Parakalein

I was listening to the sports station the other morning.  The news of the day was the man from Miami University who was a football booster and who indicated that he gave money favors etc. to young men to play football at Miami University.

The gentlemen is already in jail for a ponzi scheme.  So what he was not the issue.  The dialogue went to the issue of how can you hold these young men of 18, 19, 20 years old accountable for taking these gifts.  Really?  The argument was that they were just young men not nearly grown up enough to be held accountable.  Really not grown up enough to know right form wrong, or to not care/be heldto know I thought to myself.  Is there no age of accountability anymore.  So we can hold some youth accountable enough to sign them up for the military or have them make decisions about where they go to school but we cannot hold them accountable for decisions in the presence of great temptation, a moment of pleasure, or an opportunity to get money.  I thought how I held my children responsible and accountable for their behavior at a much earlier age than 18.  Am I an abnormal parent.

Then it hit me.  This is part of the problem in our world.  No one is accountable for anything to anyone.
We are living in an age of un-accountability.  A few are held accountable by law and a punitive system but many of the real and affluent criminals are held above the law.

Accountability for behavior is a primary deterrent to poor choices.  When Adam and Eve sinned they were not give a second chance.  They were held accountable.  the key is that God also held Self accountable too.  It was mutual accountability.  No one was left free of accountability to grow up, become more aware, or change.  It was the accountability that forced them all to grow up, become more aware, and change.

It is all over.  We punish people for their third offense implying that they can offend twice.  We say we endorse "Zero Tolerance" of drinking but you can have up to .8 which means there is not zero base tolerance.  There is a .8 tolerance.  Zero tolerance does not mean punishment without compassion, or judgment without compassion.  It means we will not lower the standard but elevate the expectation that no one do anything without accountability and to embrace a posture of justice toward all in equitable and fair ways.

The university should be held accountable.  The young athlete is accountable.  The agents should be held accountable.  Parents should be held accountable. The system that puts winning football games ahead of education and learning life lessons should be held accountable.  Let's stop fooling ourselves and calling it gracious to not hold people accountable to a standard of just and equitable fairness.