\u201cLove covers a multitude of sins.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
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Wise words, no doubt.\u00a0 Wise words that most of us seem to believe in.\u00a0 Love<\/i> is a virtue.\u00a0 Love<\/i> is good and pure and right.\u00a0 Love<\/i> \u201ccovering sin\u201d makes sense.\u00a0 We, however, allow far more shallow things than love<\/i> to \u201ccover sin.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Over the course of the past 2 weeks, we have watched the professional career of one NFL star come to a crashing halt.\u00a0 New England Patriots tight end, Aaron Hernandez, is currently incarcerated on charges of first degree murder.\u00a0 11 days ago the body of a \u201cfriend\u201d was found only a mile from Hernandez\u2019s home.\u00a0 Hernandez has been denied bail.<\/p>\n
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As the events ensued and the cameras continued to roll \u2014 as for some reason, as a society, we are seemingly incredibly fascinated with every aspect of celebrity \u2014 we have learned the following:<\/p>\n
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… that Hernandez received \u201cdeferred prosecution\u201d after being arrested following a fight shortly after arriving at the University of Florida in 2007…<\/p>\n
… that not too long after the fall fight Hernandez was questioned by police about an early morning Gainesville shooting…<\/p>\n
… that Hernandez was at a Boston nightclub last summer when a double homicide occurred…<\/p>\n
… that Hernandez is being sued for shooting the eye out of a friend this past February in Miami, upon leaving a local strip club…<\/p>\n
… that his multiple tattoos are now being scrutinized for gang identification…<\/p>\n
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While we should be well aware that no verdict of guilt has been rendered, it astounds this semi-humble observer that the above seems only news now.\u00a0 It is obvious that something far different than love<\/i> has \u201ccovered\u201d Hernandez so-called sins.<\/p>\n
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To date, when Hernandez has run onto the field, the fans have enthusiastically cheered.\u00a0 He earned All-American honors in college, was named an NFL All Star in only his second professional year, and the contract he signed with the Patriots just last summer was reportedly worth up to $40 million.<\/p>\n
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All that for a man currently incarcerated.<\/p>\n
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Friends, I will never be the thrower of the first or second stone.\u00a0 The Intramuralist will forever be an encourager of forgiveness and the giver of second, third, and forty-seventh chances.\u00a0 However, forgiveness and forty-seventh chances do not equate to an ignorance of truth.\u00a0 They do not equate to a so-called \u201ccovering\u201d or blindness in which we no longer wrestle with reality.\u00a0 There have been multiple activities over Aaron Hernandez\u2019s career which depict a character that doesn\u2019t seem so worthy of cheering when he takes his place on the field.\u00a0 But yet our sports-crazed loyalties and our societal fascination with celebrity have undoubtedly covered a multitude of sins.<\/p>\n
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It\u2019s why so many overlooked Tiger Wood\u2019s terrible temper because he was such a fantastic golfer \u2014 and yes, that temper was readily apparent even before his rampant infidelity.\u00a0 It\u2019s why so many jumped on the Dallas Cowboys bandwagon when Jimmy Johnson became the head coach, even though he divorced his wife because of coaching.\u00a0 As he told the Dallas Morning News, the day Johnson was hired, he took his wife to dinner and fired her.\u00a0 \u201cI told her, \u2018I can either be head football coach of the Dallas Cowboys or married to you.\u00a0 I\u2019ve decided to be head football coach of the Dallas Cowboys.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 But yet, so many celebrated the new, supposedly successful coach.<\/p>\n
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Yes, love indeed covers a multitude of sins.\u00a0 Sometimes we allow less virtuous aspects to do the same.<\/p>\n
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Respectfully,<\/p>\n
AR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cLove covers a multitude of sins.\u201d Wise words, no doubt.\u00a0 Wise words that most of us seem to believe in.\u00a0 Love is a virtue.\u00a0 Love is good and pure and right.\u00a0 Love \u201ccovering sin\u201d makes sense.\u00a0 We, however, allow far more shallow things than love to \u201ccover sin.\u201d Over the course of the … <\/p>\n