false pretenses - Off Topic Forum. - Country Musi...
Please login or register free to be able to post.
View forum:
false pretenses
Started by
linyong10,
2015/01/31 12:49AM
Latest post: 2018/11/02 12:09PM, Views: 4120, Posts: 224
Latest post: 2018/11/02 12:09PM, Views: 4120, Posts: 224
false pretenses
#1
2015/01/31 12:49AM
linyong10
a land of 2nd chances
Gore Vidal called us "the United States of Amnesia." And now Lance Armstrong's televised cheating confession raises the question of whether, when it comes to fallen heroes, there's anything Americans won't forgive and forget.
From Bill Clinton (again toast of the Democratic Party) to Charlie Sheen (again a sitcom TV star) to Michael Vick (again an NFL quarterback), the bar for public redemption seems to have gotten lower and lower. Notre Dame star linebacker Manti Te'o embroiled in his own personal drama over a fictitious girlfriend could be next up in the groveling line.
"America," says Frank Farley, former president of the American Psychological Association and a student of hero worship, "is the land of second chances." All you have to do is ask especially if you can throw a ball, sing a song, make a speech, coach a team or hold the camera.
Armstrong, though, tests even Americans' capacity for forgiveness; in addition to doping, for years the cyclist bullied others to dope; vilified his accusers and investigators; and used his cancer survivor cum superman athlete saga to enrich himself and raise money for charity.
As a cyclist, Armstrong has climbed many cheap nfl jerseys hills. As a candidate for forgiveness, says John Cirillo, public relations consultant and former New York Knicks spokesman, "he has a Mount Everest to climb. He's become one of the most notorious liars in American sports history."
Yet experience suggests there is hope even for Armstrong. He just has to repent or appear to.
How? In the Tour de France, Armstrong had to complete 21 stages in 23 days; the experts psychologists, theologians, ethicists, agents, PR people say that in his television interview with Oprah Winfrey, he had to complete four stages in two wholesale jerseys hours.
Here is your score card as you watch tonight. See if you think he did.
1. Confession: 'I did it.'
Some fallen heroes do not even make it this far. Roger Clemens (pitcher accused of doping) and Kobe Bryant (hoopster accused of sexual assault) have denied wrongdoing and prevailed legally. Others have proclaimed their innocence all the way to prison. They include "Queen of Mean" hotel owner Leona Helmsley, who by all appearances didn't cheap jerseys want your forgiveness, anyway.
For celebrities, Winfrey's show is a popular confessional, having accommodated the likes of memoirist James Frey, who admitted fabricating facts, and David Letterman, who admitted office affairs.
2. Contrition: 'I'm sorry I did it.'
This might seem a small, obvious step. Even the rebellious Sheen, speaking at the 2011 Emmy Awards, made amends for some of his previous antics. But there are apologies and apologies.
Pete Rose, for instance, has never seemed all that sorry for betting on baseball games when he was a manager. He tried to explain why in his 2004 autobiography: "I'm supposed to act all sorry or sad or guilty now that I've accepted that I've done something wrong. But you see, I'm just not built that way."
His build didn't make him look contrite. Neither did the fact that, after 14 years of denials, he confessed three days before his book went on sale.
In it, he sounded more petulant than penitent: "I've consistently heard the statement: 'If Pete Rose came clean, all would be forgiven.' Well, I've done what you've asked."
Also, the apologist doesn't always stick to the apology. Rep. Todd Akin sent a mixed message last year in his Senate campaign when, after three days of expressing remorse for having said women rarely get pregnant in cases of "legitimate rape," he said there had been "a little bit of an overreaction" to his comments.
The best way to undercut an apology is to make it conditional, as in "I'm sorry if anyone was offended by what I " The "if" implies that the insult, wholesale nfl jerseys usually bad enough to penetrate the hide of a rhinoceros, was offensive only in the mind of the offended.
3. Conversion: 'I will not do it again.'
This seems implicit after the first two steps.
It's something, he says, "people can feel in their bones." To be convincing, a promise to sin no more requires a final step.
4. Atonement: 'I will do this because I did that.'
Confession and contrition can't be assumed to have produced conversion unless it comes with penance.
Martin, who hears people's confessions and assigns penance Catholics and some other Christians call it the Rite of Reconciliation says penance has to be proportionate to the sin, and to be performed voluntarily and publicly.
Michael Vick, once in prison and in disgrace for his role in dog fighting, has worked with the Humane Society of the United States to combat cruelty to animals and spoken at inner city schools to tell students of his mistakes. His rehabilitation has been commended by many, including the president.
Martin has considered some possible penances for Armstrong, such as 1) vowing never to cycle again; 2) turning his millions over to a charity other than his own creation, the Livestrong Foundation;
writing letters to all those from whom he raised money under what now appear to have been false pretenses.
But he said Armstrong's reported readiness now to testify against cycling officials who allowed or encouraged doping does not qualify: "Penance is not blaming others, or sending them to jail. That's like going into the confessional and telling the priest about other people's sins."
Assuming these four steps are followed, we will forgive our heroes (if not our relatives, neighbors or co workers) almost anything, eventually.
Gore Vidal called us "the United States of Amnesia." And now Lance Armstrong's televised cheating confession raises the question of whether, when it comes to fallen heroes, there's anything Americans won't forgive and forget.
From Bill Clinton (again toast of the Democratic Party) to Charlie Sheen (again a sitcom TV star) to Michael Vick (again an NFL quarterback), the bar for public redemption seems to have gotten lower and lower. Notre Dame star linebacker Manti Te'o embroiled in his own personal drama over a fictitious girlfriend could be next up in the groveling line.
"America," says Frank Farley, former president of the American Psychological Association and a student of hero worship, "is the land of second chances." All you have to do is ask especially if you can throw a ball, sing a song, make a speech, coach a team or hold the camera.
Armstrong, though, tests even Americans' capacity for forgiveness; in addition to doping, for years the cyclist bullied others to dope; vilified his accusers and investigators; and used his cancer survivor cum superman athlete saga to enrich himself and raise money for charity.
As a cyclist, Armstrong has climbed many cheap nfl jerseys hills. As a candidate for forgiveness, says John Cirillo, public relations consultant and former New York Knicks spokesman, "he has a Mount Everest to climb. He's become one of the most notorious liars in American sports history."
Yet experience suggests there is hope even for Armstrong. He just has to repent or appear to.
How? In the Tour de France, Armstrong had to complete 21 stages in 23 days; the experts psychologists, theologians, ethicists, agents, PR people say that in his television interview with Oprah Winfrey, he had to complete four stages in two wholesale jerseys hours.
Here is your score card as you watch tonight. See if you think he did.
1. Confession: 'I did it.'
Some fallen heroes do not even make it this far. Roger Clemens (pitcher accused of doping) and Kobe Bryant (hoopster accused of sexual assault) have denied wrongdoing and prevailed legally. Others have proclaimed their innocence all the way to prison. They include "Queen of Mean" hotel owner Leona Helmsley, who by all appearances didn't cheap jerseys want your forgiveness, anyway.
For celebrities, Winfrey's show is a popular confessional, having accommodated the likes of memoirist James Frey, who admitted fabricating facts, and David Letterman, who admitted office affairs.
2. Contrition: 'I'm sorry I did it.'
This might seem a small, obvious step. Even the rebellious Sheen, speaking at the 2011 Emmy Awards, made amends for some of his previous antics. But there are apologies and apologies.
Pete Rose, for instance, has never seemed all that sorry for betting on baseball games when he was a manager. He tried to explain why in his 2004 autobiography: "I'm supposed to act all sorry or sad or guilty now that I've accepted that I've done something wrong. But you see, I'm just not built that way."
His build didn't make him look contrite. Neither did the fact that, after 14 years of denials, he confessed three days before his book went on sale.
In it, he sounded more petulant than penitent: "I've consistently heard the statement: 'If Pete Rose came clean, all would be forgiven.' Well, I've done what you've asked."
Also, the apologist doesn't always stick to the apology. Rep. Todd Akin sent a mixed message last year in his Senate campaign when, after three days of expressing remorse for having said women rarely get pregnant in cases of "legitimate rape," he said there had been "a little bit of an overreaction" to his comments.
The best way to undercut an apology is to make it conditional, as in "I'm sorry if anyone was offended by what I " The "if" implies that the insult, wholesale nfl jerseys usually bad enough to penetrate the hide of a rhinoceros, was offensive only in the mind of the offended.
3. Conversion: 'I will not do it again.'
This seems implicit after the first two steps.
It's something, he says, "people can feel in their bones." To be convincing, a promise to sin no more requires a final step.
4. Atonement: 'I will do this because I did that.'
Confession and contrition can't be assumed to have produced conversion unless it comes with penance.
Martin, who hears people's confessions and assigns penance Catholics and some other Christians call it the Rite of Reconciliation says penance has to be proportionate to the sin, and to be performed voluntarily and publicly.
Michael Vick, once in prison and in disgrace for his role in dog fighting, has worked with the Humane Society of the United States to combat cruelty to animals and spoken at inner city schools to tell students of his mistakes. His rehabilitation has been commended by many, including the president.
Martin has considered some possible penances for Armstrong, such as 1) vowing never to cycle again; 2) turning his millions over to a charity other than his own creation, the Livestrong Foundation;
writing letters to all those from whom he raised money under what now appear to have been false pretenses.But he said Armstrong's reported readiness now to testify against cycling officials who allowed or encouraged doping does not qualify: "Penance is not blaming others, or sending them to jail. That's like going into the confessional and telling the priest about other people's sins."
Assuming these four steps are followed, we will forgive our heroes (if not our relatives, neighbors or co workers) almost anything, eventually.
Please login or register free to be able to post.
- Links allowed: yes
- Allow HTML: no
- Allow BB code yes
- Allow youTube.com: yes
- Allow code: yes
- Links visible: no
- Quick reply: yes
- Post preview: yes
