Michael Vick, Tony Dungy, and a change is gonna come, Part II

"Our circle of care should be inclusive, broad, wide. I invite everyone here to widen your circle of care and concern. Have the same care for others that you have for yourself...King and Gandhi didn’t need to wait for certain power, they didn’t need to wait for special titles. These leaders were restless in enlarging their circle of care.”

--Daniel Melhern

Listen up. A few days ago, The daddy did a piece on Michael Vick. In the post, which is re-posted below for your convenience, he said Michael Vick is scheduled get out of prison soon; that he w ill have served the time for the crime; that he should be forgiven and allowed to work for a living like every other adult American, including work as an NFL player; that some-- many of them white Americans-- can't bring themselves to forgive Vick not only for the detesting crime he committed but because it makes them feel superior not to do so.

Well, guess what? Some folks who come to visit The daddy often are continuing the discussion. Some say the brotha deserves a second chance, others say, given what he did to those animals, they despise him and will not forgive him. The Daddy feels that this blogs belongs to the "crew" who follow The daddy and others who come here. As a result, he feels their views should be heard and considered, even if they are the complete opposite of his own. So the following represents the thoughtful views of those who disagree with The daddy.

Somebodiesfriend said maybe Vick should be given a second chance but wonders if it would be sending a wrong message:

"Does giving him another contact send a message to all the other athletes that if they get in a big jam they can still come out of it smelling good in the end? I'm not hating on Vick, I'm just wondering if giving him another big money contract just re-enforces the mindset that many of the players already have."

Others, like DH, stated that they have a problem forgiving Vick because of what he did. DH said that, to her, what Vick did was like "abusing children."

"Vick showed no remorse and said that his family did this all their lives. Many of his fellows testified against him and they had live videos. This was as bad as if he was abusing children, he tortured the helpless and innocent and made money off of this."

(Note: Vick did express remorse. As to whether it was sincere or just a part of a legal strategy or both, who knows?)

Stella just came out and said she "loathes" Vick and then said something else that stuck with The daddy: that it takes a really sick mind to kill helpless animals:

"Torturing and killing animals for sport is an activity in which people must be at least, if not completely, semi-sociopathic/narcisstic. Simply, these people are vicious and ill."

Like Stella, Madmike "despises" Vick and suggests that his color, gender and former wealth has nothing to do with it. He put this way :

"I despise all people who will fight, torture, drown, shoot and electrocute helpless animals. I feel the same about Vick as I would any murderer or torturer. Regardless, should he be forgiven after serving his debt to society? I don't know. I don't forgive murderers who are released on parole. I don't forgive rapists, robbers and thieves. I could never forgive the Bernie Madoffs of the world. I guess that makes me a "bad" person but some things just cannot be put out of mind. "

These are all well- thought-out opinions of people who comment at daddyBstrong regularly. There may be differences of opinion here, but I believe those differences are expressed honestly and forthrightly. Yes, I believe Michael Vick needs to be forgiven. However, he wants to express three concerns that he shares with those who commented here:

1. He shares Somebodies concern that some NFL players might get the message that, if they get caught, they could get off easily and go right back to the NFL. I'm not sure it should be a major concern at this point. After all, I don't think players are thinking, "Yeah. I can keep on doing dog fighting, because, if I get caught, go to prison, and lose all my money, I can still get back into the NFL." That's too big a risk. But it's a legitimate concern.

2. He shares with MadMikes's, Stella's and DH's disgust at Vick's role in the dogfighting. It's debatable as to whether Vick was in on some of these killings. But what is not debatable is that he financed the dog fighting operation. In The daddy's mind, this is worst than the actual killings. It's like the torturing of prisoners at Abu Ghraib: Whom do you find to be the most disgusting, the people who performed the torture or the lawyers who wrote the memos to justify it?

3. The daddy shares with Stella the idea that it takes a sick person to commit these acts upon helpless animals. When Vick said he grew up around people who did this, including his family members, he wasn't making excuses. He was trying to explain how he got into a mindset to torture animals. People should have really listened. In some parts of the South, dog fighting occurs regularly; and, yes, it takes a sickened mind to do it.

But it also takes a sickened culture to develop and perpetuate it. In this case, The daddy is talking about an aspect of male culture that has developed and now perpetuates a violent culture for generations. Dog fighting is just one of them. What about the abuse of women? What about rape? What about the abuse of people of color? What about the abuse of men toward each other? Aren't those aspects of the culture too?

For these reasons, for this insensitive, violent culture, The daddy believes Vick needs more than fresh air from prison. He needs more help than Tony Dungy. Vick needs some type of psychotherapy. And so do the people who grow up in a southern, violent male culture that says dog fighting is okay, that, if dogs get injured from fighting, that's alright; and, if you have to put a few dogs down when they can no longer fight, that' s alright too.

Stella, MadMike, DH, Somebody, and others, thanks for all the thoughtful and honest comments. They were much appreciated.