Unforgiven

President Obama recently praised the NFL and the Eagles for giving Michael Vick a fair shot at a second chance, something ex-cons rarely get. He believes Vick’s redemption is a teachable moment for the nation. It is, but only for those whose hearts are not made of stone.

Behold Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen. Judging by his rant today, you’d think he believes that forgiveness is a vice.

Cohen writes: “You would think from the commentary that Vick was some poor kid who got caught swiping something so he could get something to eat. … Vick staged dog fights and killed dogs not because he had to, but because he chose to. He's a thug. Dog fighting was Vick's hobby. ... The sanctimony regarding this dog killer is sickening. … Vick got a second chance not because he deserves it but because he can play football. This is the lesson we can all take from this sorry episode. It's one thing to be sorry. It's much better to hit your man in the end zone.”

Cohen, a well-known liberal, has evidently gone all Captain Ahab on us. His entire column can be reduced to Melville’s famous line: “From hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee.” Tucker Carlson, a conservative pundit who used to be a thoughtful, rational journalist, said on television today: “I think personally [Michael Vick] should have been executed.” That’s shocking, but I’m not shocked Carlson said it. For him (and the stonehearted ilk who agree with him), it is par for the course.

Without question, Vick’s crime was heinous. And yes, he was a thug, the all too typical product of an underprivileged upbringing. But let’s keep it real: Vick is not Josef Mengele. Crimes against dogs (and I love dogs) is not the equivalent to crimes against humanity. And unlike Hitler’s Todesengel (who evaded capture), Vick paid his debt to society. If the Eagles quarterback can pull off rehabilitation and his example motivates even one ex-felon to stay straight, then we all win. Why not root for his continued success? What is the point, as some insist, of stoning him endlessly?

What is striking to me in this “debate” is what it says about Vick’s detractors – particularly those professing to be the Praetorian Guard of defenseless animals. It is startling to learn that decent folk like Richard Cohen have so little capacity to forgive or even empathize. It also makes me wonder if the noise level from all sides would be as high if Vick were white. Ponder that uncomfortable notion for a minute.

In any event, people are free to judge Vick or not. They can forgive him or not. But before rendering a verdict, it is worth pausing to consider the words of noted theologian Lewis B. Smedes: “When we forgive evil we do not excuse it, we do not tolerate it, we do not smother it. We look the evil full in the face, call it what it is, let its horror shock and stun and enrage us, and only then do we forgive it.”

Perhaps more to the point, Smedes also said: “To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.” I still see a lot of Vick critics dressed in orange.