My Thoughts on the Penn State Issue

What Happened?

If you're like me, you've been inundated with the "Penn State Scandal" and the "Joe Paterno" piece for the past 24- 48 hours. Sports media is looping it through over and over again. The story seems almost inescapable and every angle almost covered. The basic story, or what has caused the fallout, is that allegedly Joe Paterno as well as the Athletic Director and President, I believe, knew of the child sexual abuse occurring on the campus by a former coach, and while Paterno told his superior, he did not go directly to the police, and others that he told did not report it, nor did Paterno follow up to see if, in fact, it was reported.
Many are saying, and I think perhaps rightfully so, that what probably inhibited Paterno from taking this any further was a fear of sullying his reputation, as well as the University, or just his own lack of some "moral compass". But now, none of that seems to matter anymore. Sixty plus years down the tube essentially, as most are saying. What is sobering to me about this is the fact that just two weeks ago we were celebrating Paterno for passing Eddie Robinson on the all time wins list. TWO WEEKS AGO. The point (s): We can all fall fast. Real fast. And, nice sounding adjectives describing our character and people's perceptions of us really can't save us. Again, think of the words used to describe Paterno just two weeks ago. And now, how many times have you been described the same way?

What does it mean?

I think if all of this reveals anything about our culture in terms of child abuse, it's our ignorance. Let's get real. This is not the only instance of child abuse in the past ten years. It's not the only one in the past 10 minutes. Not even the last 10 seconds. This happens all the time, even right now, but only now, we seem to realize how big of a problem this is in our culture. If you are a man reading this, statistically, either you or one of your six male friends has been a victim. If you are female, either you or one of your three female friends. It's big and it's real, and it's time for us to get real.

The Media

This thing has been a media firestorm, but unfortunately, for all the wrong reasons. Everyone is fixated on Joe Paterno and what he did or did not do, which does two things. One, it again, puts the victims in a voiceless place because we seemed more concerned with Joe Paterno and what he has to say rather than what the victims lives look like. Last night, the first question asked at the press conference was "Who's going to coach the football team?" Two, it's only building on the insular legacy that created this mess in the first place. It really doesn't matter what is being said about him and his actions, fact is, it's still adding to the legacy, regardless of what it is. If it shows us anything, it shows us how much things go bad when we find our identity in something else. In this case, Paterno found his identity in Penn State, and the University in him. Now they are feeling the effects. (And yes, I realize how I am being part of the problem myself, but I hope I can reveal a different perspective).

The Students Reaction

The reactions of the students, as Justin Holcomb, a pastor of Mars Hill in Seattle said, only leads more victims to not report said instances. This is an important piece. Lack of reporting because of shame/embarrassment is a grave problem in this whole mess, to which I suppose Joe Pa felt a little bit of as well, because I think if we are honest, something about this whole subject just seems "dirty", and we don't want to touch it, BUT WE'VE GOT TO. Our naivety, anger, search for justice, hurt, or love of everyone cannot cause us to tube out here. Why? Because little known fact, but most perpetrators were victims. Yes, many of the people that seem to enrage the public, and in this case, Sandusky, were once the same victims that we are now outraged about. My question: When does someone loose their status as a victim and become a villain ? If we are ever going to fight this, we've got to go here. If we can't look for the victim behind the villain, we'll never be able to disarm the shame that keeps all this a secret. If, let's say, this were to happen again in about 20 years, but we came to find out that the perpetrator in this case was part of the "Penn State Scandal", would that change our view?
I'm not saying you have to be there, but we can watch what we say about Sandusky and perpetrators. Is it words like "pervert" and "disgusting"? If so, I want to sober you with the thought that not only are we contributing to the shame that keeps perpetrators doing what they are doing, but we are contributing to the shame that binds the victims as well. When we use those words, victims hear it, thereby throwing one more brick on the wall of shame. So if we can do any part other than report abuse (knowing the laws in your state), we can watch our tongues.

The Gospel

Finally, even as this thing continues to spiral as more information comes out about Sandusky possibly "pimping" out kids, we must see to it, if we call ourselves Christians, not to be duped by the devil. One of his best tricks is to convince us that we are better. It starts with saying hate filled things about others, of which I too struggle deeply, and then it goes further into thinking somehow our own sin is not as offensive to God. But it is. Let's not be deceived. Let's stop closet Armenian thoughts of "I'm a little bit better" or "I would never". Let's not try to lessen our need for the Cross of Christ. Let's act out of the Gospel and rob this whole thing of it's power over our culture. Let's give the victims a voice.


Disclaimer: I am not in any way saying I am "right" or that my thoughts are "complete". They're just my thoughts, and I welcome any "push back" or perspective you may have that I don't see.