Oh, indeed… such a fascinating development…note the wide range of which it spans…
For example…
The University of Michigan football team… There are mounds of evidence that the team cheated, that they broke the rules of D1 football. The basic idea is that they stole the signs of the opposition for at least the past three years. While some will argue that sign-stealing is a natural part of the game, the extent to which Michigan pursued the effort went clearly beyond college football rules. Interestingly, in defense of their actions, there is not an outspoken denial of their actions. There more seems an “everybody’s doing it” defense… or a “well, let’s wait and see… let’s not rush to judgment.”
Coach Jim Harbaugh was suspended for the rest of the season on Friday. He is allowed to coach the team during the week but is prohibited from being present at the Wolverines’ games, starting yesterday.
And yet, the numbers of persons who screamed “wait” or “unfair” seemed to swell.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib — also from Michigan — was censured this week. What is a censure? A censure, according to the U.S. House, is a form of rebuke that “registers the House’s deep disapproval of member misconduct that, nevertheless, does not meet the threshold for expulsion.” Her behavior was reprimanded by a bipartisan majority of Congress because of her Israel/ Hamas rhetoric in which she has repeated known lies and anti-Semitic oratories. She has said some embarrassing, bigoted, terrible things.
And yet, the numbers of persons who attempted to scream or stand up for the Representative also seemingly swelled. Minimally, I might add.
Absent of objective reality, no less, the support for each of the above swelled… that is, if, and perhaps only if, the targeted was already a member of your so-called team. Let’s face it; we like our team.
It’s therefore amazing to me the excuses we make for them… that is, when the person is on our so-called team…
Oh, wait…
My apologies.
We’re not ok with all the excuses. We know that’s not good and wise and true. It’s just that if they’re on our team, so-to-speak, we give them great lenience. We desire to be gentler… to seek to understand.
I’m trying to wrap my head around what that is and what that isn’t. Why is it that we make excuses or dampen the impact of those who represent teams to which we currently belong?
I think of some of my Michigan friends. I respect them greatly. They are good people. Let me not suggest that Coach Harbaugh is anything other than a person of solid character. I don’t have any of the proximity which is required to discern.
But I think of those who share the fandom, and they’re clearly a little more patient… a little more graceful… far slower to invoke any slice of judgment than the rest of us… “let’s just wait and see” is a familiar refrain.
Same with Rep. Tlaib. She fits in the vocal Lauren Boebert/Ilhan Omar category. I have zero desire to pick on these women, yet each of them clearly, poorly represents the majority of American women. Granted, they are only paid to represent a small geographical segment of the population, yet they say and do some outlandishly foolish things.
And yet, if they’re on our team, we tend to buffer our response via a few excuses. We work harder to first understand. We even adopt a wait-and-see approach. Maybe it isn’t quite so bad.
Friends, I’m all for a grace-laden, wait-and-see approach. Grace and mercy always triumph over judgment. But when we do so, when we apply grace and mercy, it needs to be consistent. It needs to be across the board. Not simply for those we consider to already be on our team.
Respectfully…
AR