Of a guy stealing $1000 and not doing the job he we hired for? Good for the kid, but it doesn’t change the fact he stole $1000. And put the kid in a morally ambiguous situation of having a $300 that he knows were stolen from his parents.
Edit:
I think people are missing my point. There are three options:
Do “real” conversion therapy
Save the kid as he did, steal $700 from the family
Save the kid as he did (donate the money or give it to the kid)
I’m advocating for option 3, not as people seem to think, option 1.
Stole $1000 (likely from someone who wouldn’t realise it’s even gone) to prevent untold trauma. I understand it’s a grey situation but knowing how damaging conversion therapy can be to a person, I’d say theft is certainly the lesser of two evils.
I don’t see how donating it is any less morally wrong. Between what he did and what you propose, both involve using the money to fix the same problem. The difference is just
whether he provides the services himself or someone else does and
whether we fix it through prevention or treatment after the fact.
Let’s recontextualize this - my neighbor wants to spend $5k to remove a safety feature from their car, because they saw a dumb tick tock. Let’s say it’s ABS breaking, they’re just absolutely convinced it’s bad
Now I hear about this, and I don’t want their stupidity to kill their whole family. I offer to do it for $1k, and instead I actually change their brakes.
Is this ethical? In the end, I didn’t honor the words of our agreement, because it was very stupid. It would’ve been unethical, likely illegal, to do what they asked
I did save them money and prevent them from finding someone who would’ve done what they asked. I also did work on their car, just not what they thought I did. They’re happy with the result, and no longer seeking to remove a system they don’t understand
It depends on your ethical framework, but it seems like a stretch to call this theft. The guy in the post provided babysitting and mentorship, which is part of the agreed services. They would probably not have paid so much for what they actually got, but a certain amount of markup is needed to sell the ruse
I’d say the intent is important here. If he did it to help the kid, I’d say you are right. If he did it to scam some people out of money for playing Xbox, then it’s not an excuse. Since this is a made up story, we can discuss either.
I don’t see this as stealing, as conversation therapy is a fraudulent and cruel practice in the first place. Bro actually did a form of conversion therapy in a safe and mentally supportive environment. Granted the “conversion” part may have been inadvertent, but he did help someone deal with a potentially traumatizing situation and saved him from harm. Which gave OP the time and space to really look at himself and discover who he truly is. I think that’s worth the $1K that would’ve gone toward a far more evil practice.
What a wholesome story
Of a guy stealing $1000 and not doing the job he we hired for? Good for the kid, but it doesn’t change the fact he stole $1000. And put the kid in a morally ambiguous situation of having a $300 that he knows were stolen from his parents.
Edit: I think people are missing my point. There are three options:
I’m advocating for option 3, not as people seem to think, option 1.
Parents were upset kid said he was gay.
Parents paid dude to get kid to say he wasn’t gay.
Dude convinced kid to say he wasn’t gay.
Dude 100% delivered, and is entitled to the negotiated fee.
Stole $1000 (likely from someone who wouldn’t realise it’s even gone) to prevent untold trauma. I understand it’s a grey situation but knowing how damaging conversion therapy can be to a person, I’d say theft is certainly the lesser of two evils.
It sure is better, but still an unnecessary evil. He should have donated the money to conversion therapy victims or gave it all to the kid.
You are saying as if stealing the money is inseparable from the good deed he did. He could do it without also helping himself to the money.
I don’t see how donating it is any less morally wrong. Between what he did and what you propose, both involve using the money to fix the same problem. The difference is just
Stealing from bigots isn’t the moral evil you seem to think it is.
Oooo. A loophole. I love loopholes.
Can I defraud the Westboro Baptist Church with a clear conscious?
I don’t know if you’re being serious or sarcastic.
Yes, please do.
Yes.
Any others?
Two wrongs don’t make a right is what I’m thinking.
Okay Mr. Moral Arbiter
You do you, some people care about others. Even though sometimes they don’t deserve it.
Let’s recontextualize this - my neighbor wants to spend $5k to remove a safety feature from their car, because they saw a dumb tick tock. Let’s say it’s ABS breaking, they’re just absolutely convinced it’s bad
Now I hear about this, and I don’t want their stupidity to kill their whole family. I offer to do it for $1k, and instead I actually change their brakes.
Is this ethical? In the end, I didn’t honor the words of our agreement, because it was very stupid. It would’ve been unethical, likely illegal, to do what they asked
I did save them money and prevent them from finding someone who would’ve done what they asked. I also did work on their car, just not what they thought I did. They’re happy with the result, and no longer seeking to remove a system they don’t understand
It depends on your ethical framework, but it seems like a stretch to call this theft. The guy in the post provided babysitting and mentorship, which is part of the agreed services. They would probably not have paid so much for what they actually got, but a certain amount of markup is needed to sell the ruse
I’d say the intent is important here. If he did it to help the kid, I’d say you are right. If he did it to scam some people out of money for playing Xbox, then it’s not an excuse. Since this is a made up story, we can discuss either.
I don’t see this as stealing, as conversation therapy is a fraudulent and cruel practice in the first place. Bro actually did a form of conversion therapy in a safe and mentally supportive environment. Granted the “conversion” part may have been inadvertent, but he did help someone deal with a potentially traumatizing situation and saved him from harm. Which gave OP the time and space to really look at himself and discover who he truly is. I think that’s worth the $1K that would’ve gone toward a far more evil practice.
There are no government standard conversion therapy treatments.
Staying in the closet is the intended outcome and they received that service.
Ha, well I can’t argue with that.