The media can definitely be guilty of playing devil’s advocate when it comes to hot-button issues. There’s been nothing hotter the last couple weeks than Michael Vick’s reinstatement into football. Sports radio, primetime TV, blogs, etc., have been inundated with opinionated people, most of whom fall under two categories: Vick haters and Vick backers.  

 

Vick backers (and I use the word backer loosely) fall under the premise that Vick served his time so let him have a second chance. Vick haters believe strongly that his despicable actions against dogs are unforgivable.

PETA, dog lovers and spokespeople from every anti-cruelty animal organization have come out of the woodwork to not only share their strong dissent on the NFL’s decision to reinstate Vick, but how deplorable it is of the Philadelphia Eagles organization to allow him to suit up. Just the other morning, I was listening to a caller on a New York radio station blast the Eagles for welcoming Vick onto their team, saying in a much-less articulate term, “Vick is a piece of crap and deserves to be treated like his dogs.”

If you have time, read some of the comments on numerous forums everywhere, and you’ll feel the vitriol against Vick. Let me quickly sum up the range of comments you’ll read from the anti-Vick to the pro-Vick:

-    I’m a dog lover and Vick’s act is unforgivable.

-    Vick did his time for the crime.

-    Someone who can murder and mutilate dogs like that is crazy in the head.

-    Vick is a thug and always will be.

-    Everyone deserves a second chance.

-    The dogs never had a second chance.

-    He’s a human being, not a dog.

-    Boycott the Eagles.

-    Support the Eagles and Vick.

-    This is a cultural and racial issue.

-    Don’t bring race into this, this is an ethical/moral issue.

A valid point people have made is that Vick didn’t come to his senses until he got caught, declared bankruptcy and was left with no one who believed in him. Actually, the more doubtful person will say Vick is crawling back to the NFL because he needs money.

Here is the thing that hardly anyone talks about: what does the Vick-reaction tell you about our society’s idea about redemption?

One of the better movies of the last 20 years is a prison film titled, “The Shawshank Redemption.” Based on a Stephen King book, this film illustrated corruption at its very worst, but fortunately, the protagonist of the story (Andy Dufresne), never gave up the one thing that prison can so easily steal: hope. In a conversation in the prison courtyard between Dufresne and his best friend in prison (Ellis Boyd ‘Red’ Redding), Dufresne is sharing his hope of one day getting out and living in Mexico.

Dufresne: You know what the Mexicans say about the Pacific?

 

Red: No.

 

Dufresne: They say it has no memory. That’s where I want to live the rest of my life. A warm place with no memory.

 

It is obviously far too ideal, and no such place exists, although the Bahamas come close. Erasing memories only happen in the world of Michel Gondry’s films, and reality dictates that mistakes can’t evaporate into thin air. Which means, Vick’s horrible mistakes will always remain on people’s minds, especially those who have a vested interest in seeing him fail. The craziest thing is, if Vick only lives within this harsh reality, he’s never really left prison.

 

I know, there are some who believe that a person who can carry out such atrocious acts doesn’t deserve restoration. For instance, if a person ever wrongfully hurt a loved one of mine, I would have a hard time swallowing what I just wrote. But that’s the amazing and profound thing about grace and hope—it’s not about balancing the scale, it’s all about throwing the weights off the scale.

 

True vengeance can never be fully ours, as we will never ever be satisfied with the outcome. How many of us have heard this response from family members after hearing a guilty verdict read against the murderer: “It’ll never bring Jimmy back, but at least justice was served.” In other words, no matter what the judgment, all they ever wanted was Jimmy back. Similarly, those who object to Vick, all they want are those dogs back. And those who believe Vick can turn a corner; at least justice was served, right? But, isn’t there something else missing in this equation?

 

The dogs will never come back and no matter what level of justice you ask for, that can’t happen. However, Vick has a tremendous opportunity to be and to do something great. At the most basic level, Vick can lead a productive NFL career and quietly function as a contributing member of society, which would qualify by all counts as a successful prison reintegration. But this strange thing called hope, suggests that Vick could become much more than we imagined. 

 

Dufresne: That's the beauty of music. They can't get that from you... Haven't you ever felt that way about music?

 

Red: I played a mean harmonica as a younger man. Lost interest in it though. Didn't make much sense in here.

 

Dufresne: Here's where it makes the most sense. You need it so you don't forget.

 

Red: Forget?

 

Dufresne: Forget that ... there are places in this world that aren't made out of stone. That there's something inside ... that they can't get to, that they can't touch. That's yours.

 

Red: What're you talking about?

 

Dufresne: Hope.

 

When I think about seeing this in practical ways, an initiative like Prison Entrepreneurship Program (http://www.prisonentrepreneurship.org) comes to mind. Led by a former Wall Street investor, Catherine Rohr, this organization focuses on reintegrating prisoners back into society not to just survive reality but to thrive in it. This is a great example of finding hope in a place that the world can’t touch—their potential. The first lines you’ll see as you enter the “About Us” page read: We were murderers. We were gang leaders. We were drug dealers. We are executives. We are MBAs. We are pastors. We are professionals.

 

Take away a person’s hope, and it won’t matter if they’re behind prison bars or free. Dufresne’s and Red’s friend, Brooks, realized that—after re-entering society decades inside prison—it was easier to not live than to live in fear without hope. “I have bad dreams like I’m falling. I wake up scared … I don’t like it here. I’m tired of being afraid all the time. I’ve decided not to stay,” Brooks wrote in a chilling suicide letter.

 

How different were the words of Red, who just like Brooks, was released back into society after decades of being inside prison walls. “I find I'm so excited, I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it is the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend, and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope.”

 

Here’s to Vick’s reintegration into hope.