Shane, Kurtley and the consequences of ideas

Dear reader, what should you expect? How ought one respond? Sadly, pessimism is a good start. People will be people. Sportsmen will get caught out in scandal again.

And yes, holding them to account via the tribunals and courts is a must. Some sense of justice will be served.

But a look at the larger picture, and the pervasiveness of these prevailing ideas of our culture, also invites some pity and forgiveness towards these blokes.

Oh for a vision of life with room for a right mix of both mercy towards such wayward ones; as well as a constructive picture of what true goodness looks like for a young talented Shane or Kurtley.

Elton John's ode to Marilyn Monroe, Candle in the Wind, laments how she was a victim of the watching world around her."they whispered into your brain;

they set you on the treadmill;
and they made you change your name

Next time you're revolted by the latest Shane-event, perhaps the revulsion might remind you that as custodians of the broader culture, we, the watching world are part of the problem.

Perhaps also, there is room to consider afresh the consequences of ideas. The ideas whispered into your (and everyone's) brain: individualism, sexism, egocentrism, economism, moral relativism. Reviling the ugly consequences of ideas is right. These consequences should cause outrage: the text messages, the drugs, the violence, the cheating. But let's not forget the ideas themselves that feed such consequences. Perhaps they have as much to answer for.