The Case of Penn State: When Good People Pay the Price for Mistakes

One thing is for sure about this Penn State scandal…we don’t know the whole story. One can only hope those making some pretty major decisions there now have a lot more info than we do. To be sure, this really isn’t a Penn State story—not one that does or should define it. But like every other organization affected by revelations of such horrors (something the Church is familiar with) there is no way to separate the rest of the organization from the actions of one person. This understandably makes people angry. But there is no way around it.

This is why, I suspect, the Trustees are being rather aggressive (which has drawn rather epic negative response). If you are at all familiar with the legal (and financial) settlements that churches have had to pay in case of child abuse, I suspect you only have seen a fraction of the financial exposure (to say nothing of the PR risk) that this whole thing places on the doorstep of Penn State. This could cripple the university. Seriously. No joke. I can't say I wouldn't do the same thing if I was in their place--I do honestly think they're trying to make every effort to handle the situation, which is, I think, the best they can do now, and hope that it will somehow mitigate the financial settlements Penn State will be smacked with.

I won’t attempt to speak to the loyalty many have for Joe Paterno—or the frustration at how he seems to be suffering perhaps a harsher penalty from the Penn State than the two others already indicted for lying to the grand jury (not to mention possibly many others who also knew). I don’t question the deep respect people have for him or that he is anything other than the epic personality that people hold him to be. But even really good people can make really big mistakes--and these big mistakes often seem rather small at the time.

I don’t know what happened here. I do know that even he expressed a wish, in hindsight, that he had done more. Sometimes a really good person makes a really big mistake that even a great deal of “good-ness” can’t make go away.

In the Church, we are, sadly, far too familiar with abuse incidents than perhaps almost any other field. This is both because of the cases which have occurred in religious settings but also because we see the terrible costs of these incidents in people’s lives—the lives of victims, perpetrators and families. This is not new—in my ministry I have come across older adults who were abused years ago and never told anyone—or who were not believed.

So I am terribly, terribly sad for the children whose lives were affected by Sandusky. I think the prosecutors are probably correct to believe there are many other victims out there. Not all cases of abuse are the same, and not all perpetrators are the serial abusers that Sandusky seems to have been. He appears to be the very sort of person that so many policies are written for.

At Calvary, like all other United Methodist Churches, we have a Safe Sanctuary policy. It isn’t perfect, and we are always working to refine and clarify it and implement it more and more effectively. From time to time we have to deal with folks who take issue with having a policy at all. Here’s the thing though, no one expected this sort of thing could happen at a place like Penn State. Because I truly believe that if people really did, then they would have worked harder to make sure it didn’t. There’s a great tendency to denial in all of us. Of not wanting to see, of not wanting to think the things you see on TV are, actually possible. Or a conviction that “it couldn’t happen here.” Ironically, it is the places most convinced “It couldn’t happen here” (and hence without strong, implemented policies) that can be some of the dangerous places.

These boys should never have had to undergo this abuse. Successful, good men who have done a great deal of good should not have to have their careers end this way. This is not the way things should be. But something—actually iit seems many things—went wrong here. And I think what we are seeing is what I hope are well-meaning people who are trying to hold things together, protect their school from risks that could really tangibly affect every aspect of its operation, and yes, I think, people trying to do the right thing.

If there’s anything we’ve been reminded of, it is that there are sometimes difference between doing just what rules or laws require and doing the right thing. And that sometimes, despite the risks of doing the right thing, the risks of not doing the right thing, or hiding behind doing just what is required, are far worse.

No, I don’t know all the details. I will be paying attention, because unfortunately this is an issue that I have to deal with regularly—as we attempt to have policies that allow kids to be kids, adults to teach them about God and care for them, all in ways that protect everyone. It’s not an easy thing to do. It is indeed a very hard thing to do.

I do not at all envy the position the Penn State Trustees are in. I have no doubt that whatever they have decided and have yet to decide, there will be fierce critics. I hope, however, that we can try to appreciate the terrible, terrible situation they are in, a position that I think none of us would ever want to be in.

A Treatise in Favor of Early-Christmasers

At Calvary, we began working on Advent and Christmas planning over the summer. As church holidays go, Lent and Easter and Advent and Christmas are the busy, important seasons. So while we have tons to do in between those, we generally find ourselves anchoring our worship and program planning around those times of the year.

Which is why it always takes me by surprise a bit when the anti-early-celebrating-of-Christmas sentiment takes hold of so many this time of year. I understand people having their own practices of when to start preparing for Christmas, but what I find quite disappointing is the arrogance and condescension which is directed, at times, at the (what I’ll call) early-Christmasers. What’s even more disappointing is that much of the most virulent anti-early-Christmasing seems to be perpetrated in the name of faithfulness to Christianity…for some reason.

Let’s examine a few things. First, no one actually knows what day Jesus was born. Perhaps the best argument for the time of our current celebration has both to do with calculations from (an equally uncertain) date of conception as well as pagan winter celebrations. Personally, I agree with the legions of scholars and others who believe it was set on Dec. 25 to coincide (or perhaps even compete against) pagan winter solstice celebrations. From a purely psychological standpoint, having a big celebration in the middle of an otherwise terribly depressing (and dark—hence seasonal affective disorder) season seems like a good idea for everyone. And, actually, particularly so for northern Europeans.

But perhaps we don’t mind that. We’re content to hold fast and aggressively to church tradition. Cool. I like church tradition too. But what sense does it make for a pastor to start planning for Christmas so early if everyone else isn’t allowed to do the same (so perhaps they don’t have to pick a theme for Christmas Eve—maybe their Christmas involves Christmas music—do only pastors get to look ahead to Christmas?).

Another area of this whole debate seems to be how early Christmas stuff goes into stores. Okay, can we just all agree that whatever else, the retail industry does not get to make Christian theological statements? This would be along the same lines as saying that, actually, CNN and Fox News don’t get to decide who is Christian and who is not.

Now, one might astutely point out that many people are not well-connected to a Christian community in which they can learn the theological teachings of the church and so yes, for them, Walmart may have a certain theological impact. But what could that possibly be? Personally, I’m more concerned about the commercialization of Christmas than when it begins. And I don’t actually think we need help trying to make Christmas (or anything else for that matter) about ourselves. That is, after all, the very definition of SIN.

Oh, and by the way, early Christians would probably be more confused by our focus upon Christmas at all than when we started celebrating it. EASTER (and Lent) FAR outpace Christmas in importance to Christmas. Two of the Gospels (yes, a whopping 50%) do not contain a birth narrative. This is not to say the birth narratives are unimportant, but that they pale in comparison to the theological import of Lent and Easter. I’d like to see if the same people who criticize others for the theological inappropriateness of their Christmas timing or celebrations actually reflect this particular theological difference in their lives.

Some seem to see some sacred value in waiting until after Thanksgiving to begin preparations for Christmas. That’s cool. But it frustrates me, again, when this personal preference takes the form of criticism or snide remarks to or about others. As if they think Thanksgiving is a Christian holiday which fits on the same liturgical calendar as Christmas. Seriously? It’s a national holiday. The date was set by Lincoln. Giving thanks is indeed a basic Christian practice. The holiday is not, however, a church holiday. Incidentally—Halloween (with its own Christian and pagan origins and more so All Saints which follows) probably has more theological foundation in historic Christianity than Thanksgiving.

Here’s the last point I’ll make. And it is really the crux of what upsets me when people get all stressed out about how other people celebrate Christmas. I’ll concede that for many, Christmas today misses the point. And that it has, perhaps, still today (as maybe even at its beginning) more in common with pagan practices than the theological legitimacy lended to it by Jesus’ birth. I’ll concede that commercialism has run off with the holiday for many. But you know what, for part of the year, a bunch of people who never darken the doors of a church are surrounded not just by the commercialism of all of this, but sometimes, bits of the Christian story. They are reminded of the joy of giving to others, and of how to receive a gift (like we receive the gift of Jesus). It makes people happy in the midst of what would otherwise be a cold, dark few months. And some of these people even manage to find their ways into a church. Maybe just once, for an hour or so. But you know what, I think that’s a good thing. For all the ways that Christmas is not in touch with the nativity, it is one of the most powerful evangelism events we have all year.

Personally, I probably won’t decorate till after Thanksgiving. And sometimes I don’t even get a tree till a couple weeks before Christmas. It is, after all, a busy time for me. I like getting to listen to Christmas music—a time or two—over the summer and more as the fall leads into winter. And I don’t think that makes me a bad person. Walmart and Target do not actually define my theology, and it takes nothing from me if they put their Christmas stuff up in…July (who are we kidding, it’s coming…). If that means just one more person will have one more moment to be reminded of the story of Jesus and God’s love for us…then that’s a good thing.

You know what got me thinking on this? Driving in to a meeting last night, I saw a house with Christmas lights on (I assumed Christmas lights, but who knows, maybe they were something totally different). And my gut reaction was to wonder what on earth their problem was. Then I caught myself…who I am I criticize them? Maybe someone on the same road will see the lights. And think of Christmas. And maybe be reminded of Jesus for a moment. And if we Christians have done a good job living lives of love, generosity and grace, it just might bring a smile to their face and who knows what God will be able to make of that one moment…?