| From: | WLO (76.254.81.204) | |
| Let's Walk Away | ||
| September 20, 2008 at 12:33 pm PST | ||
Betrayal comes in many forms: spouses/partners and friends/colleagues against each other; clergy/coaches/trusted adults against children in their charge; elected and appointed officials against their constituencies; your best friend in 5th grade picking someone else to be on their team in dodge ball during recess. In most cases, these people did some good things before they committed their offenses or dishonored the principles for which we respected them.
The Matthew Scully situation seems no different; and the very real and understandable human reactions to such betrayal are shock, anger and dismay Our current collective pain seems to emanate from the cognitive dissonance resulting from our assumptions about someone’s likely current and future behaviors, based on what that person said, did, or—in this case—wrote in the past. It’s particularly painful when we felt an emotional, as well as an intellectual, connection with the precepts that person espoused.
We don’t know—and may never know—Scully’s reasons for lending aid and comfort to someone with a history and agenda of actions so completely antithetical to ours and to Scully’s (or so we thought…). Hey, it could turn out that Scully was attempting to be a double agent working from the inside to change minds and policies. (Not that I’d ever believe that; but that may be the rationale he eventually offers.) Some people exhibit bizarre and unexpected behaviors due to emerging mental illness or health problems. Or, maybe he just succumbed to the seduction of power. That, too, is a very common and human reaction.
In any case, it is what it is. He wrote some good stuff, which still has validity, but now anything he does, says, or writes is and shall remain suspect. While we cannot re-write history, we can affect what it’s going to be by our actions today and tomorrow. You can embrace Scully’s earlier writings, but from here on out, don’t buy or promote his books, commercial endeavors, or political activities. Continue to speak out about his abandonment of the very ideas he earlier put forth and ask the question we all want to know: why???. Challenge. Keep the dialogue open, civil, and rational. Point out the discrepancies and hypocrisies.
For my part, I support and applaud VegSource’s adherence to journalistic integrity, but encourage the editorial decision-makers to do their part to escort Mr. Scully into oblivion (a fate worse than death in our celebrity-driven culture). Although VegSource has stated that Scully’s website is acceptable “as long as it remains a website about vegetarianism and animal compassion,” I find that rationale as confusing as a school or church continuing to promote an advice book on family values/raising kids written by someone who, outside of his formal writings, has spoken enthusiastically of the many sexual transactions for sale by young girls in Thailand. (Yes, Bill O’Reilly, in case you didn’t guess…) In our attempts to be open-minded and generous with information access and airing all views, let’s not underestimate the value and power of credibility. Let's walk away from Matthew Scully and toward a more appropriate voice for our beliefs and concerns.
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