I think Mark makes some very, very interesting points but . . .I am reminded of Kathy Shaidle's famous remark: When we blithely say, "We don't know what we'd do under those circumstances", we make cowardice our default position.
Sadly, my original link to Kathy's quote doesn't work any longer. But you can find Kathy blogging at FiveFeetofFury.
Here's some Mark Shea:
But though lots of combox warriors are quite adept at fantasizing about how bravely they would have behaved and how vile Mike McQueary is in comparison to their brave selves, how they would have taken a baseball bat to Sandusky had they caught him in flagrante, the reality is that, if the Milgram experiments are any indication, a huge percentage of people are pretty well programmed to avoid trouble with authority figures rather than open a can of whupass. Sorry, but that’s the stuff we fallen humans are made of, as our first Pope learned when he confidently declared, “Though everyone else deny you, I will never deny you.” Indeed, despite the flattering and heroic picture so many Laptop Ninjas have of themselves, righteously battling evil with flawless martial arts moves and utter rectitude like Buffy and Angel, the real picture of fallen humanity given to us by revelation is that of the apostles in Gethsemane on Holy Thursday: big talk, sleepiness while Jesus sweats blood, a brief show of bluster and bravado against the wrong person (resulting in a severed ear) and then bolting, ass-saving panic such that one of the disciples peeled out of his clothes and ran off naked rather than defend the innocent from evil authority figures. That story is painful to read because that story is a paradigm, not an isolated incident. It has been replayed again and again down the centuries and we chicken shits in comboxes boasting about our courage over Those People Over There know it damn well. That’s why we talk so big.
So I look at McQueary and think, “There but for the grace of God go I.” Recall that his awful discovery and act of cowardice all happened before the sex abuse scandal in the Church brought the issue to the fore of public consciousness and gave them a chance to think “How should I prepare to react if I ever encountered something like this?” Recall that McQueary just stumbled on the scene and was flummoxed. People do weird things in such situations. I hope I would have instantly assessed the situation and, like Buffy and Angel, cleaned Sandusky’s clock, kicked his ass into next week, and called the cops. But had I been in McQueary’s shoes at the time and place, who knows? If the evidence of, not just bishops and clerics (and the apostles of Jesus Christ), but even the parents of victims is any indication, people often respond to monstrous acts of evil by… doing nothing, or trying to kick the problem upstairs to somebody in a position of power who will make it alright and not drag them into further trouble. The fight or flight reaction tends to favor flight since fight often gets you dead or injured. People gripe that McQueary was a big strong guy and should have manned up and kicked butt. So was Peter. But when the big buff fisherman was confronted by a serving maid with the words, “Are you not also one of his disciples?” he displayed utter cowardice and then went and wept bitterly as the cock crowed.
More than this, though, is something beyond fear–something much more powerful: a perverted understanding of love. It is relationship, far more than fear, that makes people avoid trouble. Sandusky is your friend. Sandusky is your colleague. Sandusky is beloved. Sandusky is charming. Sandusky has done all this charitable work. Surely there’s an explanation. We don’t have to instantly go nuclear with cops. Something can be worked out. He means well, but he’s “troubled”. He’s one of our guys. Children are resilient. I couldn’t live with myself if I destroyed the guy’s career. He’s done a lot of good things too, you know. It will kill his family.
And so forth. For ten more years. We are built for relationship and we have to be very hard-pressed to take the step of destroying it. And we cling to relationship even in the case of very weak relationships.
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