Lennox Lewis - Men Fighting Back

Lennox Lewis

Men Fighting Back

new men's group forming headed by Dr Daniel Flowbert.

.......

"The first rule of gun use is discipline. It's about making sure that you never hurt anyone. However, if I found out that my wife was planning on dumping me, and taking away my kids, I would find it very difficult not to blow her brains out, or simply beat the sh*t out of her.

I don't think that I could keep my cool in that situation.

Could you?

(If you could, and you think that you could help others in this situation, then see below for more details of this new group.)

.....

OK.

Please read the above passage again, and notice that its main message is very clear.

According to its author, it would be absolutely justifiable for a man to beat the hell out of his wife if he discovered that she was planning to leave him.

Notice, however, that while fully endorsing such a beating from a moral point of view, the author, himself, is not actually claiming that he, himself, would actually do such a thing to his wife.

He is simply claiming that he would find it very difficult to resist doing such a thing - even though his words suggest that such an action would be entirely justified.

Well, you have just been subjected to a little hoax - because the above piece is not really about the formation of a new men's group at all. But, believe it or not, the UK Police have, for some time now, been putting out a similar advertisement on national TV and on cinema screens throughout the land in connection with domestic violence.

It is an advert specifically aimed at justifying acts of violence against men who are themselves suspected of domestic violence.

Now, regardless of how you might feel about the way that men who are suspected of domestic violence ought to be treated, please focus your mind on just one single issue alone ... the above text (in italics) clearly condones violence against women who are planning to ditch their partners.

Whoever wrote this text definitely believes that violence against a woman is legitimate in such circumstances - and he, himself, would probably not be able to restrain himself.

Well, in the police advertisement, Lennox Lewis, the famous British boxer, sits on a chair, flexing his fingers threateningly, as he talks coldly and menacingly about what he might feel or do should he come across a man whom he suspected had just been violent toward his partner.

Here are his actual words.

The first rule of boxing is control. It's not about losing it with someone. It's about keeping your composure. But if I was called out to a home where it seems as if a man was using his fists on a woman, beating her up over some domestic row, I don't know if I could keep my cool with that man. I couldn't swear to that.

"Could you?" (These two words are printed rather than said.)
Well. The main idea behind this advertisement is that if you could avoid beating up such a suspect then you might be a good candidate for joining the police service.
But let us not lose the point!
The British Police are actually saying - throughout 90% of this advert - that it would be completely reasonable for a domestic violence suspect to be beaten-up by an ordinary citizen.
Indeed, even an icon like Lenox Lewis - a hero - highly respected, and highly trained in the art of self control - might well, himself, lose his cool in such a situation and so resort to violence.
But if you could refrain from beating up a man who was suspected of domestic violence, then you might be a good candidate for joining the police.
This advertisement is nothing less than an explicit incitement to violence.
And, as such, it is clearly against the law.
Why; even the great Lennox Lewis himself might not be able to control himself, they tell us.
And so if this superman can barely control himself, who can?
So, of course, what blame could be attached to a mere mortal - an ordinary man - who decided to use his fists on a man suspected of domestic violence?
He would, presumably, get sympathy from the police.
After all, he is not Lennox Lewis. He is an ordinary man. He is not a man who is highly skilled in the art of self control.
This advertisement is not only in breach of the law, not only an encouragement to violence, but it is in complete contravention of Home Office, government and police policy with regard even toward people who might actually be defending themselves.
For example, in the UK, you must not use unreasonable force even when defending yourself or your property - so we are constantly told.
We have even had men sent to prison (e.g. Tony Martin) for defending themselves too vigorously.
And yet here is the Home Office endorsing acts of violence against men who are merely suspected of a domestic violence offence.
In other words, the Home Office will not permit people to defend themselves too aggressively when they are, themselves, being attacked, but it is quite happy to promote the view that it is morally justifiable for people to beat up men who are merely suspected of domestic violence.
Indeed, this Lennox Lewis advertisement is just another example of how the laws of the land can be twisted and moulded in order to condone and encourage hostility and aggression towards men.
For example, a parallel anti-abortion advertisement such as follows would clearly be against the law ...
"The first rule of boxing is control. It's not about losing it with someone. It's about keeping your composure. But if a woman aborted her defenceless unborn child (flexing knuckles, menacing voice) I don't know if I could keep my cool with that woman. I couldn't swear to that. Could you?"
... because it would clearly condone violence against a woman who had undergone an abortion.
Furthermore, it is worth noting that Lennox Lewis is a black boxer, and the advertisement justifies his violence against a white man suspected of domestic violence.
And yet the police know that such advertisements arouse racial hatred in white men towards blacks. The evidence from their enquiries into the murder of Stephen Lawrence shows quite clearly that advertisements which promote the notion that black men are superior to white men are inflammatory - particularly to white men who are more racially aware.
And so, in summary, the Home Office has deluged the nation with an advertisement that promotes violence against men who are merely suspected of an offence - even though it is against the law for advertisements to condone violence - and it is quite prepared to inflame racial tensions in order to promote this view.

I exchanged quite a few emails with the UK's Advertising Standard Authority and pointed out that this advert broke at least three of the advertising standard codes. They refused to accept this.