The darkness in us all
For the first time since 1950, Joe Paterno will not be on the sidelines for Penn State. Think about that number for a second. Paterno, of course, was fired this week by the school's board of trustees in the wake of the pedofilia scandal where he seemingly turned a blind eye to allegations of one of his top assistant's deplorable acts.
Paterno, who by all accounts is (sorry was) the face and soul of Penn State, didn't knew enough to stop Jerry Sandusky. That is true. But is that the real reason so many people are outraged? No. Deep down, it is no. The problem is not that Paterno failed to act, but that we as humans question what we would have done in that same situation. We like to think that we would be noble and brave enough to go to the police. To keep badgering someone until justice is served. But think about how many crimes you have witnessed over your lifetime and did not speak up. The friend who cheated on his or her spouse. The roommate with a drug addiction who was selling marijuana. The relative who drove home clearly drunk. Did you stop them? Or did you turn your head and hope it wouldn't happen again? Think, oh well, they will learn their lesson one day. It's not my problem. Someone else will do something.
It is the darkness in us all. We hate Paterno because Paterno failed. Would we fail as well? But we rationalize that this was terrible what happened. It was beyond words in horror. Maybe that is was froze Paterno as well? The horror was so great that he hoped it would just go away. Do you hope horrors go away? Do you always act in the right way?
It is the darkness in us all.
Paterno, who by all accounts is (sorry was) the face and soul of Penn State, didn't knew enough to stop Jerry Sandusky. That is true. But is that the real reason so many people are outraged? No. Deep down, it is no. The problem is not that Paterno failed to act, but that we as humans question what we would have done in that same situation. We like to think that we would be noble and brave enough to go to the police. To keep badgering someone until justice is served. But think about how many crimes you have witnessed over your lifetime and did not speak up. The friend who cheated on his or her spouse. The roommate with a drug addiction who was selling marijuana. The relative who drove home clearly drunk. Did you stop them? Or did you turn your head and hope it wouldn't happen again? Think, oh well, they will learn their lesson one day. It's not my problem. Someone else will do something.
It is the darkness in us all. We hate Paterno because Paterno failed. Would we fail as well? But we rationalize that this was terrible what happened. It was beyond words in horror. Maybe that is was froze Paterno as well? The horror was so great that he hoped it would just go away. Do you hope horrors go away? Do you always act in the right way?
It is the darkness in us all.
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