Vigilantes have little choice but to act if they are to do anything other than accept what they deem unacceptable:
An enraged father who disapproved of his daughter’s older boyfriend went to his home and castrated him with a bread knife…. He told police: “I received a phone call anonymously that my daughter was involved with a guy 40 years older than her. You said you couldn’t stop him – so I did.
Those who would condemn his actions as the behavior of a prehistoric father should probably keep in mind that the actions of the overly affectionate Prof. Epstein are the behavior of a post-modern one. If the law is not reasonable, the behavior of those who reject it often will not be either. And neither “the law” nor “the police” are some sort of state deity possessing magical power to dictate human behavior. Their ability to exert control over human behavior is entirely retroactive, so they can do nothing to stop one who has determined that the likely punishment is not as bad as permitting the status quo to remain. This is why the elimination of social stigma in favor of legal criminalization has been so disastrous for civilization.
Of course, one does have to wonder why the young woman would have been so attracted to a man 40 years older as well as why Herr Siefert was inspired to respond in so drastic a manner. It is not impossible to imagine that the pre-modern and the post-modern father have more in common than might ordinarily be supposed.