Let me give you a weird personal story about this case.
I moved to Penn State a couple of years ago before any of this had started. At that time I had some experiences in life that had got me very interested in the idea of pride as a sin. I was reading extensively about it. Some good books about it are 'Humility: True Greatness' (Maheney), 'Humility' (Murray), and there's an awesome excerpt in C.S. Lewis book 'Mere Christianity' on the subject of Pride. I suppose you could say it became quite a special interest.
Anyway so when I arrived at Penn State I was seeing the word 'Pride' everywhere, on the bus I took to work, on the walls around campus, and of course in anything related to the PSU football team. I was somewhat puzzled at how pride, which is generally considered the worst sin in Christianity, was somehow being re-branded as a virtue.
What really got to me though was the way that town worshipped, and I mean really worshipped Joe Pa. I would go to just about any restaurant and the menu would have his picture, food would be named after him, and the walls would have his caricature and photos. Walking down the main street downtown, just about every shop window would have his picture, and some would have that awful phrase "welcome to Paternoville". I found the level of esteem people held that man in very very extreme. Not being from the US I figured it was a cultural thing I was unfamiliar with, but I still felt it was very much overdone.
I remember walking home from work one day and seeing his photo in a shop window and thinking about all I had read about Pride, then I remembered the Bible verse "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall." (Proverbs 16:18). As I looked at his picture I suddenly felt that all this pride and Joe Pa worship would result in a fall, and as I looked at the photo I remember clearly thinking about the Catholic abuse scandal and that what usually brings down old men is child abuse allegations. I looked at his eyes though and just felt no, I can tell he's not that type. I didn't think much of it but always carried the sentiment that the excesses of pride I was seeing were not good and were not going to end well.
When the whole Sandusky issue broke out there were camera vans all over town, including some right outside the store where I seen his photo and was thinking all this. I watched the whole thing unfold and how utterly humiliated and upset everybody was, including Joe Pa. When he died I remember thinking this whole situation was so predictable. I don't really think Joe Pa himself was responsible for all this worship. He lived in a modest house on campus, wore modest clothes, helped build libraries etc. and was known as a nice person who would chat to students as he walked across campus on the way to work. I think it's the culture of pride which pervaded that entire town which is to blame.
It's really sad what happened to those kids, and I hope the justice that was served is helping them heal. But at the same time I think there were other bigger lessons about humility which were learned that everybody overlooked.
23 Jun 2012, 8:09 pm
