I watched on television this morning as construction workers removed the statue of Joe Paterno outside Beaver Stadium on the campus of Penn State. There was a crowd of a few dozen Joe Paterno supporters who chanted, "We are Penn State!" as a forklift hauled away the Paterno statue. What made the event even more bizarre was that the removal of the statue was done behind a solid blue construction fence in an effort to cover up the work that was being done. How fitting.
Over the years, I have been to a few Penn State football games and I have always been amazed at the cult worship status of Joe Paterno. When fans would get a glimpse of Old Joe they would go into a mass hysteria of applause that sometimes elicited tears and speaking in tongues. They would flock to see him as if the Saviour was entering Jerusalem. As a non Penn State alumnist I thought this whole scene to be very bizarre. To the Penn State grads around me there was nothing more sacred then getting a glimpse of the football legend. Maybe if they could just touch the hem of Joe's pants they would be healed. Who knows?
This cult worship of any human is dangerous. I learned a long time ago not to worship another person. The fact is that they are human and if they are human they are fallible and if they are fallible they will let you down. I apologize to all of my English teachers for that run on sentence. Anyway, the facts seem to point out that while Old Joe was a great football coach, he knew about the pedophile who was a coach on his staff and he did nothing about it.
Actually, it's too bad that Mr. Paterno died before he could defend himself. When the whole Sandusky scandal broke Joe said that he couldn't comment on the situation while the investigation was taking place. I would love to hear his explanation and I believe that everyone accused of something should have their day in court. But the Penn State President took down the image of Joe saying that it had become, "a source of division and an obstacle to healing."
So, as I watched the news footage of the statue being removed, they took the statue somewhere inside Beaver Stadium. I think a good place to relocate the statue might be to the men's locker room right next to the showers. That way Old Joe can keep watch to make sure that the showers are actually used for showering.
Actually, I was not in favor of the statue being removed. I thought it should have remained but I thought they should have painted it "YELLOW". Just as Hester Prynne had to wear the scarlet letter, I think Joe should have had to endure the moniker of being painted yellow to signify that he and those in authority at Penn State were too chicken to do what was right. They covered up the acts of a pedophile to protect the image of the university. For that matter, with the statue gone, they still have time to paint the stadium yellow.
Be Well.
Bill
"It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man." Psalm 118:8
