THE SUPREME COURT - IT SAYS EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER LAW UP THERE, KINDA HARD TO SEE
With all the recent scandal that has attached itself to various sports luminaries recently it's nice that somebody has taken the time to take a step back and provide some context to the moral dilemma some of us find ourselves in when struggling to decide who we should continue to root for or not root for.
According to this item that recently appeared in the New York Post, the scoring is as follows:
WIFE BEATING - BAD. STILL A NO-NO.
CHILD ABUSE/PEDOPHILIA - BAD, VERY-BAD. ALWAYS HAS BEEN, ALWAYS WILL BE.
DOG KILLING - BAD. DISTURBINGLY BAD.
HOMOSEXUALITY - BAD. NOT THAT THAT'S A BAD THING, RIGHT?
ADULTERY - GOOD. HEY, HOLD-ON, WHAT!!!
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CHEATING HUBBY 'A'-OK WITH CORPORATE SPONSORS
By SAMUEL GOLDSMITH
He's not accused of rape and he didn't kill any dogs - so A-Rod's all good.
Cynthia Rodriguez has had enough of her husband's cheating ways, but Alex Rodriguez is still squeaky clean in the eyes of his corporate sponsors, image experts told The Post yesterday.
And that means the multimillion-dollar machine is expected to keep the $6 million he earns annually in endorsement deals.
"Wife-beating would hurt him, underage girls would hurt him, a gay lover would hurt him, but run-of-the-mill affairs - that's a non-issue in American life," said branding expert Howard Bragman, head of the public-relations agency Fifteen Minutes.
The Yankee's escapades may be grounds for divorce, but he's still the most marketable player in baseball, according to Sports Business Daily.
A deal-breaking scandal is one like Michael Vick's. The quarterback was busted for dog fighting last year and lost everything, including $9 million in sponsorships from Nike, Reebok, Rawlings and Upper Deck.
But bedding strippers and late-night engagements with Madonna? That won't bother A-Rod sponsors like Nike, Pepsi or Topps, Bragman said.
"We just don't hold affairs against people anymore," he said.
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Of course we know that being known as a possible rapist hasn't hurt a certain NBA star or two as long as you are financially able to invest possibly seven-figures in hush money paid, as settlement to the victim and a huge diamond for the injured spouse. If you were say, the typical NBA fan, from let's say row 10 and back, you are looking at serious jail time and a life ruined beyond repair, if placed in similar circumstances.
The same apparently goes for being involved in a incident where two people were killed to the extent that you have blood stains in your shoes and slacks and you had to plea-bargain your way out of the more serious culpability. Again, if you were say the typical NFL fan, likely placed anywhere in the stadium other than the luxury boxes, you are also looking at some serious jail time and a life ruined once you do your jail time.
Unfortunately, in some measure because we are culturally driven by the paragons of virtue in the corporate world and the mainstream media, a symbiotic match made in the moral depths of hades if there ever was one, we have the kind of justice system we currently have.
And it is certainly not one that is based in any way on the "hallowed" virtues that you see displayed as you enter said Halls of Justice across the nation.
LADY JUSTICE - SHE'S SUPPOSED TO BE IMPARTIAL (BLIND) AND BALANCE JUSTICE EQUALLY (SCALES)
And it is nice to keep in proper context that, while it's apparently OK to root for these type of characters, who have been involved in "moral dilemmas" that most of us would never put ourselves into in the first place, we should at the same time "socially shun" folks like Bonds, McGwire, Sosa and now Clemens for committing acts that, most public opinion polls would show, the (vast) majority of Americans would commit themselves if placed in the same circumstances.
Laws are supposed to protect us from the most socially "deviant" acts. Deviant meaning deviation from the norm. "Normal" behavior is not generally legislated against.
Now I generally do not like to go down this route because it assumes guilty behavior where the jury is still out, so to speak. But it just seems to me to be an indictment of who we are as a society and the height of hypocrisy when we are given the selective A-OK to root on possible rapists and murderers, based solely on their ability to hire high-priced attorneys and continue to push product to the same American youth we profess to want to protect so badly.
I mean give me a break, this dip-shit, empty-suit in the Post article and others of his ilk would basically give you permission to exonerate folks who would piss on at least two, maybe three, of the Ten Commandments. To someone who would even remotely suggest that, I would just say, "GO TO HELL"
Just so I don't end on such a depressing note, here is a list of virtues you CAN choose to live by, courtesy of one of the Founding Fathers, Benjamin Franklin.
After that, the Seven Deadly Sins. You can see where A-Rod and others fall on the "paragons of virtue scale" just by looking at the qualities listed and see which seem to describe the man.
And then you can decide who you should root for all by yourself.
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FROM THE WEBSITE CHANGINGMINDS.ORG:
http://changingminds.org/explanations/values/thirteen_virtues.htm
Franklin's Thirteen Virtues
When Benjamin Franklin was 20, he wrote a 13-point plan for how he would live his life. It was so successful that he stuck to it for many years. He would focus on one point each week, such that he would cycle through the whole set once every 13 weeks and four times per year. He kept track of progress with a chart in which he would put a red dot for each fault against each virtue committed that day.
These are a set of values he defined in 1741, in his own words (plus his added commentary).
* Temperance. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.
* Silence. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.
* Order. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.
* Resolution. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
* Frugality. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.
* Industry. Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
* Sincerity. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
* Justice. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
* Moderation. Avoid extreams; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
* Cleanliness. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation.
* Tranquillity. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.
* Chastity. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dulness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.
* Humility. Imitate Jesus and Socrates.
"It may be well my posterity should be informed that to this little artifice, with the blessing of God, their ancestor ow'd the constant felicity of his life, down to his 79th year, in which this is written. What reverses may attend the remainder is in the hand of Providence; but, if they arrive, the reflection on past happiness enjoy'd ought to help his bearing them with more resignation. To Temperance he ascribes his long-continued health, and what is still left to him of a good constitution; to Industry and Frugality, the early easiness of his circumstances and acquisition of his fortune, with all that knowledge that enabled him to be a useful citizen, and obtained for him some degree of reputation among the learned; to Sincerity and Justice, the confidence of his country, and the honorable employs it conferred upon him; and to the joint influence of the whole mass of the virtues, even in the imperfect state he was able to acquire them, all that evenness of temper, and that cheerfulness in conversation, which makes his company still sought for, and agreeable even to his younger acquaintance. I hope, therefore, that some of my descendants may follow the example and reap the benefit.
"In this piece it was my design to have endeavored to convince young persons that no qualities were so likely to make a poor man's fortune as those of probity and integrity.
"My list of virtues contain'd at first but twelve; but a Quaker friend having kindly informed me that I was generally thought proud; that my pride show'd itself frequently in conversation; that I was not content with being in the right when discussing any point, but was overbearing, and rather insolent, of which he convinc'd me by mentioning several instances; I determined endeavouring to cure myself, if I could, of this vice or folly among the rest, and I added Humility to my list.
"In reality, there is, perhaps, no one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as pride. Disguise it, struggle with it, beat it down, stifle it, mortify it as much as one pleases, it is still alive, and will every now and then peep out and show itself; you will see it, perhaps, often in this history; for, even if I could conceive that I had compleatly overcome it, I should probably be proud of my humility."
So what?
So if you live your life by these, you will probably be considered to be a good person by many others. You will probably also be a saint.
In persuasion, take note of them: if you shows these values, you are more likely to be trusted. You are also likely to trust others who demonstrate these values.
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THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS:
http://changingminds.org/explanations/values/deadly_sins.htm
The Seven Deadly Sins
Sins have always been popular areas of focus in the church. An early 2nd century document, the Didache, contains a list of five. Origen produced a sevenfold list and at the end of the 4th century Cassian amended this sevenfold list. Eventually, the Seven Deadly Sins (or Vices) we know today were defined in the 6th century by Pope Gregory the Great, as a set of negative values: the values that you are supposed to adopt is that you will avoid these things and actually adopt their opposites.
1. Pride is an excessive belief in one's own abilities.
2. Envy is wanting what others have, be it status, abilities, or possessions.
3. Gluttony is the desire to eat or consume more than you require.
4. Lust is a powerful craving for such as sex, power and money.
5. Anger is the loss of rational self-control and the desire to harm others.
6. Greed is the desire for material wealth or gain.
7. Sloth is laziness and the avoidance of work.
Note how many of these are very similar: envy, gluttony, lust and greed are all about desire. There is also a hidden lack of concern for others in at least envy and anger.
As with other religious rule-sets, these pretty much hit the nail on the head in terms of a system for social harmonization or social control (depending on your viewpoint). Few people will openly admit to any of them (which attests to the success in the inculcation of these as anti-values in the Christian world).
The number seven, by the way, is not only a cabbalistic magical number, it also just happens to be the size of our short-term memory, which is a real limit to the number of things we can hold in mind at one time.
So what?
Do not demonstrate these values yourself. Suggest that the other person is succumbing to one or more of these values and they will likely head in the opposite direction.
Another approach is to play the Devil and encourage the other person to give in to these natural tendencies.
You can then either use this 'rule-breaking' as evidence that they can do things they previously would not consider. You can even use it then as a guilt lever, maybe even as a form of blackmail (this is far more common than may be supposed).
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