People living their lives for you on T.V. They say they’re better than you and you agree. – Jewel

The culture of selfishness and individualism that often prevails in our society is not, I repeat, not what builds up and leads to a more habitable world:  rather, it is the culture of solidarity that does so; the culture of solidarity means seeing others not as rivals or statistics, but brothers and sisters. – Pope Francis

My friends and family know that I am a serious fan of stock car racing, and reading the title of this post, they may have concluded that I have lost my mind.  Believe me, I am no fan of the Busch brothers.  I may have harbored uncharitable thoughts about them, referring to them as pasty-skinned Las Vegas vampires that need to get some sunlight for goodness sake.  I may have shouted expletives at one or the other when their aggressive driving cost one of my favorite drivers the race win.

Kurt Busch was caught up in a media controversy earlier this season, and he was suspended from NASCAR for several races.  He had been accused by his ex-girlfriend of domestic abuse.  Because of my rather low opinion of Kurt, I found this easy enough to believe.  It was Kurt Busch’s response that was unbelievable:  he accused his ex-girlfriend of being a trained assassin who had killed drug lords with knives, poison, and rifles.  I wondered aloud, “Has Kurt Busch lost his mind?  Is he schizophrenic?”

This incident came on the heels of an NFL player who had punched out his fiance in an elevator fight.  The surveillance video went viral on the internet.  Ray Rice (and yes, I had to look up his name as I’m writing this) was fired from his team (of which I am not going to bother to look up the name) and suspended from the NFL.

Domestic violence is a cancer on our society.  It’s deplorable, heart-breaking, and occurs across all socioeconomic and racial groups.  However, should every athlete who is accused of domestic violence be suspended or fired?

I remember a conversation we had at work last fall following the Ray Rice incident.  We considered if everyone at my former place of employment who had ever been involved in a domestic violence incident was automatically fired from their job.  We concluded that we would have no maintenance department.  We also agreed that deciding what punishment these men deserved was up to the courts to determine, i.e. a court of law rather than the Court of Public Opinion.

On a similar thread, a couple of years ago a weatherman on a local news station was abruptly fired.  He had been caught having an extramarital “sexting” affair.  The reason given for his firing was that his behavior was inappropriate.

I have heard the argument that it’s different when someone is on T.V. and that they must live to a higher standard.  I think that reasoning is idiotic for several reasons.  First and foremost, I simply do not believe that anyone on television is necessarily a better person than any of us who are not.  Some of us, such as newscasters, actors, and athletes, have jobs that require us to do our work on camera.  The rest of us simply do not work on camera.  If we are all held to the same standard, should your coworker who is arrested for being drunk and disorderly on Friday night be fired?  How about your coworker who is having an extramarital affair?

Secondly, do we as a society truly believe that people on TV must adhere to a higher standard?  If that was true, reality TV would have been dead in the water over twenty years ago with MTV’s “The Real World.”  I think, rather, that we enjoy living by a double standard.

To put it more succinctly, George Will has called the new entitlement “The Right to Never Be Offended.”  He said this in response to the public uproar over some comments that Phil Robertson of “Duck Dynasty” had made regarding homosexuality.  I found it ironic that the same folks who proclaim a lifestyle of “live and let live”, who are pro-gay “marriage”, pro-abortion, and overflowing with an abundance of tolerance can be profoundly intolerant of someone who disagrees with them.

Hopefully I haven’t managed to offend anyone.  I’d like to keep my job.