Innocence and Trust

[Greg W. Goodwin]

To knowingly take advantage of innocence in order to get personal, selfish satisfaction in the form of sexual or monetary gain from and or general control over others is a crime. What is “innocence?” It is the honest and natural expectation that others are justified in general to openly trust the wholesome and honorable motivations of most everyone in regards to others. One aspect of innocence is the often misguided but trusting projection of the higher values and finer ideals naturally existing in the minds of the innocent onto someone the innocent person believes is above reproach due to his position as the central focus of the aspirations of others. To take advantage of the willingness of an innocent but mistaken trust is a crime. The one taking the advantage always clearly understands that what is being projected onto him is a misperception and rather than correct the misperception the criminal encourages it and uses it for the advancement of his own selfish satisfaction. The mistake in this ageless scenario between the “shrewd” and the “inexperienced” is the projection of what seems to be natural ideals born in the breast of every normal human being. The projection of higher human values onto someone that is rumored to possess these human values due to the accumulation of apparent knowledge and or followers is the innocent mistake that makes every damaging cult possible. To seduce the otherwise unwilling using their trust against their own self-interest and welfare in order to satisfy desire for sex, money, control and self-esteem is clearly a crime. There is no innocence in the mind of the seducer because it is in all cases clear that the victim would not surrender sexually (or turn over his or her money or his or her will) if it were not for the apparently advanced position of the one lusting after what he normally could not obtain. To manipulate for selfish gain and satisfaction innocent people that have rendered themselves into a state of trust is clearly a crime. There is no question of compensation; those with integrity understand that to be the focus of trust demands responsibility toward those that have assumed the risk. Those with any integrity understand their own weaknesses and desires, they recognize the inherent greed of their ego, and are willing to put their personal wants secondary to those that for one reason or another have come to rely on the assumed decency of a public and or spiritual figure. To take advantage of those that have willingly made themselves vulnerable to another in order to receive something uplifting from him is clearly a crime; there can be no scenario under such conditions where the criminal mistakenly victimizes the victim. It is always clear that the victim intended to receive a benefit without being harmed in the process. To knowingly “take” while rendering nothing or an illusionary benefit in return, or to render to another what will certainly be regretted while engendering grief as the intelligence of the victim matures is a willful, selfish crime. The betrayal of trust in order to satisfy personal desires is clearly a crime; it is only justified in the minds of the defective. Willful crime against others and therefore ultimately against your own integrity always results in madness. The penalty for crime is madness. For small crime the penalty is small madness, for big crime the penalty is big madness.

Greg W. Goodwin