Well, I see that the Republicans' wonder boy Mitt Romney is in hot water over something he calls a youthful "prank" and what others are calling assault. And of course there are those who are crying for his blood and there are those who are saying that it happened such a long time ago why bring it up now?
I don't know what to think myself. I wasn't planning to vote for him in any case--I am not sure who I am going to vote for, probably one of the third party candidates even though I know none of them has a chance. But I wonder: if the boy Mitt and his buddies assaulted back in high school had been black, would the conversation now be going any differently? Would it be enough to disqualify him or end his candidacy?
A former teacher once asked why do we condone acts done in a school hallway that if they were done out in the streets or in a mall they would be considered crimes? Why do we have a double standard? Isn't it time to call a spade a spade, that when bullying turns physical it shouldn't be trivialized with that name but call it what it is--assault?
I don't know much about the Mormon faith but since they use the same Bible basically as the rest of Christianity I assume that the same teachings about "do unto others" and "whatsoever you do to the least of these, that you do unto Me" are contained in it. If so, then it is clear that at the time these words had very little meaning to Mr. Romney. He's singing a different tune now. But he says he can't remember holding the kid down and cutting his hair.
Unlike other people who say he is lying, I do believe him. Because it was simply not important enough to remember. Bullies are like that, they move on. It's their victims who are unable to do so.
I was never physically assaulted in school but I endured a lot of verbal taunts and disrespect of my personal property. I soon learned that school officials didn't consider it important when my locker was broken into and items stolen and/or destroyed. I guess it really wasn't important. But, let's just say that there are some people out there who have some skeletons in their closet as far as I am concerned. Just because they no longer remember doesn't mean I've forgotten.
A while back one of my former high school classmates was running for elder in my church. This was about the time when the Herman Cain sex scandal broke. I jokingly said to him and his wife that they'd better watch out, because we went to school together, who knows what I could dig up. He said, well, it was true I was running around with a bad crowd and doing a lot of drugs. But that was not what I was talking about. Fortunately for him, he had no skeletons as far as his past behavior towards me was concerned. He was not the boy who took me to a movie on my first date and thrust my hand down his pants and said "I have a hard-on, do you want to see it?" He dodged a bullet on that one. Because if he had, when it came to evaluating him I would have said to Pastor and the other elders, look, there is something we need to take care of. This is what he did, and this is how it has affected my life since. I once insisted that a "brother" who had wronged me apologize to me in front of the entire group. Hardly any one took my side then, but I stood my ground. It took several months but in the end he did apologize. So yes, I wouldn't hesitate to bring something like that up.
According to the New Testament, Jesus said that if you are up at the altar ready to offer your gift and you remember that another has something against you (not, you have something against another, but another has something against you), then you are to immediately leave the altar and go find that person and be reconciled with them. Then come back and offer your gift. That's how seriously he took that sort of thing. It's too late in the case of Mitt Romney's victim, but maybe a suitable penance for Mr. Romney is to work with bullied kids.
I don't know what to think myself. I wasn't planning to vote for him in any case--I am not sure who I am going to vote for, probably one of the third party candidates even though I know none of them has a chance. But I wonder: if the boy Mitt and his buddies assaulted back in high school had been black, would the conversation now be going any differently? Would it be enough to disqualify him or end his candidacy?
A former teacher once asked why do we condone acts done in a school hallway that if they were done out in the streets or in a mall they would be considered crimes? Why do we have a double standard? Isn't it time to call a spade a spade, that when bullying turns physical it shouldn't be trivialized with that name but call it what it is--assault?
I don't know much about the Mormon faith but since they use the same Bible basically as the rest of Christianity I assume that the same teachings about "do unto others" and "whatsoever you do to the least of these, that you do unto Me" are contained in it. If so, then it is clear that at the time these words had very little meaning to Mr. Romney. He's singing a different tune now. But he says he can't remember holding the kid down and cutting his hair.
Unlike other people who say he is lying, I do believe him. Because it was simply not important enough to remember. Bullies are like that, they move on. It's their victims who are unable to do so.
I was never physically assaulted in school but I endured a lot of verbal taunts and disrespect of my personal property. I soon learned that school officials didn't consider it important when my locker was broken into and items stolen and/or destroyed. I guess it really wasn't important. But, let's just say that there are some people out there who have some skeletons in their closet as far as I am concerned. Just because they no longer remember doesn't mean I've forgotten.
A while back one of my former high school classmates was running for elder in my church. This was about the time when the Herman Cain sex scandal broke. I jokingly said to him and his wife that they'd better watch out, because we went to school together, who knows what I could dig up. He said, well, it was true I was running around with a bad crowd and doing a lot of drugs. But that was not what I was talking about. Fortunately for him, he had no skeletons as far as his past behavior towards me was concerned. He was not the boy who took me to a movie on my first date and thrust my hand down his pants and said "I have a hard-on, do you want to see it?" He dodged a bullet on that one. Because if he had, when it came to evaluating him I would have said to Pastor and the other elders, look, there is something we need to take care of. This is what he did, and this is how it has affected my life since. I once insisted that a "brother" who had wronged me apologize to me in front of the entire group. Hardly any one took my side then, but I stood my ground. It took several months but in the end he did apologize. So yes, I wouldn't hesitate to bring something like that up.
According to the New Testament, Jesus said that if you are up at the altar ready to offer your gift and you remember that another has something against you (not, you have something against another, but another has something against you), then you are to immediately leave the altar and go find that person and be reconciled with them. Then come back and offer your gift. That's how seriously he took that sort of thing. It's too late in the case of Mitt Romney's victim, but maybe a suitable penance for Mr. Romney is to work with bullied kids.
