we are young and stupid and raised by wolves
(this is not real life. these are not pictures of me. I am 24 years old and a woman and passionate about politics and fanfiction and, as far as you are concerned, I only exist online.)
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
Curious George Finkelstein: A former rabbi-teacher of mine has been accused of molesting students. So, why can’t I stop thinking of the good he did?
Holy shit, this article.
Back in the early days of writing Freak Camp, I used to collect articles about anything that reminded me of the story we were writing and pass them on to Brose, who did not exactly find them uplifting. I even made a post or two in our comm with all the links, and then I stopped because I honestly couldn’t find any benefit to it anymore.
But this one rings with me as nothing else has since the article about the escapee from the North Korea prison camp.
The entire article is worth reading, though please take the warnings into account — he isn’t dismissive, but his tone is rather cavalier and irreverent, and it’s a fascinating insight too to his struggle and disillusionment with religion. But this is the heart of it:
So, what is all this then, Auslander? What’s with all these positive reminiscences of a clearly troubled man? Is this some kind of defense of a rabbi accused of physically and emotionally hurting countless number of yeshiva students? Is that what this is about?
No.
It’s not about a defense.
It’s about monsters.
The strange thing about monsters is that, as children, we believe in them and the adults tell us they’re not real, that there are no such things and we should just go back to sleep. And we believe them. But later, as we grow up and become adults and we see the world in all its misery and suffering and injustice and cruelty and shit … we decide to believe in monsters again. Because monsters help us to make sense of the world. Monsters help us feel better about our obviously non-monster selves.
There are monsters, after all, and then there’s … us.
If only.
Basically, the reader is impressed and personally touched by the fact that the Paternos went out of their way, in a time of great stress, to research his/her address, write a thank you note and mail it to him in a very timely fashion. If only Joe Pa had devoted a fraction of the diligence to reporting a crime against a child (and preventing future abuses) that he and/or his wife put into adhering to Emily Post. Your reader went on to say “Joe never missed an opportunity to remind us that success is only valuable when it comes with honor”. Am I to assume there is more honor in etiquette than in preventing child rape?
a reader responding to another’s email (http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/01/paternos-legacy-and-ours-ctd.html) on Andrew Sullivan’s blog
I think it’s safe to say I wouldn’t have been able to lead the life I’ve led, wouldn’t have grown into the man I’ve become, if it hadn’t been for his leadership. I can’t even begin to imagine what would have become of me if not for Joe Paterno. …How many people honestly get to fulfill their very deepest desires in life?” Sandusky said. “Let alone fulfill those desires over and over again, year in and year out, day after day, for decades? That’s the kind of life Joe allowed me to live.
The Onion’s article on Jerry Sandusky’s tribute to Joe Paterno (http://www.theonion.com/articles/jerry-sandusky-ill-never-forget-all-the-things-joe,27169/)
OUCH
Wow, they pull no punches and never flinch. Respect for The Onion. I can only imagine how this article is making Penn State fans froth at the mouth.
It’s difficult to take oneself with sufficient seriousness to begin any sentence with the words “Thou shalt not.” But who cannot summon the confidence to say: Do not condemn people on the basis of their ethnicity or color. Do not ever use people as private property. Despise those who use violence or the threat of it in sexual relations. Hide your face and weep if you dare to harm a child. Do not condemn people for their inborn nature—why would God create so many homosexuals only in order to torture and destroy them? Be aware that you too are an animal and dependent on the web of nature, and think and act accordingly. Do not imagine that you can escape judgment if you rob people with a false prospectus rather than with a knife. Turn off that fucking cell phone—you have no idea how unimportant your call is to us. Denounce all jihadists and crusaders for what they are: psychopathic criminals with ugly delusions. Be willing to renounce any god or any religion if any holy commandments should contradict any of the above. In short: Do not swallow your moral code in tablet form.
the late Christopher Hitchens
We all, if asked in a comfortable setting, sipping a coffee and eating a gluten-free vanilla scone, will say without reservation that we would absolutely save that child. I bet McQueary thought so too, until he didn’t. I need to know how he reasoned it, how he lived with it, how he justified it, so that we can hopefully provide people with better fucking reasoning skills.
-anonymous reader/commenter on Andrew Sullivan’s blog
This sums it all up so much, and I think the last line strikes at the heart of the moral quandary of Freak Camp.
mimblexwimble said: It’s the kind of disgusting situation that shouldn’t need explanation - no one should have to go to some idiot and say, what if he had raped you and you saw the reaction of the students, saw that kind of support for a rapist? What the fuck then?
And I know they weren’t protesting in support of Sandusky, the actual rapist, but anyone who fucking turns his head away, when he knows full and well what is going on - or anyone, who’s just heard a rumor or a hint, who doesn’t make an honest effort to find out what’s actually going on, ARE KIDS BEING RAPED IN YOUR SHOWERS BY YOUR OWN STAFF - yeah, that also indicates a moral depravity. I’ve heard so many similar stories lately, of adults stepping over children who are being held down and threatened with sexual molestation, of parents who never say a fucking word when a Boy Scout leader suggests one of the kids sleep in his tent…it’s so depressing.
I’m trying to remember, though, that the students are young and emotional, this is a gut defense of their hero, and I’m hoping that after some time for it to sink in, they’ll start to feel ashamed of themselves. It’s a hard thing to accept, that someone you look up to can be capable of that. I went through that, to a lesser degree - I had been a fan of Cassie Claire before the plagiariam scandal came out, and I was in such denial at first, until the disillusionment set in.
THANK YOU, JON.
I didn’t expect him to cover it because, y’know, there’s not a lot of room for humor in this, but this is a short, very serious piece for him, striking at the heart of the greater moral depravity that seems to have hold of the entire university, from the president to its student body, and the very clear parallels between this and the Catholic church child abuse cover-ups. (For fuck’s sake, the head coach’s name was Paterno.)
(link if the above video doesn’t work)
Jon added a bit in his Moment of Zen, acknowledging that that hadn’t been very funny, and next time he’ll do better, “once we get a little more emotional distance” and that “it’s just that this one in particular had the staff and me a little galled.”
It seriously kills me. Why weren’t the students rioting when they found out one of their precious coaches was raping kids in their showers and pretty much all the top officials in their university was covering it up and letting him keep doing it?
Local artist Michael Pilato paints over former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky that was in his ‘Inspiration’ Hiester Street mural on November 9, 2011 in University Park, Pennsylvania. Sandusky was replaced with a chair and blue ribbon. The painting contains notable figures of State College. By Patrick Smith/Getty Images
Thank God for one voice of reason. This is bravery - standing up to the mob who was looking for stuff to vandalize, to tell them that even though he’s also loyal, they need to hold their leaders accountable and they should put away the Paterno support signs.
I’m glad too that some were shouting for the crowd to let him speak.
I know you all like football. I know a lot of people like football. I know it’s fun and culturally important and for some reason people identify incredibly strongly with Their Team, many to unhealthy levels. But it’s football. It is just football. Feeling personally devastated because someone you trusted made a really terrible decision is one thing; being personally devastated because your identity is so wrapped up in your team that the idea of any member of that team being punished for covering up child rape strikes you as fundamentally unfair is another thing. It is something that should make you seriously reconsider your identity and your values. Being really good at coaching football doesn’t absolve you from looking the other way when you hear about child rape; it doesn’t absolve you from encouraging others not to report child rape to the police.
justsayinggg reblogged your post: Observation on one facet of the general reaction to the Penn State scandal
blue is the color that’s used to support child abuse, so…
But it’s not exactly anything they do different from any other match, is it?
Observation on one facet of the general reaction to the Penn State scandal
A “Blue Out” will be held at Saturday’s game against Nebraska.
An unofficial Facebook page encouraged fans to wear blue “to support the victims of child abuse worldwide. The Blue Ribbon Campaign against child abuse began 22 years ago and is recognized across the country. In addition to being the color of our team’s home game jerseys, blue represents the color of bruises that have too often been neglected.”
(source)
So your statement of support will be to…wear the team’s colors. How brave.
