Imponderables

A doctor sexually molests a woman patient under anesthesia. He is found out, prosecuted, and gets a suspended sentence. No jail time for his indiscretion.

Indiscretion?

Three hundred priests in Pennsylvania molest 1000 children (boys and girls) over 70 years. The coverup process appears age-old. Justice has been denied before, and much delayed. How much longer? Many of the accused/guilty(?) are deceased now. But their victims live life with horrors from their youth. Justice? When?

A husband/father kills his pregnant wife, and his two young daughters (2 and 5 years old), then confesses to what he has done. Financial pressures claimed. Really? And the justice for his wife and children? Justice denied?

Coaches at university and college athletic departments witness sexual abuse or hear the stories of same. Over and over for years. They don’t know all the facts; are they guilty of not probing for answers? How much guilt do they share for the actual abuse activity? Any?

The mission of a university – any institution of higher learning – is to accomplish what? Development of its students into responsible pro-active adults? Or nurture of forward generations of responsible citizens well informed on facts and possibilities for the future? Prepare future generations to lead and invent better futures for the common good? What is that mission? Who writes it? And what of the individuals within the system who have the authority and responsibility to give life and success to that mission? Shouldn’t they be a part of the whole? Why then do we have so many disconnected people within the system who don’t do the right thing? Is their professional career and financial reward blinding them to what they ought to be working toward? For the common good of us all?

The government agency is charged with preserving and protecting the public; from a host of evils that could befall them. Why then are they focusing instead on those who serve the public but reduce regulations that protect that very same public? Environmental damage affects all of us and future generations even more. Don’t we need to protect the environment? Don’t we want to ensure livable conditions for our kids and grandchildren? And the yet-unborn? Why then do we allow corporations to pollute the soil, air and water upon which we depend for our very lives and health?

Indeed!

The CEO of a company, or the Vice President of a critical department, both successful in stressful circumstances, find pause and refreshment in pressing sexual favors from other people – women or men, same sex or different sex – all unwelcome advances. They do it anyway. They are entitled in their minds. Why? And why the coverup similar to priests and clergy? Is their value to their organization so high as to avoid consequences of their indiscretions? Their crimes?

Enough of the circumstances. Enough of the accusations. Wrongs have been committed. They need to be examined and addressed. Those hurt need to know their society cares for them, not the perpetrators of the dirty deeds.

And justice must be done. If not now, when? Justice delayed is justice denied and this, too, must be addressed. Sooner rather than later, please.

This is our system of governance. It is our cultural heritage. It is our value structure. If we let these core values slip, then where are we? Where will we find ourselves one day when we need assurance that evil is not king? Truth, justice and freedom are not empty words; they are profound truths and values we must maintain. At all costs.

There are those who have paid those costs. They are damaged goods now; or dead. From the evil deeds that we allowed to happen without consequence.

But consequences have a habit of demanding their peace. Like now. Like 1000 kids sexually abused in Pennsylvania. Like the actresses and actors abused by casting couch directors and producers over the decades. Like spouses murdered because of twisted minds and mental disorder.

Consequences ask that we care for the living and the future generations. Consequences demand we do the hard work of today for the good of tomorrow. And the yet to be born generations we hope for.

Imponderable? No; inconvenient maybe. But work is needed to be done. Best we get to it.

August 24, 2018