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Really sad to read, “Ohio State officials failed to act as doctor abused 177 athletes over nearly two decades.” All young men with concerns that were ignored, dismissed, probably laughed off.
Maybe “sad” is the wrong word, maybe what I feel is more like “conflicted.” As awful as it is to hear these stories, they are being heard. Life wasn’t any better two decades ago for these guys, it’s just that they had no voice, no where to go, no one who would listen. So if you think about it, rather then sadness, this is actually cause for celebration, for thankfulness. It’s like lancing an infection or dragging something moldy out into the sunlight. You can’t heal what you can’t talk about.
What happened at Ohio State is one of many coverups on the news lately. Sexual abuse can’t happen in a vacuum, it requires a lot of other participants, extras, or a less kind term, many NPC’s, many Non Player Characters. People need not be evil and condoning abuse to enable it, to contribute to the environment that creates it. People can be dumb, blind, or simply unwilling to address and confront evil when they see it. Who would listen to you anyway? It’s just how things are. Maybe it’s just me. I’m sure I’m just perceiving this all wrong…
I feel the need to say this today because social media can just be so divisive, as can be many advocates against abuse. I have no information about this case, but I can tell you right now, it isn’t a black and white situation of good guys versus bad guys. While it is about some major leadership fails, it isn’t about evil leaders conspiring to persecute and silence victims. It’s can be so easy to just start to believe that.
Well said. And as it’s been said, we’re only as sick as our secrets, but we must also show grace and understand the situation before making knee-jerk reactions to sound bites.
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IB you said: “it is about some major leadership fails”
Yep, that is the problem in a nutshell. The leaders among us are, for the most part, Lilly livered cowards. Yep, I said that. And I don’t mean leaders as in political, or big important people; I mean those, primarily men, who lead their small circle of influence and fail to act and confront directly the wrong things around them. We are worried about being “loving,” or not messing up a life, or not messing up our own lives, or losing our place in the world if we speak out against wrong. The almost complete absence of men willing to step into the breach, speak firmly and go down in a ball of fire makes me want to puke. So many huge issues could have been stopped at a low level if someone had just said. “Hey stop that. It’s wrong, and if you keep doing it, we are going to have a very serious private talk that may result in injury to your pride or even your body.” Sorry if I sound a bit unhinged here, IB, but I have been involved in just such a thing the last few months, and the end result is the problem goes on, and me and mine are on the outside looking in. Yet, a simple frank conversation could have stopped the whole thing in its tracks. Yet, not a single person, man or woman, in a leadership role was willing to speak out. I am not saying my wife and I are all that; we just did what God said do. We aren’t special; we are just obedient.
Where are the Admiral Farraguts declaring, “Dam the torpedoes, full speed ahead? (That’s not exactly the quote, but the way it is quoted.) Where are folks like those in the Light Brigade, willing to run the gauntlet knowing doom awaited, just because duty and honor demanded it? For that matter, where are Cassidy and Sundance willing to charge out of that Mexican cave to certain death? I tell you where they are; they are hiding behind mommy’s apron.
Okay, rant over. Thanks!
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A fabulous rant, Wally. Thank you, much appreciated, a blessing to read really.
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Well, thanks for the space!
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Their silence reminded me of a scene from this film. Interesting parallel when we think of what went on during the Deep State days here:
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This irks me…
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You are totally right…as you almost always are. Things fester in the darkness. They don’t heal. Back when it was happening to me, I had no voice. No one would have believed an unpopular kid when my monster-father was a well respected aircraft engineer who taught college classes and intimidated other people with his intelligence. Not to mention the fact that we were forbidden to go to church, rarely had a TV, lived in isolation from others – and monster lied and said all fathers did it to all girls to prepare them for marriage and life. I wanted to ask the few friends I had at school if their fathers did it to them…but I was too shy and probably too afraid to hear their answers. So I suffered, my sisters suffered and I didn’t know about them until recently – and I had two backwoods abortions on pine straw with the monster using my mother’s knitting needles. I nearly bled to death both times. So glad things like this CAN find the light now and be purged.
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I am so sorry Stephanie, for what you endured, but so grateful the Lord has handed you beauty for those ashes. You are not alone, so many have suffered these kind of atrocities. But the Lord heals so beautifully and then takes what is dark and ugly and uses it to heal others.
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Indeed. The ashes have turned to beauty in the 23 books I’ve written.
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Amen! I sometimes think of beautiful flowers. They tend to grow and blossom even better when they are fertilized with plenty of manure and compost. God doesn’t ever make bad things happen to us, but He sure can take what was intended for evil, and make some amazing good come out of it. 🙂
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Excellent!
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Conflicted? That is a good starting point.
I am afraid I retain the skepticism of my namesake, Thomas. The idea that a doctor could so easily prey on athletic young men puzzles me. I understand a doctor is an authority figure, but if it was common knowledge this doctor was a sexual pervert, he should have been a laughstock among those athletes, not a fearsome terror.
Was there something wrong with those young men? What is our education system doing to them? No one can force us to see a doctor we want no part of. They could have put him out of business just by refusing to let him provide them care.
Please observe that the law firm that is supposedly serving as an objective investigator of this mess is Perkin Coie. This outfit represents the DNC. They hired the people who put together the Steele or Golden Showers dossier. It is a farce to call that outfit objective.
My point? We don’t need to put on tinfoil hats to be suspicious of what are being portrayed as facts in this case. Which among these people should we trust? The news media? 😞 Seriously? Haven’t we learned anything?
The victims? “They”, the politically correct, tell us we should believe the victim. Well, we have a tradition of innocent until proven guilty for a reason. Remember the Book of James. The tongue can be a mighty inferno. Anyone who can tell a lie can destroy anyone else.
Our leaders? Are our leaders cowards? No. Many of them are wolves who prey upon the sheep they are suppose to protect. Many of them lie to us.
We should insist upon a proper, objective investigation. Before we judge anyone, we should wait for the completion of that investigation.
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“The idea that a doctor could so easily prey on athletic young men puzzles me. ”
I think you reveal yet another aspect of denial around sexual abuse. Life should be simple right, you just punch the bad guys and move on? These are athletes, so we assume they are stronger and might makes right, but there is a whole emotional, psychological, social, perhaps even demonic aspect to sexual abuse. It becomes a conspiracy of silence.
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@IB
It would take a demon to accomplish what that story suggests.
Was Adolf Hitler a real person? Yes. Did he manage to with the organization he led to murder millions? Yes.
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Yes, Tom. I agree. People can be pretty stupid and evil all by ourselves, but then there are those times when you realize we just aren’t that capable, sophisticated, and organized. Sometimes I just have to go visit the DMV to remind myself of this truth. 🙂
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