On forgiveness, 2nd chances, and Michael Vick
I'm an animal lover. My family loves animals. Over the past 7 years we've rescued 16 or so animals. We don't like dog fighting; in fact, one of the dogs we rehabilitated and rescued was a beagle/basset-hound mix that was dumped in the alley behind our house along with the litter he fathered. Based upon his missing teeth, torn ear, and food aggressiveness we realized he was a "bait dog" used to train other fighting dogs to be more aggressive.
When the news about Michael Vick broke we were all stunned and horrified upon the initial findings, a kid who had it all, a star quarterback, invested in something so violent and back-woods to most of us. Football fans were enraged, animal lovers were enraged, racists even had new fodder they could construe.
Michael Vick's world unraveled from that point forward. He just about lost it all. He was prohibited from his career for 2 years. He was in jail for 18 months. He lost his homes.
So that's the history.
One of the traits that makes us human is compassion. The same compassion that allows my wife and I to take in flea-ridden rug-staining fuzzballs is the same compassion that fuels the ability for us to give second chances to people. We give our children second chances. We give our friends second chances. We give our family second chances. We give our co-workers and our bosses second chances a lot of the time, too. We give many prisoners second chances, whether rapists or murderers or thieves. And regardless who the person is we all stand awestruck and are happily impressed when that individual exceeds expectations. We're all happy that a former thief is able to hold a job and fit into society, we're happy our boss stood up for us in front of corporate management even though he was oddly silent on the other conference call we had, and we're all smiles when a co-worker remembers to provide the documents we need to finish the job without constant haranguing.
So when it comes to Michael Vick I'm troubled by the hypocrisy of many individuals and groups who proclaim compassion or have compassion as a part of their ethos, and fail to give him, a human, the same second chances that they profess to believe in. I firmly believe if he screws up again he should get the book thrown at him, but the facts are is that he served time, likely more time than the average person serves for similar crimes, if they're even caught and convicted at all. He's suffered public humiliation, the loss of his possessions, and was sidelined (literally) from what should be the prime of his career.
For many, this doesn't make up for his despicable actions, and honestly, even for me, nothing ever will. But denying someone the chance to be a productive member of society, after they have served their debt to society as dictated by our laws, goes against the whole structure of our society. Part of the premise of why our society is so great is that we, as humans, can grow and change for the better.
We don't have to root for the Eagles (why would anyone root for the Eagles?) but as humans I think we all should root for Michael Vick to use his stature to show that people can grow and change.
You don't have to like giving people second chances, but that is what we, as humans, do.
September 11th, 2009 - 22:37
I’m torn. On one hand I can’t get the images of what was done to the dogs out of my head, but on the other I’m someone who firmly believes in second chances. As much as we don’t want to admit it, dog fighting isn’t going away anytime soon. Whether or not making an example of the horrendous crimes committed by Vick and his friends has made an impact on dogfighting in general remains to be seen. I really want to have a neutral opinion of him but it’s going to take a lot of work and a lot of time on his part.
September 12th, 2009 - 09:26
Jon,
I mostly agree with you on this, believe it or not. My wife and I have 5 rescue animals (1 dog, 4 cats) and she and her ex- had 2 dogs and several other cats that are all rescues. Last month she nearly ran over a kitten that she brought back home, but sadly she was too sick to make; and died 24 hours later. We were heartbroken, but we tried to give ‘Gizzy’ (she looked like Gizmo from Gremlins) a second chance–and for that 24 hours she was held, loved and she knew it.
Michael VIck…the situation tears right at my heart. Like you, I feel he deserves a second chance; but I also feel that the punishment for the crime is no where near as hard as it should be. That’s why I’m torn–compassion for the second chance, but harsher punishment at the outset for the crime.
Oh, and I DO root for the Eagles (living in PA, of course I would)..except when they’re playing against either the Colts (my team) or the 49′ers (my wife and her daughter).
September 12th, 2009 - 12:51
Why is the second chance more compassionate (and patriotic) than the third chance? Or the forth chance? I mean, forgiveness is forgiveness, right? And people are still going to do terrible things. So, why do all these people have such a problem with Michael Vick? People go hunting! And Donte Stallworth killed a PERSON drunk driving. It’s not fair. America stands for second chances. Lots of people eat hamburgers.