On Tuesday TMZ Sports posted a video showing Ray Rice, now former running back for the Baltimore Ravens, punching his wife in an elevator and then dragging her out of the elevator unconscious. This event occurred on February 15th. Law enforcement gave Rice the typical penalty for a first time offender. The NFL suspended him for two games. However, once the video hit the internet he was cut by the Baltimore Ravens and indefinitely suspended by the NFL. It has been fascinating to watch the internet explode when the video was released. What Ray Rice did was a terrible thing worthy of condemnation by Christians. However, it is always interesting to look at what these things tell us about American culture. Here are some questions I asked as I watched the situation unfold.
Why does the intrusive use of video and audio not concern us more? In the long run what is more dangerous a man who punches his wife or the fact that almost all of our movements can be recorded either by video or by our phone’s GPS? Donald Sterling lost his NBA team over a recorded phone conversation. Why did his racism bother us more than the intrusive use of surveillance?
Why have several decades of feminism led us to a place where women are hated more than they were prior to the movement? Do we honestly believe that women are better off now than they were in 1950?
Would Ray Rice have been treated differently if he had punched a man? And if you say yes, aren’t you implicitly denying feminist principles?
Is there any segment of society as arrogant as the talking heads who all believe they know better than Janay Rice, Roger Goodell, and the local law enforcement? Few people pontificate as much as the media.
Does the media report the news or create it and then tell us what to feel and think about it?
Has social media created a vigilante culture where people are tried via mob and then hung? Does the fact that the mob gets it right some of the time make it okay? How can leaders carefully wait for the facts so that justice is served when the mob has taken up torches and is ready to burn someone?
How does the short memory of the internet (remember Ferguson?) and the need for vigilante justice fit together? The pattern seems to be mob justice with quick punishment, followed by the incident and people being quickly forgotten. Lives are destroyed, but those who do the destroying move on. This seems like a dangerous way to dispense justice and to set people on the path to restoration.
How will the mob mentality influence law enforcement? Law enforcement said that Ray Rice got the punishment every first time offender gets for this particular crime. But for the mob that does not appear to be enough. Will law enforcement adjust when there is a public outcry? Will punishments be equal no matter who it is or will high profile cases get more punishment? Would a little school in Pennsylvania have been punished as severely as Penn State was for the sex abuse scandal? Would a factory worker who punched his wife have been fired from his job like Ray Rice was? In short, can justice be blind when the mob sees everything and demands that action be taken, especially with high profile people or cases?
Why is taking a prostitute up the elevator different from punching your wife in the elevator? Why is punching your wife worthy of so much outrage and adultery is not?
How are the NFL and other rich and powerful organizations, such as college football, going to interact with local law enforcement in the future? It appears the NFL was burned by trusting the judgment of local law enforcement. In the future will they not trust these groups and do their own investigation?
Why do we get so outraged when we see something, but not outraged when we read it? If you had read that Ray Rice had punched his wife and drug her out of the elevator would you have been as upset as watching it on video? Why not? What does is it say about our culture that we must see something to feel its impact?<>
Great points and questions. The mob definitely executed mob justice here. Additional questions: With the promotion and celebration of women fully serving in the military, how would we respond to seeing footage of an American woman soldier getting punched in the face by the enemy? Or an American soldier punching an enemy woman soldier in combat? Also, I imagine the liberal media would love to see a woman break the barrier and play in the NFL. How would they respond to a woman player getting punched in a brawl during a game? Not surprising that a culture that denies God would be illogical about something. Excellent post.