*If you haven’t seen the video of the night in question it is readily available. I’m glad it was documented but I cannot bring myself to have something so ugly on my site*

The following are real comments, from real people, on a Ravens message board pontificating on how a good guy like Ray Rice is getting a bad rap for one drunken mistake. In the interest of public discourse I figured that I’d respond to them collectively, that we might examine the many nuances of “Does beating your wife half to death in a casino elevator really make you bad person?“. To some this is a straight forward proposition, for others…well, I’ll let them speak for themselves.

 

 

“”I am not defending Ray Rice. All we know is that he had a drunken night with his wife and mistakes were made. People commit all sorts of stupid acts because they are drunk.”

 Very true. I once shat in a round garbage can two feet from my toilet because I was too drunk to tell the difference. I’ve carried abandoned furniture ten blocks in the rain, thinking my wife would praise me for bringing her an upholstered bench with all but one leg broken off. I have called 911 to get the number for a cab company and argued with the operator about the nature of the service that they were supposed to provide.

Those were mistakes brought about by alcohol induced errors in logic and judgment. Brutally lashing out at someone that you love is a choice, and one borne of a deep sociopathic contempt for others. Alcohol just made him forget that people were watching.

 

“Prior to this event he is considered to be a great individual in the community. He has one bad night, out drunk, knocks out his also drunk wife, in what is a case of people being stupid and drunk. Instantly he’s horrible. Humorous.”

 

Entirely correct. Prior to this event he was considered to be a great individual in the community. Likewise, prior to modern agricultural methods, it was considered that drought was proof of the gods’ displeasure, and it was a smart hedge to sacrifice the odd virgin to appease their whimsy.

Rational people, when confronted with compelling new evidence, put aside dangerously flawed beliefs rooted in self serving ignorance.

 

” I know people, including myself, want to write him off as a scumbag, but I don’t think one lapse in judgment should negate all the good he did.”

 

Fair enough. How many beatings would you say are reasonable to deliver before they starting counting against our character? Is there just the one freebie? Is it a baseball style three and out? Does it reset with each romantic partner, or, is it a lifetime limit? Perhaps we could treat it like a sort of choir/privilege list, where if you do a certain amount of good in the community you are allowed one reprehensible act and a soda from the general store?

There are choices that define you. This was one of them.