Sounding A Call for Mercy

***The following was delivered as part of the "Public Comments" portion of the July 15, 2013 Board of Selectmen meeting. It is important to note that I spoke as a citizen, not as a member of the board.***

On at least June 28th, residents of the Town of Northborough, and anyone else paying attention learned that one of their police officers had resigned due to allegations of conduct unbecoming someone sworn to uphold the law. My point in making this comment is to neither cast aspersions on this officer, nor offer any speculation as to his actions, or the outcome of any judicial process. 

Daily I turn on my television and see news reports of another American caught in the web of wrongdoing. One stands accused of using racial epithets, another suspected of adultery, and still another arrested on suspicion of embezzlement. The list goes on and on and on, and includes offenses large and small. The technological advances we all enjoy have made our society transparent and anonymous. There are cries for accountability and justice, except they’re coming from User “Rob80” and User “b36729,” whoever they are. 

Something tells me that both Rob80 and b36729 have their own webs of wrongdoing, as does each and every one of us. None of us is capable of throwing the parabolic first stone.

And so, on behalf of this officer and anyone else who succumbs to the weaknesses with which all human beings struggle, I sound a call for mercy. “So much of the civil strife and conflict in our society could be ameliorated by a small touch of mercy. Instead, the Mosaic Law of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is often enlarged to require three eyes for one eye or three teeth for one tooth. Many victims, badgered and broken, cry in vain for a touch of kindness.” (Gordon B. Hinckley, Standing for Something, pg. 90)

I’m not asking for an absolution for this officer or anyone else. If adjudicated responsible for their actions, they will be made to rectify their wrongs. I’m simply asking that we don’t further excoriate them in the court of public opinion, choose to forget all of the good that perhaps they contributed to us, or refuse to grant them a clean slate. 

For the most part, I believe in second, third and seventy-seventh chances. I have to believe that, because I, myself, have benefited from such a doctrine. I am not a perfect person, and shutter to think what society would do if my sins or omissions were laid bare. 

This officer will eventually move on with his life. And when that happens, like a “battered, weary swimmer tr[ying] valiantly to get back to shore, after having fought strong winds and rough waves which he should never have challenged in the first place, those of us who might have had better judgment, or perhaps just better luck, ought not to row out to his side, beat him with our oars, and shove his head back underwater. That’s not what boats were made for. But some of us do that to each other.” (Jeffrey R. Holland, A Robe, a Ring, and a Fatted Calf, Brigham Young University, 1984)