By Scott Tibbs, October 30, 2012
No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon. -- Luke 16:13
There is no question that Jerry Sandusky is an evil man. His punishment was not nearly harsh enough - he should have been executed for his crimes instead of only sent to prison. Yet as angry as I am with Sandusky, I find the evil behavior of Penn State so-called "University" as well as other authorities to be even worse than Sandusky's behavior.
It is popular among conservatives, even Christian conservatives, to say that government is a "necessary evil." But Scripture makes it clear that government is not a necessary evil - it is a blessing our Father in Heaven has given to us to protect us from the wicked. Government does not bear the sword in vain, but is an avenger for the blood of innocents. God established earthly authority because it is absolutely necessary. (For more on this, see Romans 13:1-4.)
The problem is when government run by sinful men abandons its primary responsibility. A wicked government will not protect the innocent from the wicked, and will instead oppress the innocent. This is certainly not new, but this is what is at the heart of the rape scandal at Penn State so-called "University." This was not just a failure of those in positions of authority to protect innocent children from being brutally raped by a sexual predator, but the actions of institutions that are corrupt all the way to the core.
Let's be honest about what happened at Penn State. This was not the behavior of a lone sexual predator. Spiritually speaking, this was the ritualistic Satanic sexual abuse of children. Penn State allowed Sandusky to rape little boys because they did not want to harm the football program. In other words, Penn State placed the worship of money (mammon) above the worship of Almighty God. To protect their cash cow - their golden calf, if you will - Penn State covered up the sexual abuse and refused to bring Sandusky to justice.
But it went beyond the so-called "university." One of Sandusky's victims went to Karen Probst, the principal of Central Mountain High School where he was enrolled. Rather than stepping up as commanded by God to protect those under her care, this thoroughly corrupt government bureaucrat told him and his mom to go home and think about it. It was a complete betrayal of not only the victim, but of every single taxpayer who has ever paid a penny to keep the so-called "school" operating. Probst should be sitting in a prison cell next to Sandusky.
But the corruption does not even end there. The district attorney knew thirteen years before the rape scandal exploded into the public eye that there were serious and credible allegations of abuse against Sandusky. Nothing was done. This means that the very people who bear the primary responsibility for bringing sexual predators to justice and having compassion on the victims completely and utterly failed to protect Sandusky's victims. There are a number of people in that office who should also be sitting in a prison cell next to Sandusky for being accessories to rape.
Of course, the failure of Penn State so-called "University" is well documented. Joe Paterno and many others in positions of authority knew of the rapes since at least 1998, but did absolutely nothing to bring Sandusky to justice or protect his victims. Again, worship of money trumped the commandments of Almighty God. For Paterno's family to continue to defend him shows that they are every bit as evil and corrupt as he was.
To be brutally honest, I am surprised that none of Sandusky's victims or their families have attempted to assassinate the district attorneys, the police, the "university" trustees or the "public school" officials who failed to protect them from being raped. Vigilantism is an evil thing, but when those in authority - especially those in the criminal justice system - refuse to protect the innocent, what do you think is going to happen? This is not to excuse people taking authority that God has delegated to others for themselves in a spirit of rebellion, but when those entrusted by God with authority refuse to punish evil, it breeds chaos and anarchy.
The complete failure of authority at every level should serve as a lesson about the nature and role of government. While government itself is a blessing from our Heavenly Father, the people in government are sinners and prone to corruption. Government must be limited not because it is inherently bad, but because the men running government are sinners and prone to abuse their power. Nothing proves this more than the Penn State rape scandal.
