Tuesday, June 19, 2007
True friends don't push for criminal charges
An article in the Salt Lake Tribune says that Rocky Anderson has asked police to look into criminal charges against a developer who confronted him in the hallway of city hall. True Christians of any faith don't push for criminal charges. Our community has seen great examples of forgiveness over the past year. Unfortunately we never seem to get similar examples from elected officials like Mayor Rocky Anderson.
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2 comments:
Thad,
We may have differing opinions on this one.
My opinion of the situation you mentioned is that Mayor Anderson acted as poorly as the developer he asked the police to look into prosecuting. He used his clout to call for an investigation.
Rocky is an "in your face" sort of guy and shouldn't be surprised when people get in his personal space in response. My mother would say it is a perfect example of the pot calling the kettle black.
However, I feel that forgiveness and not allowing natural consequences to follow our actions is two different things.
Whenever, we mitigate the consequences of actions, we stymie growth. For example, if I always run my son’s math book over to the school when he leaves it at home, he will continue to forget it. However, if he has to suffer the consequences (lower grade, angry teacher, etc.), he’ll learn to remember his math book much quicker.
Mayor Anderson has used his position to bully others – personally and more anonymously as a Mayor. The consequences that you or I would have suffered for similar behaviors have been suspended for Rocky, so he thinks it’s okay for him to act the way he does.
It seems to me, that Mayor Anderson was as hot under the collar as developer was. I think Rocky behaved badly. I'm sure the developer reacted in a similar manner. (This is not to say I don't understand his frustration!) But if he was assaulted, the other individual needed to be held accountable. However, all of this reminds me of a little girl crying “Brother hit me!” when she hit him first!
Thanks for creating this site and allowing us to talk about the things that concern us. I love WX and think it’s a great place for my family. Concerned, involved citizens will make it even better. Even when we disagree!
Ann Richardson
Ann,
I think we agree more than we disagree on this.
I'm all for allowing natural consequences to follow our actions. In this case, both men were, in my opinion, humiliated by the media. There were several police officers in the vicinity. Certainly if these police officers saw something that they felt warranted criminal charges, they would have taken steps to see that criminal charges were filed.
The think that bothered me about the deal is Mayor Anderson pushing for criminal charges. A true friend in that circumstance should take a step back and say "we both acted stupid, let's move on."
The natural consequence had already happened, in my opinion.
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