{"id":1979,"date":"2013-06-22T23:36:02","date_gmt":"2013-06-23T03:36:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=1979"},"modified":"2013-06-22T23:36:02","modified_gmt":"2013-06-23T03:36:02","slug":"oh-my","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=1979","title":{"rendered":"oh my"},"content":{"rendered":"

Infamous, celebrity butter connoisseur, Paula Deen \u2014 the<\/em><\/strong> Paula Deen of the millions of dollars Deen cooking empire \u2014 acknowledged the previous use of a racial slur.\u00a0 On Friday, Deen apologized for “the wrong that I’ve done,” following this week\u2019s admission that she said the \u201cN-word\u201d years ago.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 Almost immediately, the Food Network fired her.\u00a0 The Emmy-winning chef has worked for the Food Network for the past 14 years.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Allow us to begin with a few caveats and statements of fact.\u00a0 First and foremost, none of us know everything; we continually make judgments and build perspective based on limited information.\u00a0 Second, the name calling was not (at least admitted to be)<\/em> in public.\u00a0 And third, the \u201cN-word\u201d is a racial slur that many of all skin colors still reserve the right to say for some reason.\u00a0 That said…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I wonder… (as you knew I would…)<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How forgiving of a society are we?<\/p>\n

When exactly does a person \u201ccross the line\u201d?<\/p>\n

When has their debt or wrong choice gone too far?<\/p>\n

70 times 7?\u00a0 When do we legitimately choose to forgive… or to not?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Please don\u2019t equate consequence with forgiveness.\u00a0 Such is a separate topic; there are consequences for poor choices.\u00a0 Today my question centers around forgiveness… especially as we hear the \u201caghast\u2019s,\u201d \u201coh my\u2019s,\u201d and \u201cshe should pay\u201d in regard to a Paula Deen.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Can we extend forgiveness that far?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For many we say they don\u2019t deserve<\/em><\/strong> to be forgiven…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I\u2019m reminded of the historical king\u2019s account who decided to forgive the monetary debts of his servants.\u00a0 As he got under way in the squaring up process, one servant was brought before him who had run up a debt of a hundred thousand dollars.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t pay up, so the king ordered the man, along with his wife, children, and goods, to be auctioned off at the slave market.\u00a0 Yes, an awful fate.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The poor wretch threw himself at the king\u2019s feet and begged, \u201cGive me a chance and I\u2019ll pay it all back.\u201d\u00a0 Touched by his plea, the king let him off, actually erasing the debt.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The servant was no sooner out of the room when he came upon one of his own peers who owed him only ten dollars.\u00a0 The servant seized him by the throat and demanded, \u201cPay up.\u00a0 Now!\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This poor wretch threw himself down and begged, \u201cGive me a chance and I\u2019ll pay it all back,\u201d but he wouldn\u2019t do it.\u00a0 The original servant had him arrested and put in jail until his debt was paid.\u00a0 When the other servants saw this going on, they were outraged and brought a detailed report to the king.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The king summoned the man and said, \u201cYou evil servant!\u00a0 I forgave your entire debt when you begged me for mercy.\u00a0 Shouldn\u2019t you be compelled to be merciful to your fellow servant who asked for mercy?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Isn\u2019t that seemingly half our problem?\u00a0 Even if it\u2019s a poor choice we have also made, we still often hold others to a higher standard than ourselves.\u00a0 We ask for mercy; yet at the same time, we often withhold it from others.\u00a0 We withhold mercy.\u00a0 We refrain from freely offering forgiveness.\u00a0 \u201cThey don\u2019t deserve it!\u201d<\/em> we are tempted to adamantly reply.\u00a0 Paula Deen obviously made a poor choice, but the reality is that many among us \u2014 including those at the Food Network \u2014 have most likely said the exact same thing or something comparable or even worse.\u00a0 And yet, there is no forgiveness.\u00a0 There is sadly, seemingly, only more \u201caghast\u2019s,\u201d \u201coh my\u2019s,\u201d and \u201cshe should pay.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Respectfully,<\/p>\n

AR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Infamous, celebrity butter connoisseur, Paula Deen \u2014 the Paula Deen of the millions of dollars Deen cooking empire \u2014 acknowledged the previous use of a racial slur.\u00a0 On Friday, Deen apologized for “the wrong that I’ve done,” following this week\u2019s admission that she said the \u201cN-word\u201d years ago.\u00a0 Almost immediately, the Food Network fired her.\u00a0 … <\/p>\n

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