Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Deliver Us From Evil


The video images of  Ray Rice hitting his wife in the elevator are stark. Boom! Violence. Personal and private. Yet captured on the security camera. The images spread on the internet. The reactions were as swift.

Ray Rice is/was a profession National Football League star. On the Baltimore Ravens NFL team. A running back. Swift, incisive player, talented. Strong, too. His fiancé then, now his wife, was not big and powerful. Slight and feminine. Knocked out cold. In plain view of the camera.

Today Ray Rice is out of a job. Maybe forever out of the NFL. As tragic as this event was and is, it is good that the Ravens and the NFL agree that domestic violence among their personnel must be attended to. The new NFL rules on domestic violence  carry a two game suspension for the first offense; a repeat offense is permanent suspension. Period.

Domestic violence is evil. In our nation and in our culture. Thankfully the NFL has made a strong stand with regard to its highly visible, highly paid and revered athletes. They are not gods. Some of them are evil, just like others scattered throughout humanity whether American or some other nationality. We must all take a stand against this evil.

I found this quote on the internet the other day.  It is anonymous, but the message is timeless:

            “We need to teach our daughters to know the difference between:
            -A man who flatters her and a man who complements her
            -A man who spends money on her and a man who invests in her
            -A man who views her as property and a man who views her properly
            -A man who lusts after her and a man who loves her
            -A man who believes he’s a gift to women, and a man who believes she’s a gift
                to him
            And then we need to teach our sons to be that kind of man.”

Evil is often a result, a symptom of an amalgamation of other factors. We teach or don’t, lead or don’t, stand up for principle or don’t. Sloppy living creates opportunity for unwanted results, symptoms, or evil. Think about it. The problem is ours to solve.

And we can do it by paying attention, asking for help when we need it, but above all, by not ignoring problems as they begin to emerge.

It is not OK to hit another person. It is even more not OK for a man to hit a woman, a child or any other human being weaker than he. We can instill this principle in our kids at home, in school, in social gatherings. We need to present a good role model for them to witness and be guided by when we are not in their presence. At all times.

Of course, we have events happening in our culture that send messages that can affect the outcomes we hope for. Doing violence to others takes many forms. Policies and practices of a school, an employer, a business entity, whatever, send messages and form expectations.

Hillary Clinton stated the following on the recent court case that allowed employers to escape some requirements to insure women’s reproductive healthcare on religious grounds:

“Many more companies will claim religious beliefs. Some will be sincere, others maybe not. We’re going to see this one insurable service cut out for many women…this is a really bad, slipper slope.”

Is this court decision violence against women? Is this a stretch of our logic? I don’t think so. Women must be free to determine their own future, their own medical treatment, their own advice and counsel on matters important to them. A health insurance plan should help the patient get what she needs in coping with medical and personal choices that have outcomes to her and her family’s life. This is not a court matter other than ensuring women have those rights! And it is not proper for an employer to decide what is moral and what is not in the personal life of an employee when such decisions have no impact on job performance.

It’s time to call out the Supreme Court. And employers who hide behind murky religious creeds. And politicians who cater to narrow interest groups and leverage public policy for personal gain. Shame on them all.

Evil lurks we are told. Evil exists among us. It is for all of us to see it and live accordingly.

Whether violence is a hit to the head, a slap to the face, or reduction of personal liberty, it is unwanted and dangerous to the fabric of our society.

May we remember this in all of our affairs. Meanwhile, thank you to the NFL for standing tall on domestic violence. And shame to the Supreme Court for narrowing personal freedom of women in the name of religious freedom of an employer.

Read your history books, Justices of the Supreme Court!  Freedom of religion works on many levels in our society. You've tortured it yet into a more horrible monster.

September 10, 2014


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