture is sheer lunacy and Britain's pacifism is sheer cowardice. 
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| Baffled | Sep 30 2009, 05:00 PM Post #11 |
Obey his Noodlyness
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I totally agree. There is No way of knowing how you wil react in situations such as this until you have experienced them for yourself. People who say they could never kill someone most probobly haven't experienced something that would warrant them killing someone. Therefore there is no way for them to know what they would do, if say a close family member, was seriously hurt or killed by someone. As for what I would do in said situation of burglary, I really don't know. To say I would know what to do would contradict my previous point completely, and would be kinda hypocritical. Spoiler: click to toggle
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| Stephen | Oct 1 2009, 07:27 PM Post #12 |
Mine! Or I will help you not.
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I would attempt to txt 911 (Yes, in some areas you can do that) first. It's the most quiet method I can think of. If I found a safe way to seal myself off from the intruder, I would likely resort to hitting the panic button on my alarm. That alarm would blair and the intruder would either run or attempt to shut it off. In that time, the police would arrive guns drawn. And I can tell you from past power outage experiences that the police arrive within minutes when the panic button is set off. In no way would I attempt to confront the intruder. There is nothing in my home that valuable. Indeed, everything of importance is near my person (phone, wallet, car keys). So I would get out most likely. Or, I would seal myself into one of the rooms and wait for aid after I'd summoned it. Because of where I live, there is no area in the neighborhood the intruder could hide easily if I were awake and had summoned the police via either 911 or the alarm. Especially if the alarm was summoned, it would be hard for the intruder to leave without a neighbor spotting them. Our neighborhood has been victimized before by robbers and vandals so while we do not have a formal neighborhood watch, we do look for anything suspicious. The wonderful thing about my home however is the location and the schedules of everyone. Between my sister, mother, father and myself, there is always one person at home. And because we come in at all hours of the night, we leave the spotlight on all night. In addition, we have a tenant who is out at different hours as well (she is in a separate addition to the home). This combination makes it hard for anyone to really get into my home without risking exposure. It's further complicated by the fact they would have to either break the front door or the front window (which would alert me first as I am closest to that area) or they'd have to break the slider door in our dining room (which would alert everyone in the house and likely the neighbors) That's it. The garage doors are alway shut and require the keypad to open. Then there is the garage door itself which is double locked every night and the kitchen door that is also locked every night. In trying to get in through the garage, the intruder would have woken up everyone and allowed ample time for us to call the police before he could even get inside the house itself. At best, he'd be stuck in the laundry room. 
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