NFL's Rice and Peterson scandal outrage underscores this society's moral disqualification and hypocrisy

By Gabriel Garnica


Let me begin by making it clear that what Ray Rice and Andre Peterson have done is despicable and heinous, and should rightly be the source of outrage and wide societal disapproval. There is absolutely no excuse for harming any human being, especially an innocent, defenseless one who cannot fight back. The fact that someone has the physical and mental capacity to conveniently inflict violence upon another life to satisfy his or her own agenda or whim does not thereby grant said person the moral right to do so. Being raised in a culture or environment which implicitly condones or selectively discourages such behavior, however, definitely presents a contradicting and hypocritical message.

The National Organization of Women ( NOW) and other feminist groups are calling for the resignation of Roger Goodell in view of the NFL's sordid history of overlooking, ignoring, and sweeping player domestic violence and abuse under the rug in furtherance of its billion dollar industry. Since Goodell is likely supported by the vast majority, if not all, of the NFL owners who are likely just as guilty of this attitude, agenda, and greed, then one wonders how easy it will be for NOW and their ilk to get what they want. Perhaps some sense of public relations shame or concern will spur the NFL and, by extension, all sports, to make efforts to clean up their act with regard to these issues. After all, women are an ever-increasing portion of the sports audience and American sports have always been associated with roots in the family, despite the fact that female sports are still not given nearly the same respect as men's sports. The fact that the handling of serious social issues such as domestic and child abuse, in any organization or society, can be dictated by selfish greed, should tell us something about where we are as a society today.

What bothers me about the media and societal outrage over the deplorable actions of these NFL players is how selective it is. First, I have always argued that groups like NOW only protest when it is politically, socially, and economically convenient for their agenda, twisting in rage against folks like Rice and Goodell while ignoring the despicable treatment of women by ISIS. Likewise, it stands to reason that many of the folks protesting against Peterson's mistreatment of his son, crying out against the evil of harming an innocent, defenseless child, seem to have no problem with abortion, which includes such things as stabbing a partially born infant in the back of the head with scissors and sucking out its brains, tearing victims apart for convenient removal, and burning those innocents with chemicals. They justify this by dehumanizing the unborn, just as everyone who has ever practiced genocide pretends that their victims are anything but human lives worthy of respect and protection. All of this, of course, leads to the slippery slope whereby we see so many cases of women dumping their newborns in the trash or toilet, if not violently killing them upon birth. If a society systematically dehumanizes an entire set of lives, that society will eventually expand its tolerance for such torture to those on the outskirts of the targeted class. Hence, newborns are, after all, a mere step away from the unborn and, when unwanted, end up being treated the same way.

Obama expresses his shock at these cases while openly and passionately supporting Planned Parenthood, which abuses, manipulates, and harms women while murdering innocent children on a daily basis for profit. Many of the media types, celebrities, and others who are rightly expressing outrage over what Ray Rice and Andre Peterson have done seem to have no problem with ignoring any systematic abuse of women and children or the murder of the unborn which does not fall under their subjective "outrage" list.

At the end of the day, any society which legally and socially institutionalizes, defends, justifies, and even promotes abortion loses its moral right to cry out against violence against any children, as its moral barometer may rightly be questioned and even ridiculed. How can any people wail against those who hit children with a tree branch while overlooking, condoning, and even defending tearing apart unborn children? How can any society express outrage against the spread of domestic abuse while ignoring the spread of a culture of death which leads to the murder and mistreatment of newborns by mothers fed a daily message that babies are disposable inconveniences to be dumped like toilet paper or waste? How can anyone claim the moral mantle to defend women while ignoring the fact that abortionists like Planned Parenthood mistreat, abuse, manipulate, lie to, and kill women on a daily basis for profit while pretending to be defending women?

Make no mistake about it; what Ray Rice and Andre Peterson have done is inexcusable but, also make no mistake about it; they are merely a symptom, the tip of a social iceberg which extends far beyond the NFL. We are witnessing the breakdown of the family; the trivialization of human life, especially unwanted or "iconvenient" human life; and a social, political, and media agenda so hell-bent on defending abortion and euthanasia as to overlook and even conceal any evil or evidence which may derail their crusade. What we are seeing in the NFL is merely a symptom of a society which selectively and hypocritically defends life and human dignity along political, social, and economic lines.

We are living in a society where racists cry prejudice, liars wail fraud, corrupt politicians demand investigations, and murderers protest violence. This society loves to find its villain of the week, noble cause of the month, and convenient crusade of the year. It loves to wax poetic about the injustice and treachery of those who trample human rights on their path to greed. It relishes the chance to depict itself as the most civilized and enlightened version of civilizations once barbaric, blood-thirsty, and superstitious. Despite these lofty lies, this selectively outraged society is no more civilized, far more insidious and sinister, and infinitely more hypocritical than the very ancients it mocks with patronizing disdain. Until further notice, this society will continue to remove its small tumors while conveniently, selectively, and hypocritically ignoring the very cancer it promotes with almost religious political, social, and media fervor.

© Gabriel Garnica