Well, I'm far more respectful of the former type student because as an English professor, I've taught many courses that students do not want to take for feel they should be required to take. It is their choice to not do the work or take the course seriously, and if they elect not to, and to waste their investment, I respect their decision.
All course materials--including the syllabus--are available through the online course software, so what the student was asking for was for his absences to be forgiven as though they were a situation out of his control and not a choice on his part to not participate.