Minnesota Vikings star player Adrian Peterson wasn’t on the field Sunday. The NFL team deactivated the All-Pro running back after a Texas grand jury indicted Peterson for reckless injury of a child.
And it was reckless. Peterson took a “switch,” an object likened to a wooden rod or tree branch, to punish his 4-year-old son. It has been reported that doctors told investigators that Peterson’s boy incurred a number of open wounds, bruises and lacerations on his body. Peterson’s vicious assault on his child was morally reprehensible, and tough action is needed to ensure that such actions will not be tolerated in the NFL.
Some will come to Peterson’s defense under the guise of the biblical proverb “Spare the rod, spoil the child.” But let’s not forget that the Bible also exhorts fathers to have compassion on their children in Psalm 103:13.
Rusty Hardin, Peterson’s attorney, attempted to come to the rescue in a statement saying that Peterson was merely using “the same kind of discipline with his child that he experienced as a child growing up in east Texas.”
Peterson calls himself a Christian. In an Aug. 14 tweet, Peterson tweeted “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made…(2 Corinthians 12:9) #dontcarrytheload.”
So it is unnecessary then for Peterson to “whoop” his child to the point of bodily injury because Jesus already paid that kind of injury on the cross—taking the wrath of God upon himself so that man wouldn’t have to. Beating a child with excess makes a mockery of the load and torture Christ already carried.
However, this doesn’t mean we don’t discipline our youth. But how about we employ the methods used by some local Long Beach youth coaches?
Long time Long Beach pop-warner football coach Louie Silva doesn’t hesitate to discipline his young junior pee-wee athletes. But when he does so, it is always out of compassion and care.
“If you forget your cup to practice, then excuse me, I’m not letting you practice because it’s unsafe,” Silva said. “And if you got homework, sit down over there and do your homework and then you can come practice.”
It’s called tough love. And yes, that biblical proverb “Spare the rod, spoil the child,” is still a valid parenting technique—only it’s designed to be a corrective measure, not a license to beat your child.
The NFL is still trying to deal with the Ray Rice domestic violence scandal. Peterson’s accusations of child abuse only worsen publicity for the NFL. Forbes contributor Patrick Rishe labels Peterson’s behavior “absolutely sickening, reprehensible and unforgivable” and calls Commissioner Goodell and the NFL to “make an example of a reported child abuser.”
We all know that some players in the NFL in recent times have acted immorally, and their behavior should not go undealt with. But Peterson’s and the NFL’s critics also have a lesson to learn. Didn’t Jesus say in Matthew 6:15 that “If you don’t forgive others of their sins, God won’t forgive yours?”
