• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!
  • Welcome to our archives. No new posts are allowed here.

A Terrorist Has Strapped a Bomb to Your Child

rhinefire

rhinefire

DP Veteran
Joined
May 3, 2007
Messages
10,399
Reaction score
3,020
Gender
Undisclosed
Political Leaning
Independent
What would you do if you and your child were in a crowded mall and you child was missing then you find her with a bomb strapped securely to here torso. It will go off in five minutes.
Try to remove it and risk killing her, you and other people?
Run around telling everyone to get away?
Grab you child and run out the door killing both of you but saving others?
 
Calmly and quietly take the child out of the building and as far away from any populated areas of the development/parking lot as quickly as possible. Stay with the child as long as possible before moving to what I hope is a safe distance from the explosion.
 
Tell everyone to get the hell away and try to take the bomb off. How in the world anyone could live with themselves for any other response is beyond me. The death of your child is worse than death; If my daughter's death were likely, I'd rather be blown up trying to save her rather than stand aside.
 
ashurbanipal said:
Tell everyone to get the hell away and try to take the bomb off. How in the world anyone could live with themselves for any other response is beyond me. The death of your child is worse than death; If my daughter's death were likely, I'd rather be blown up trying to save her rather than stand aside.
Click to expand...

I am a firm believer in not knowing exactly what a person will do until actually in that spot but I think I would do something like this ^^^
 
Tell everyone to get away, then call 911 and then, depending on how imminent the explosion is, either attempt to disarm the bomb under the guidance of an expert, or wait for the bomb squad to arrive.
 
rhinefire said:
What would you do if you and your child were in a crowded mall and you child was missing then you find her with a bomb strapped securely to here torso. It will go off in five minutes.
Try to remove it and risk killing her, you and other people?
Run around telling everyone to get away?
Grab you child and run out the door killing both of you but saving others?
Click to expand...

Call my wife and ask her.
 
ashurbanipal said:
Tell everyone to get the hell away and try to take the bomb off. How in the world anyone could live with themselves for any other response is beyond me. The death of your child is worse than death; If my daughter's death were likely, I'd rather be blown up trying to save her rather than stand aside.
Click to expand...

I'd want to live for some pay back. I'd go postal on however was responsible.
 
I would blame society for not letting me spank my kid.
 
No. I was answering the OP
 
Paleocon said:
What does spanking have to do with the OP?
Click to expand...
The OP describes a scenario that uses an extreme situation to try and pose an ethical dilemma for us, to dismantle our sense of right vs. wrong. But it's a trick question. Anything taken to extremes often falls outside of the normal, functional paradigm, leading to a breakdown in the model. So what. Same goes with science, like as with the quantum mechanics. No one can say for sure what they would do in such a scenario, or whether any of the 3 options actually represent a chance of success. It's a lose-lose situation.

So given the absurdity of the situation, rather than try to answer with one of the no-win scenarios I tend to ask more general questions. Let's step outside the box. How did the child get lost? How did they get involved in such a bizarre scenario? Why was there no guardian with them, or anyone from the public that would be able to see what was going on. We "find her" with a bomb attached that will go off in 5 minutes. Where? Where did we find her in that crowded mall, how did the terrorists manage to take her and attach a bomb and set up a timer, without being observed and someone intervening or calling security.

Obviously, this child ran off and was talking to strangers. Maybe even associating with bad people, as kids sometimes do these days, given they're empowered as though they are adults, to make choices about their own liberty, without having reached the age of reason.

So I say, the people who taught my kids in elementary school that they have equal rights and don't need to listen to what mommy and daddy tells them, the teachers with their social agenda, them who teach kids to be non-judgmental, because everybody's ok, they're the ones to blame for that child being strapped to the bomb.
 
Manny said:
The OP describes a scenario that uses an extreme situation to try and pose an ethical dilemma for us, to dismantle our sense of right vs. wrong. But it's a trick question. Anything taken to extremes often falls outside of the normal, functional paradigm, leading to a breakdown in the model. So what. Same goes with science, like as with the quantum mechanics. No one can say for sure what they would do in such a scenario, or whether any of the 3 options actually represent a chance of success. It's a lose-lose situation.

So given the absurdity of the situation, rather than try to answer with one of the no-win scenarios I tend to ask more general questions. Let's step outside the box. How did the child get lost? How did they get involved in such a bizarre scenario? Why was there no guardian with them, or anyone from the public that would be able to see what was going on. We "find her" with a bomb attached that will go off in 5 minutes. Where? Where did we find her in that crowded mall, how did the terrorists manage to take her and attach a bomb and set up a timer, without being observed and someone intervening or calling security.

Obviously, this child ran off and was talking to strangers. Maybe even associating with bad people, as kids sometimes do these days, given they're empowered as though they are adults, to make choices about their own liberty, without having reached the age of reason.

So I say, the people who taught my kids in elementary school that they have equal rights and don't need to listen to what mommy and daddy tells them, the teachers with their social agenda, them who teach kids to be non-judgmental, because everybody's ok, they're the ones to blame for that child being strapped to the bomb.
Click to expand...

If we are talking 'what ifs' then what if you were drugged and woke up to find your child with a bomb strapped to her? ANd we will go with its in a mall. Where you were prior to this event was irrelevant. You are sitting on a bench in a mall 5 minutes is ticking away on the bomb on your daughters chest, what are you going to do?

Personally I would pull out my bomb defusing kit then go catch a movie.
 
Tigger said:
Calmly and quietly take the child out of the building and as far away from any populated areas of the development/parking lot as quickly as possible. Stay with the child as long as possible before moving to what I hope is a safe distance from the explosion.
Click to expand...

That certainly seems to be the most logical choice, but the point of these endless "what if" scenarios is that people, especially in these situations are illogical. I don't know you well enough to know if that is really what you would have done, or if you have kids, but I don't suspect it would be as easy as you made it sound.

Also, the O.P. mentioned a five minute deadline, and that you are in a crowded mall. I'm not sure you could even get completely out of the mall in those five minutes if you are practically in the very center of the mall, let alone find an unpopulated area within the time constraint. However, the O.P. also says that you can grab your child and run out the door, so you must find her relatively close to the exit.

The five min. deadline also means that you can see the timer and your daughter, having been kidnapped and strapped to a bomb and what not, would likely be crying, making it difficult to to jump out of a crowded mall quietly and inconspicuously.

Your supposed reaction also supports no attempt to save your child and assumes that she is already a lost cause, and only tries to curb collateral damage.

Or maybe I am just reading way way too far into this meaningless "what if" scenario.
 
Last edited:
Indeed said:
That certainly seems to be the most logical choice, but the point of these endless "what if" scenarios is that people, especially in these situations are illogical. I don't know you well enough to know if that is really what you would have done, or if you have kids, but I don't suspect it would be as easy as you made it sound.
Click to expand...

Let me give you a little background on myself.... I don't have children though my fiance would like to have one after we're married this summer. I have been a CCW holder and a self-defense enthusiast for almost a decade and a half. I carry a firearm with me almost everywhere I go, and have other "tools" with me at all times. I'm the sort of guy who won't sit with his back to the door in a restaurant. I do my best to maintain a conscious habit of knowing who and what is around me as often as humanly possible. Nobody knows exactly how they will react until the situation occurs but some people are better prepared to deal with these things because they have considered them ahead of time.

Indeed said:
Also, the O.P. mentioned a five minute deadline, and that you are in a crowded mall. I'm not sure you could even get completely out of the mall in those five minutes if you are practically in the very center of the mall, let alone find an unpopulated area within the time constraint. However, the O.P. also says that you can grab your child and run out the door, so you must find her relatively close to the exit.
Click to expand...

As I think of the malls in the greater Worcester, MA area, I cannot think of one which I couldn't be out of and well into the more desolate areas of the parking lot in 5 minutes time. In this scenario, I'm not concerning myself with people's cars, but rather with limiting the damage to people.

Indeed said:
The five min. deadline also means that you can see the timer and your daughter, having been kidnapped and strapped to a bomb and what not, would likely be crying, making it difficult to to jump out of a crowded mall quietly and inconspicuously.
Click to expand...

You pick the child up and carry them. I'm not concerned with keeping them quiet or asking them to come along with me. She is little more than a football or backpack at that point.

Indeed said:
Your supposed reaction also supports no attempt to save your child and assumes that she is already a lost cause, and only tries to curb collateral damage.
Click to expand...

That is very true. It does exactly that. In that five minute period of time, nobody with the skills to disarm the device is going to be able to arrive. It's just that simple. EOD is not something that I have any skill with. At that point the only logical and intelligent thing to do is to attempt to minimize the damage. Anything other than that is illogical, and emotionally based garbage.
 
rhinefire said:
What would you do if you and your child were in a crowded mall and you child was missing then you find her with a bomb strapped securely to here torso. It will go off in five minutes.
Try to remove it and risk killing her, you and other people?
Run around telling everyone to get away?
Grab you child and run out the door killing both of you but saving others?
Click to expand...

My first hysterics would probably scatter others. "OMG!!!!! It's a bomb!!" I would try to remove the bomb. For all I know? It isn't even real. If it is? Then I die with my child.
 
Tigger said:
Let me give you a little background on myself.... I don't have children though my fiance would like to have one after we're married this summer. I have been a CCW holder and a self-defense enthusiast for almost a decade and a half. I carry a firearm with me almost everywhere I go, and have other "tools" with me at all times. I'm the sort of guy who won't sit with his back to the door in a restaurant. I do my best to maintain a conscious habit of knowing who and what is around me as often as humanly possible. Nobody knows exactly how they will react until the situation occurs but some people are better prepared to deal with these things because they have considered them ahead of time.



As I think of the malls in the greater Worcester, MA area, I cannot think of one which I couldn't be out of and well into the more desolate areas of the parking lot in 5 minutes time. In this scenario, I'm not concerning myself with people's cars, but rather with limiting the damage to people.



You pick the child up and carry them. I'm not concerned with keeping them quiet or asking them to come along with me. She is little more than a football or backpack at that point.



That is very true. It does exactly that. In that five minute period of time, nobody with the skills to disarm the device is going to be able to arrive. It's just that simple. EOD is not something that I have any skill with. At that point the only logical and intelligent thing to do is to attempt to minimize the damage. Anything other than that is illogical, and emotionally based garbage.
Click to expand...

I have read enough of your posts to know that your reputation as a fervent advocate of C.C.W. and gun ownership is well earned, and for this I applaud you, but I don't know your personality, and that is what I was getting at. I don't know you, so I can't just call B.S. outright. I also choose seats without a view of the as many doors as possible, and I understand it.

In the your next paragraph, I will cede the point to you.

My allusion to the fact that you can see the timer and that the child would be crying was meant to say only that you were not going to get out of the mall quietly. The idea that you would not carry the child never even occurred to me. I was also thinking that if the timer was visible, the bomb would definitely be noticeable, and people would notice you running around with a bomb strapped to a small child and panic. It would not be quiet and inconspicuous in the least.

You are quite correct that no one with explosive disarming skills and tools for it in the five min. It certainly is more logical, but my point is that even if it is an easy decision now, or even then, you still have to consider how you would feel and think about it later. That's half of the point of this thread, getting you to think about whether or not you could live with yourself afterwards, and you didn't even try to save your kid. Your response is logical, but people aren't, and you are a person. Could you really stay calm and composed in this scenario?
 
Indeed said:
My allusion to the fact that you can see the timer and that the child would be crying was meant to say only that you were not going to get out of the mall quietly. The idea that you would not carry the child never even occurred to me. I was also thinking that if the timer was visible, the bomb would definitely be noticeable, and people would notice you running around with a bomb strapped to a small child and panic. It would not be quiet and inconspicuous in the least.
Click to expand...

Honestly, I think you over-estimate the observational skills of the vast majority of American mall shoppers. Yes, some will notice the crying child, but I would be willing to bet that few if any would realize the actual danger of the situation. Therefore, with the exception of the people who consider any crying child to be "abused", I highly doubt there would be much fuss at all.

Indeed said:
You are quite correct that no one with explosive disarming skills and tools for it in the five min. It certainly is more logical, but my point is that even if it is an easy decision now, or even then, you still have to consider how you would feel and think about it later. That's half of the point of this thread, getting you to think about whether or not you could live with yourself afterwards, and you didn't even try to save your kid. Your response is logical, but people aren't, and you are a person. Could you really stay calm and composed in this scenario?
Click to expand...

I do my best not to allow emotion to play into my decision making processes when it comes to anything having to do with safety or security. The momentary hesitation of an emotional reaction can get you killed. I don't really believe in emotional/romantic "love" the way most people do. I'm sure there would be regrets down the road, but in that moment one has to act in the way to deal with the situation the best way possible. Hopefully we will never have to find out the answer to your final question.
 
Tigger said:
Honestly, I think you over-estimate the observational skills of the vast majority of American mall shoppers. Yes, some will notice the crying child, but I would be willing to bet that few if any would realize the actual danger of the situation. Therefore, with the exception of the people who consider any crying child to be "abused", I highly doubt there would be much fuss at all.
Click to expand...

I probably am over-estimating their split-second analytical prowess, but when I first read the O.P., my first thought was a seven-year-old girl in a purple sweater with a cartoony dynamite pack and a timer on her chest in the middle of the mall on Black Friday.

Tigger said:
I do my best not to allow emotion to play into my decision making processes when it comes to anything having to do with safety or security. The momentary hesitation of an emotional reaction can get you killed. I don't really believe in emotional/romantic "love" the way most people do. I'm sure there would be regrets down the road, but in that moment one has to act in the way to deal with the situation the best way possible. Hopefully we will never have to find out the answer to your final question.
Click to expand...

Well said.
 
Indeed said:
I probably am over-estimating their split-second analytical prowess, but when I first read the O.P., my first thought was a seven-year-old girl in a purple sweater with a cartoony dynamite pack and a timer on her chest in the middle of the mall on Black Friday.
Click to expand...

I highly doubt most Black Friday shoppers would notice a fully nude couple engaged in sexual acts in the middle of the mall.
 
Attempt to save her.

**** everyone else.
 
Tigger said:
I highly doubt most Black Friday shoppers would notice a fully nude couple engaged in sexual acts in the middle of the mall.
Click to expand...

Probably. But it's the leftovers from the 'most' that gets you. On the other hand, if most wouldn't notice the couple, why would they notice a couple running from a spot? In any case, I will agree with you on that point.
 
rhinefire said:
What would you do if you and your child were in a crowded mall and you child was missing then you find her with a bomb strapped securely to here torso. It will go off in five minutes.
Try to remove it and risk killing her, you and other people?
Run around telling everyone to get away?
Grab you child and run out the door killing both of you but saving others?
Click to expand...

I would run into the nearest Radio Shack in the mall and get some tools and disable the bomb. Then I'd probably go to Cinnabon because who can resist that sh**?
 
rhinefire said:
What would you do if you and your child were in a crowded mall and you child was missing then you find her with a bomb strapped securely to here torso. It will go off in five minutes.
Try to remove it and risk killing her, you and other people?
Run around telling everyone to get away?
Grab you child and run out the door killing both of you but saving others?
Click to expand...

With my children, it's as likely that they did it themselves....

Step 1. **** my pants. OK done.
Step 2. Call the cops
Step 3. Take the kid outside while she laughs at me because I **** myself.
Step 4. Cut a hole in a box
Step 5. Put your junk in that box
Step 6. Open up the box
 
Del Zeppnile said:
I would run into the nearest Radio Shack in the mall and get some tools and disable the bomb. Then I'd probably go to Cinnabon because who can resist that sh**?
Click to expand...

I can. Too sweet. God help me if there's a Sbarro though. It's not very good pizza, but I seem to fall for it every time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom