Hey folks, Bob again. Have you seen that horrific video just released of star NFL Running Back Ray Rice knocking unconscious his then fiancee in that elevator? Wow, its pretty hard to watch. Heres the basic timeline of what happened. Back in February, he was charged with assault for punching his fiancee Janay Palmer in the face. He was suspended for 2 days from the NFL. He and and Janay were married one month later in March of this year, saying this assault was out of character for him, that hes a great guy and that shes forgiven him as they move on. Well, just this week, TMZ released a video of the elevator assault from back in February and the visual of it has shocked a lot of people. It shows Rice punching Palmer in the face so hard it knocks her into the wall and she collapses unconscious. When the elevator door opens, he drags her out, plopping her face down on the hallway floor and rather than pull down her skirt that had pulled all the way up, he kicked her to wake her up. After seeing the video of this, the NFL has now changed his 2 day suspension to an “indefinite” suspension and the Baltimore Ravens have, in essence, fired him, canceling his contract. Rice has voiced contrition, saying what he did was “inexcusable” and expressed how sorry he is, etc. There are so many strange twists to this story, though. Some people are criticizing Janay Palmer for marrying him just one month after he did this to her. Some people are mad at the NFL and the Baltimore Ravens for not giving their harsh punishment earlier this year when they knew what happened, until now suddenly when the video has been released. Most people are angry and disgusted with Rice after seeing this video and feel he should be banned for life from professional sports. However, some Christians like Dr. Ben Carson, the conservative African American Neurosurgeon and Phil Robertson of “Duck Dynasty” fame are saying we need to show some mercy and grace to Ray Rice. Neither are denying the ugliness of beating a woman, but they are saying we need to show some Christ like mercy. The point being that Rice is paying a price for what he did, he has apologized, has gotten therapy, has made no excuses and has had his wife declare her forgiveness for him and saying by all other accounts, he is a decent guy.......so they are saying that we should extend forgiveness as well and accept him back into the NFL at some point. As offensive as the idea of hitting a woman is, I must be a Christian first and as a Christian, I must respond as Jesus would respond. We all know Jesus would say “neither do I condemn you....go and sin no more”. So, Im curious how the Christian community is looking at Ray Rice today. In light of the release of this video, how are you seeing this story? Should Ray Rice ever be allowed back into the NFL? What are your thoughts about Ray Rice today? espn.go/nfl/story/_/id/11493042/janay-rice-defends-ray-rice-criticizes-media-instagram-post
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 18:25:23 +0000