Are Both Sides Of The Story Always Equal?
Posted by Mitch Mitchell on Apr 1, 2011
Everyone knows this common phrase: "There are two sides to every story". I doubt that most of us would disagree with that statement. However, in thinking about it, just because it's true doesn't mean it's fully accurate.
For instance, there's this horrible news story about this incident in Texas where an 11-year old girl was pretty much sexually assaulted by a great number of men. Some of the people coming to the defense of the men are saying the girl dressed sexily and was always asking men to have sex with her. Whether that's true or not, are the two sides equal, or is one side still more wrong than the other (of course it is) because it's illegal, no matter what the circumstances are, and they all knew she was 11-years old? And then someone filmed it and put it on the internet; did anything equalize, or did it get worse? And, by the way, there was recently a copycat of the event in California; unbelievable.
There's another story, this time involving a young woman who's appeared on some TV show called Teen Mom, where the young woman attacked another young woman, once again taped and put on the internet, because supposedly the aggressor's boyfriend flirted with the young woman that was assaulted. Even if true, are both sides of the story equal? And does the lawyer for the assaulter, whose saying his client was set up, equal the playing field of both sides of the story, or just help to convince everyone that his client is incapable of controlling herself, even if egged on?
Every day, someone has to deal with this issue of "both sides of the story." Courtrooms have to deal with two sides having a different take on what actually happened in a particular situation and then the jury has to decide which side is more correct than the other side. Sometimes they can't, and you end up with a hung jury. In every one of those cases someone feels like they've been victimized a second time; sometimes it's both parties.
I end up going through some issues like that from time to time as well. It happens when one decides to stand up for a principle, no matter what it is. There's always a second party coming at it from a different point of view, and they may not like what you said or how you said it. Often it comes down to proof and conviction; who has "what proof" and who can convince others that they were more correct.
Sometimes it has nothing to do with being correct; if one party has money, power and resources they can try to bully someone else. It happens all the time; it might be happening to me right now. People who are in the right don't always end up getting justice; it's a cruel world, but that's just how it goes sometimes.
In the end, though, we all have to stand up for what we believe in, and hopefully, when it comes down to the two sides of the story, your site is unimpeachable. Even if you don't win, you still have your honor above all else. It's the most ethical thing you can go for yourself and your reputation.
