Who needs redemption?

[butterfly]

Interesting article on the Slytherins here. It's by sistermagpie. Some OotP spoilers.

Also, a question: at what point are people unredeemable?

I'm thinking of this not only because of Draco. It's because of Connor, Angel, and Spike. It's because of any character labeled 'evil'.

What responsibility do we, in general, have to people who are doing horrible things? Being raised to believe horrible things?

As a society, we lock them up when they go too far. We send people to therapy.

What do we have the right to do?

We take children away from abusive parents. But how do you define abuse? It isn't always clear-cut.

If Angel had been a danger to his son, would Wesley have been right to take him away? If Wesley had reason to believe that Angel was a danger (and he did), does that give him the right?

And, this is something that's been troubling me while I'm rewriting the Connor essays, at what point do you give up on someone?

Should you ever give up? Is there a certain age that means that someone is locked into who they'll always be? What age would that be?