Did Joe Paterno die a saint? He only knew a
small tip of the iceberg of the abuse scandal, and he reported in good faith
what little he did know to his superiors. He had no reason to suspect that these
higher-ups would not properly follow up on the accusations, therefore he
was absolutely under no moral obligation to probe into their actions.
Yet in the popular mind he was falsely accused of failing to act to
stop child abuse.
He was unnecessarily humiliated by the board of trustees
of the University, who unanimously voted to fire him for the "good of the
University," justifying their action with feeble excuses. He was pilloried in
the national press and publicly shamed on the false charge of a hypothetical moral lapse.
Yet, to the very end, as far as I am aware, he expressed
neither rancor nor vindictiveness towards those who falsely accused and attacked
him. He was led like a sheep to the slaughter.
To me he died like a saint, pelted under a bombardment
of stones cast by that great multitude of people who were without sin.
