We've reached the end of the school year and finally the beginning of a resolution to the lacrosse scandal. I thought it only fitting to consider the lacrosse scandal from a religious perspective.
Imagine my shock as I compared the behavior of the power players of Lacrossegate and some well-known Bible verses. The proud Southerners of the Bible Belt acted in a way that seemed completely ignorant of these life-changing words.
As a successful Sunday school graduate, I took it upon myself to record a few passages for the good of the community:
Proverbs 16:18: "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall."
One would think that a born-and-raised North Carolina boy would remember the immortal words of great King Solomon-rumored to be the wisest man ever to walk the earth. The number of Sundays Nifong must have spent in an over-heated church basement should be in the thousands. Did he really never hear this timeless adage?
Not surprisingly, Mike Nifong attended UNC, and though his sense of rivalry runs a bit deeper than most who reside on Tobacco Road, the steadfast, irrational sense of loyalty that he developed during his college years obviously followed him into adulthood.
Matthew 7:3: "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?"
How could someone, even having read the story only once, forget the mental image of a man with a log coming out of his eye trying to scoop out a particle of dust from his friend's eye? Surely little Michael Nifong heard this proverb during a bright Sunday morning in Wilmington. Unfortunately, he seems to have forgotten one of the most visually amusing parables of the New Testament. Tucked deep in the famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus exhorts the thousands of listeners to make sure they have put all their own affairs in order before they begin to condemn (or "help") others. Nifong's professional ethics appeared to be shamefully underdeveloped, so it's hard to believe he could really "help" our lacrosse players take responsibility for their own personal ethics. His "plank" literally blinded him from the facts of the case, which meant the "speck" of misbehavior was emphasized first instead of Mike's crooked politicking and obsessive headhunting.
John 8:7: "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."
Jesus taunts the Pharisees as they bring before him a woman who was caught in adultery. Many members of the Durham community, which boasts more than 1,000 religious groups, were quick to jump on the behavior of some Duke University college students one night last March.
Had our neighbors never found themselves in a situation they regretted? Their rush to judgment and loud call for atonement deafened their sense of compassion and understanding for mistakes.
In the end, there wasn't evidence to pin any legal charge of misconduct or wrongdoing on our classmates, but preemptive stones lobbed at innocent students served only to further strain town-gown relations. The community seems to have been confused-Jesus is who Sunday school teaches us to imitate, not the Pharisees.
Of course, the Bible isn't just about damnation; there are plenty of uplifting and inspiring verses that offer comfort and solace. But since Duke students are generally so "rowdy and disrespectful," I figured they might not have time to read any of the Bible themselves. So I've gathered a few verses on behalf of those who never got to go to Sunday school. Considering students' treatment by the communities of the Bible Belt in the last year hasn't been especially friendly, they may not find themselves in a church any time soon and may find this quick lesson encouraging.
2 Corinthians 7:2: "Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have exploited no one."
This is the plea of the lacrosse players and Duke students. After months of abuse from the media, our own Durham community, and especially our District Attorney, we implore to be accepted back into the hearts of the community as partners in a mission to make our corner of reality a better place.
John 8:32 "Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free."
The truth, while always haunting the edges of Nifong's investigation, has finally been set free by North Carolina's Attorney General. Now Dukies ask not only to be found "innocent" but also to be disassociated from the implications those allegations brought as well.
Whether you're a Sunday school graduate or not, remembering a few words from the Good Book never hurt.
Emily Thomey is a Trinity junior. Her column runs every other Tuesday.
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