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	Penn State Tragedy Has Lesson for US All By Kevin Leininger The News-Sentinel November 12, 2011 http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20111112/NEWS/111119911 If this week's release of Richard Nixon's 36-year-old Watergate grand jury testimony weren't enough to remind us that the cover-up is often more damaging than the original offense, the fallout from the unfolding pedophilia scandal at Penn State University should. But as horrific as the charges against former assistant football Coach Jerry Sandusky are, they are at least understandable in a perverse sort of way: Sick people do sick things. Unless good people stop them, that is – something that clearly didn't happen in “Happy Valley,” where several apparently good people appear to have done almost nothing to prevent young boys from sexual abuse for more than 10 years. And that's what makes this case so profoundly troubling – and all too familiar. What Irish statesman Edmund Burke wrote three centuries ago remains all too relevant today: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Students who rioted after legendary football Coach Joe Paterno was fired apparently believe he did enough by reporting allegations against Sandusky to his superiors, but they are wrong. When those superiors failed to act, as is allegedly the case, Paterno should have gone to the police. That's what a person determined to prevent future victims, not simply in protecting the reputation of the university and its football program, would have done. I once knew a newspaper publisher who insisted that absolute truth does not and cannot exist, since we all perceive things differently. That was bunk, of course – believing two-plus-two equals five does not make it so – but she may have been on to something, if America's ever-shifting moral compass is any indication. Not long after those pro-Paterno demonstrations, Penn State assistant football Coach Mike McQueary was advised to skip today's game against Nebraska in response to “multiple threats” against him. It was McQueary, then a grad student, who reportedly witnessed Sandusky molesting a young boy and reported it to Paterno. In other words, the response to what Sandusky allegedly did was roughly the same by both men, yet Paterno is defended and McQueary berated. Such moral relativism is hardly unique to sports. The news has been dominated by another example lately, with Republican presidential contender Herman Cain's alleged history of sexual harassment by some of the same people who minimized far more serious accusations against President Clinton. And some Cain defenders, of course, excoriated Clinton. To far too many people, right and wrong no longer apply. It's about gaining advantage by defending your side and attacking the “enemy” – even if that person is another mayoral candidate whose views aren't all that different from your own. Strange how just a few years can alter one's perspective. Sexual abuse by priests has had few more outspoken critics within the Roman Catholic Church than former Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend Bishop John D'Arcy. It was D'Arcy who, while serving in Boston, alerted superiors to a priest later accused of more than 130 molestations. It was D'Arcy who in 2003 announced that 17 priests had apparently molested about 33 people in the diocese since the 1950s. It was D'Arcy who removed 12 of those priests from office and imposed tougher standards on seminarians designed to weed out potential pedophiles. For all of that and more, he was praised – and with much justification. For his time, and in his situation, he did more than most. But was it enough? Unlike Paterno, D'Arcy's removal of questionable priests may have prevented further abuse. But that's just the point: Such acts are not just sins, but crime. And crimes are the legitimate domain of secular authority. Yet there is no indication D'Arcy ever took his concerns to the police, at least not while in a subordinate role in Boston. When I asked him about that very point in 2002, D'Arcy said he didn't report abusive priests to the authorities because “my duty was to tell superiors, and I didn't know specific cases.” Paterno, I suspect, would say much the same thing. I mention that nine-year-old story not to denigrate D'Arcy, for whom I have genuine respect, but to illustrate what may prove to be the only good thing to emerge from the Penn State tragedy: a belated understanding that those who merely punted concerns about Sandusky up the university's chain of command owed the victims and society so much more. This column is the commentary of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of The News-Sentinel. Email Kevin Leininger at kleininger@news-sentinel.com or call him at 461-8355.
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