Why You Should Give Michael Vick a Second Chance

Almost everyone has heard about the Atlanta Falcons NFL quarterback Michael Vick’s arrest, conviction, and imprisonment for federal dog fighting crimes.  Vick served 18 months in a federal prison and was released.  The NFL has stated that Vick will be able to return to football with conditions.   The media is speculating on which teams are interested and what Michael Vick will do next.

You might be asking yourself, “Why does all this matter?”  Well, for the most part, the public opinion on animal abusers is strong.  Naturally, people are mostly animal lovers.  Sometimes, I think we love animals more than people.   Clearly, abusing animals is wrong and setting up a dog fighting ring, making money off dog fighting, and treating dogs poorly is wrong.    Yet, Vick has received more negative press and more public out cry than Cleveland Browns receiver Donte Stallworth, who was  suspended by the NFL  for driving drunk and killing a pedestrian in Miami.  Or, singer Chris Brown, who beat/harmed girlfriend and singer Rihanna.

Here is the problem: People seem to be more upset at Vick than they should be at Stallworth or Brown.  Stallworth got drunk and killed someone with his car and only served a 30 day  sentence.  Now, I am not saying you should feel sorry for Vick.  Vick broke the law and hurt animals.  Clearly, there is an inequity here.   Rick Morrissey of the Chicago Tribune echo these sediments:

I could run down the long list of athletes behaving badly over the years — did I mention it was a long, long list? — and tell you case by case how muted the public reaction was compared with the Vick case. Domestic abuse. Sexual abuse. Murder. The outrage over a drunk Donte Stallworth killing a pedestrian in March was a whisper compared with the response to Vick’s actions.

Vick has paid his debt to society. He served time and lost two years of his football career, as he should have. He has declared bankruptcy. If a team believes that prison has rehabilitated him and that he’s still good enough to play, it should be able to sign him. Whether a team wants to put up with the abuse it will take for adding him to the roster is another issue altogether.

Have we lost our sense of forgiveness?   Can someone do something that is unforgivable?   My point is that in our culture we are quick to judge and extremely slow to forgive.  Our culture does not value forgiveness and that is a shame.   Do I think Vick should have a second chance because he is a celebrity?  No.  Do I think Vick should have a second chance because he deserves it?  No.

Christ forgave all sorts of sinners.  People who were adulterers, cheaters, liars, abusers, etc…  Our call as Christians is to forgive.  Why?  Because people screw up.  We all need a second chance (sometimes a third chance).  I am not saying we need to enable people by giving them more and more chances to repeat their behavior, but we have to begin to soften our harden hearts.  The Vick case showed that there is injustice in the world of celebrities.  The media loves to show celebrities when they get their “come-upins”, but never shows people who are forgiven.

We need to practice restorative justice. Restorative justice is the practice in which people serve their time and pay their debt, but are guided through a procession of restoration.  People who go through restorative justice learn why they hurt people, have to hear from the people they hurt, sometimes preform a good deed that is somehow connected to their crime, come to a point of realization of remorse, and ask for forgiveness.   An example of restorative justice was the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa.

Michael Vick needs a second chance, but not because he has a status as a special person, but because he is a person, a human.  We humans are flawed, but we can correct those flaws when we get a second chance to right the wrongs we have done.