(Saint) Francis of Assisi

 

Oh, the tribulations of youth.  Who among us has been spared the foolishness that goes with being young? Can any of us completely live down the missteps of those years?

Ruminate on that wretch Francis of Assisi.  This spoiled young man delighted in the opulence of his wealthy family.  He loved fine clothing and having a good time.  He even took part in a military expedition.

But then he had a change of heart.  He gave away his finery and dedicated himself to helping the poor. In time, the Catholic Church declared him a saint.  To this day, he is venerated for his holiness.

Now I ask you, how can this be?  Doesn’t the profligacy of his earlier years disqualify him from sainthood? Aren’t saints supposed to be perfect? Shouldn’t their faultlessness be lifelong?

And what about that George Washington character?  Parson Weems told us that he nobly admitted to chopping down a cherry tree.  But there was nothing noble about doing the chopping.  How then can this flawed person serve as an American hero?

Next, there is me.  Gentle reader I must warn you about proceeding further.  To judge from my childhood, I am a scoundrel of the first order. Anything that I write must therefore be tainted by the evil deeds I perpetrated back then.

Exhibit number one.  I tried to kill my little sister.  When I was four, I attempted to strangle her.  When I was a year older, I endeavored to burn her alive.  Neither of these enterprises succeeded; but not from a want of effort.

Exhibit number two.  While I was in junior high school, my friends and I engaged in sexual assaults.  We tripped one another so that we could fall forward to cop a feel of the developing breasts of our female classmates.  These girls might have giggled, but this was a crime.

Having now confessed to my delinquency, I wish to introduce you to that other specimen of youthful criminality: Brett Kavanaugh.  Before I proceed, I must admit that I do not know the details of what occurred between him and Christine Blasey.  Like you, I have only read the sketchiest of accounts.

But let us assume that he was drunk at a party and groped Miss Blasey through her clothes.  She claims this traumatized her for life.  I do not for a moment believe this, but isn’t there a statue of limitations on teenage misbehavior?  

And what about Kavanuagh’s other alleged, and unconfirmed, sins? You know, drinking too much beer or throwing ice at someone in a bar.  Or that real kicker: writing juvenile things in a high school yearbook. I am totally scandalized!

In any event, no one claims additional misdeeds by the adult Mr. Kavanaugh. So far as we can tell, he has led an exemplary life.  In his own way, he has been saintly.  Doesn’t that count.  Are only the wholly pure qualified to serve on the Supreme Court.

Some will say that I am making light of sexual abuse.  Women who accuse men of indiscretions, I will be told, must be believed.  To do otherwise condones unacceptable behavior.

But I say the reverse is also true.  To always believe men are guilty because they have been accused is a violation of their rights.  This too pardons unacceptable behavior.

Yes, I have known rapists and their victims.  I worked with them as a methadone counselor.  This was a grim business, which inflicted a great deal of pain.  Nonetheless, to imply that it is the social norm is to defame men.  Were it true, civil society would collapse.

Accordingly, let me make a modest proposal.  Men too deserve their day in court.  They too ought to be afforded a presumption of innocence.  Moreover, there are some indiscretions that are not so severe they deserve to haunt the perpetrators forever after.

In this era of #metoo madness, I suspect that I will be accused of insensitivity.  Nevertheless, we must make distinctions.  Rape is intolerable.  Serial sexual abuse is intolerable.  These offenses must be identified and punished.  But tarring every man with the same brush is equally intolerable.  

Now, as the Kavanaugh affair winds down, it is evident that it began with the makings of a tragedy.  It ended, however, as a farce.  Democrats demonstrated, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are not among the best and brightest.  Far too many lack a moral compass or the brains to recognize when they have transgressed common sense.

Melvyn L. Fein, Ph.D.

Professor of Sociology

Kennesaw State University