Cancel culture and simple-minded tribalism
Not everything needs to be a national and global scandal sent to every smartphone and tablet on the planet.
American culture is corrupted by simple-minded tribalism. There is no room for nuance, and if you are not 100% totally on board with the online pitchfork mob on a specific issue or their condemnation of the latest target of Two Minutes of Hate, you are 100% the enemy.
We saw this recently with a White woman who allegedly called a Black child a racial slur after the child allegedly took something from the woman's diaper bag. She was recorded, and then online "sleuths" discovered her identity and "doxxed" her - exposing personal information including her address and Social Security number. The woman then set up a fundraising site in response to the threats and harassment. I am intentionally not using her name.
Can we admit that nobody covered themselves in glory in this terrible situation? It should be obvious that an adult berating a child and calling him racial slurs is morally depraved, and should not be praised as merely "defending your family." Even if there were no racial issues involved, the woman needs to develop a sense of proportion and not be verbally abusive to a child. If anyone deserved to be rebuked, it is the child's parents.
But we also ought to have a sense of proportion. There was a time when things like this would be handled locally, and a peer group might privately rebuke the offender - both for the child and for the sake of a woman who needs a sense of proportion and to control her temper. If someone was confronted publicly, it would be confined to the park where her offense took place. Not everything needs to be a national and global scandal sent to every smartphone and tablet on the planet.
Doxxing this woman, exposing her to threats of violence, and trying to ruin her life is a ridiculous overreaction. Should the response be proportionate to what she did? Those who are not self-righteous moralists would say yes. Let's be perfectly clear: Everyone knows what doxxing does. Everyone knows that this brings endless harassment and threats of violence. Absolutely no one is so stupid that they don't know what happens in doxxing, especially when there are sensitive racial issues involved. Those claiming otherwise are liars.
In fact, that is exactly what has happened. She has been threatened, and people have even wished harm on her infant child. People are openly hoping she will live in fear for her physical safety, relishing in the threats and abuse directed at her.
She should lose her job and all of her friends, right? Presumably, this means she would be professionally ruined forever. So you would prefer that the taxpayers pay for her food, rent and medical care if your fantasy comes true and she cannot provide for herself and her infant child? She should lose any potential support structure who might reprove her privately? Should a church then refuse to let her worship? I think Jesus Christ would have a few things to say about that, since He allowed a notorious sinner (likely a prostitute) to wash His feet with her tears.
Arguing that the consequences should be proportionate to the offense does not mean that people who engage in wicked behavior cannot or should not be held accountable. For example, littering is illegal, and someone convicted of littering may pay a fine. We do not hang people for littering, nor should we.
According to the pitchfork mob cult, I am "sympathizing with" this person - even if I explicitly condemn her actions. Arguing for proportionality in the response is heresy and blasphemy, and I have once again revealed myself to be a heretic and a blasphemer against The God of Abusers. Let me again be 100% perfectly clear: Refusing to allow for any proportionality is exactly what an abuser would do. The man (or woman) who physically abuses his wife (or her husband) would respond that he or she was "provoked." The same would be said by abusive parents who are beating their children - far beyond a reasonable spanking. Both the abusive spouse and abusive parent would justify themselves with the same logic as the pitchfork mob saying she "deserves" to feel unsafe: "Look what you made me do!"
Christians are often derided as moralists, but the "woke" pitchfork mob shows how inflexible they are with even the slightest moral transgression. A Christian response, meanwhile, would be a loving rebuke and call to repentance. That would have been the best answer, but that would not allow modern Leftist Pharisees to proclaim their own righteousness and purity. They have their reward.