Brave or Stupid?

Satya

Satya

C'est la vie
Retired Staff
MBTI
INXP
You tell me.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8433640.stm

Two gay men arrested in Malawi after getting engaged are to be charged with gross public indecency, police say.

"We arrested them because they committed an offence; homosexuality in Malawi is illegal," police spokesman Davie Chingwalu told the BBC.
Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza held a traditional engagement ceremony over the weekend - believed to be the first gay couple in Malawi to do so.

Homosexuality carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years in Malawi.
The pair are being held in separate cells in Blantyre until their case is heard, Mr Chingwalu told the BBC's Network Africa programme.

Engagement party dress

The BBC's Raphael Tenthani in Blantyre says the pair have been seen relaxing at the police station with Mr Tiwonge still wearing the dress he wore at the engagement party.

He says they may have to spend a few more nights in jail as the judiciary is on its Christmas recess and they will not be able to appear in court until next Monday.

Our correspondent says Malawi is a deeply conservative society, but recently a group of campaigners came together to form a gay rights organisation, Centre for the Development of People (CEDEP).
CEDEP's executive director, Gift Trapence, says the laws used to arrest the couple are invalid because they are against the Bill of Rights enshrined in the 1995 constitution.

"Even if you arrest them or charge them for 20 years, you cannot change their sexual orientation. They are what they are," he told the BBC.
"So the issue is in a democratic era - if you are arresting people based on their sexual orientation, are you doing justice to the fundamental human rights of these individuals?" he said.

Correspondents say some voices in government have also started to call for more openness about homosexuality as the authorities try to tackle high rates of HIV/Aids.
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Getting drunk is the normal way to become brave and stupid.

Awful story anyway.
 
Yes, it was very brave of them to actually do so in a society where homosexuality is prohibited and although it might have been quite stupid, something like this needs to happen eventually, In a country like Mali where people are discriminated and condeem because of sexual orientation, there must be some sort of rebellion, sadly that's the only way people have gotten their rights by protest. I admre them for doing such a thing, I know I would not have the guts to do so if I were to live in Malawi, sometimes people do sacrifices for something even though it might be considered stupid..I really don't know how to explain this, but I think what they did it's very admirable.
 
This makes me wonder if someone should write a book about the Stonewall riots and how they started the gay rights movement here in America and distribute it in Africa. There are people out there who will take a stand.
 
I think that they were being brave. Extremely brave. I think that when you live in that kind of repressed manner even if you are drunk to hold hands in public would be a huge deal. I think they were being brave.

Brave is knowing the consequences and doing it anyways. Foolish is when you are not fully aware of the consequences and do something.
 
Both brave and stupid.

I don't care to discuss this further.
 
Stupidly brave? I'm not sure if I have the cajones to do something like that.
 
I'm going to say stupid.
 
I'm going to say neither brave nor stupid. They were just doing what came natural to them (which did not harm anyone else), and they are going to be punished for it.
 
sookie said:
I think that they were being brave. Extremely brave. I think that when you live in that kind of repressed manner even if you are drunk to hold hands in public would be a huge deal. I think they were being brave.

Brave is knowing the consequences and doing it anyways. Foolish is when you are not fully aware of the consequences and do something.
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I really like the way you put it sookie.

I really feel that I can't decide until I knew their motives and intentions, where they were coming from. People can do things that are "stupid" and require bravery.. but then, what is a "stupid" action anyways? I don't know. To me, it was brave, because I don't see myself going through with something like that based on who I am today. But can an act be brave if it doesn't scare someone? For example, I recall telling someone a story once and they commented on me having courage - I was really surprised, because there was a lot that situation pulled from me and at the time courage didn't top the list. In retrospect, I suppose it was courageous, but when it mattered it wasn't so I didn't define it as such.

So it really depends. The consequences are so serious that I reckon they were brave, but I actually don't know. As for stupid, depends on their motives.
 
Brave. To Stand up to a society than you KNOw is going to incrimnate you for you simply loving your partner...is one of the bravest things ive ever heard of...too brave.

I honor those two.:m059::m107::m059:
 
Soulful said:
How do you differentiate between brave and courageous?
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Linguistically...they are synonymous.

Culturally...bravery is fearlessness in the face of danger and courage is facing danger despite fear.
 
Dragon said:
I'm going to say neither brave nor stupid. They were just doing what came natural to them (which did not harm anyone else), and they are going to be punished for it.
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This is a great response!! You remind me how important it is to try to refrain judging. I think that we can still have admiration for people. Judging people is a slippery slope!
 
Satya said:
Linguistically...they are synonymous.

Culturally...bravery is fearlessness in the face of danger and courage is facing danger despite fear.
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I agree! I want to add another category!

From my own experience. I think that the category is relevant to the thread though. I can only relate it to my experience though.

When I got my father out. People have called me brave. They also called me courageous.

I call myself desperate. I made a choice to pursue the restraining order because I could no longer take it and was terrified that he was going to kill me or that I would finally kill myself to escape.

So I think that we can add desperation to the courage and bravery categories. Desperation is doing a seemingly brave act because you feel that you have no other choice.
 
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