Jerry Sandusky joins 6,777 other sex offenders incarcerated in the state of Pennsylvania. Last week, a judge sentenced the 68-year old former Penn State football coach to 30 years in prison—an effective life sentence.
He was convicted of abusing 10 young boys over a 15-year period of time. The judge admitted a harsher sentence was appropriate but would have been of no real effect.
Sandusky’s name is now synonymous with the perversions of abuse, violence against the innocent, and the exploitation of power by the strong against the weak. As a result, the cries for justice from every corner of our land have been answered with unequivocal clarity.
Although Sandusky will die in prison, Paterno’s statue has been removed, and a football program and an entire university have been turned upside down, the consequences of Sandusky’s actions are most felt by his victims and their families. They will never be the same. Rebuilding won’t come with a new season, coach, or recruiting class.
There are just some things a judge cannot fix. When a crime has been committed against innocent victims, our only recourse is punishment after the fact that we hope will deter future crime. And we hope victims and their families are comforted by justice. Unfortunately, this comfort is all too inadequate.
Wouldn’t it be great if we could preempt abuse against the innocent, weak, and most vulnerable among us? What if we could save kids from unnecessary violence? What if we could do one thing to rescue thousands of children each day who have no voice? Maybe, just maybe, this is more possible than we think.
Throughout the last 40 years over 50 million innocent boys and girls have been killed through the practice of abortion. We can do nothing to get them back, but we do have the ability to effect change that can prevent this violence against future generations.
Before you think I’ve confused the political hot-button issue of abortion with the horrors of child abuse, consider the comments of famed (now deceased) atheist Christopher Hutchins made in April 1989 about abortion,
“In order to terminate a pregnancy, you have to still a heartbeat, switch off a developing brain . . . break some bones and rupture some organs.” (Mehdi Hasan, Huffington Post UK)
More recently, Dr. Albert Mohler referenced Merle Hoffman who is the founder of Choices, a major abortion center in New York City.
He wrote, “Hoffman argues that women do know what an abortion is. Abortion does stop a beating heart and that it is not ‘just like an appendectomy.’ Her conclusion is that women know that abortion is ‘the termination of potential life.’”
In last week’s Vice-Presidential debate, Vice-President Joe Biden said he accepts the Catholic Church’s position that life begins at conception.
Here’s what he said,
With regard to — with regard to abortion, I accept my church’s position on abortion as a — what we call de fide [dogmatic teaching]. Life begins at conception. That’s the church’s judgment. I accept it in my personal life. But I refuse to impose it on equally devout Christians and Muslims and Jews, and I just refuse to impose that on others, unlike my friend here, the—the congressman. I—I do not believe that we have a right to tell other people that—women they can’t control their body. It’s a decision between them and their doctor. In my view and the Supreme Court, I’m not going to interfere with that.
So a leftist atheist affirms that abortion crushes the bones of an innocent child, an abortion rights leader acknowledges abortion stops a beating heart, and a Catholic Vice-President of the United States of America accepts that life begins at conception, but there is still no outrage over this devastating violence against children.
Now back to the Sandusky events. While a lot of young boys were being abused, a number of people looked the other way. This is the second tragedy of it all. Not only did Sandusky abuse kids, but other powerful people knew it and did nothing to stop it. And the only thing anyone can do now is offer sympathy and wonder if justice was served.
Vice President Biden confessed his own culpability last Thursday night. While he accepts the fact that life begins at conception, he “refuses to impose” on others. While he sees the violence against innocent boys and girls, he chooses to look the other way.
But no statues or portraits are being removed from the White House or Senate Rotunda. There is no pending investigation. Worse than that, those who have the ability to influence change simply walk by and refuse to “interfere”. Pro-abusers claim women should have the right to choose what they do with their own bodies, yet they refuse to protect young girls in the womb from violence against their bodies.
The horrible events at Penn State deserve our outrage. But maybe outrage is far overrated. Perhaps outrage is not what the innocent, weak, and vulnerable in our society need most. Perhaps they just need those of us who can speak up to do so. Perhaps they need those of us who see abuse to act and to put ourselves between the abuser and the abused.
Solomon was on to something when he wrote:
Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice. Proverbs 31:8-9 (NASB)
Some have called Sandusky a monster for what he did. Maybe they are right. But it seems Sandusky is just an amateur compared to the apathetic leaders who stand by and watch abusers take the lives of 3000 boys and girls every day who can do nothing to do defend themselves.
As always, I invite your feedback. Just click the “Comments” button below to weigh in.
