Michael Vick, Do the Right Things

Michael Vick is back in the National Football League and with his reinstatement in the league and brand new deal with the Philadelphia Eagles, comes the rampant outrage by those who feel Vick is the Devil incarnate.

Vick did horrible unspeakable acts against man’s best friend. He abused (killed, tortured) living creatures for his own entertainment and financial gains. Vick's actions were despicable and inexcusable.

We are, however, a society of second chances. To err is human.

Every person who has graced this planet with their presence has made a mistake.

Every person has done something they are ashamed of.

The NFL has a history of those who have committed terrible offenses: drunk driving/manslaughter (Donte Stallworth); child and spousal abuse/murder (Ray Caruth); dealing drugs (Travis Henry).

Every second of the day, thousands of people in this country are committing illegal or immoral acts: shoplifting, cheating on a test, adultery, using performance enhancing drugs, telling a lie to get out of work, etc.

He who is without sin cast the first stone.

As a culture we will never forget what Vick did to those dogs. We will never see him in the same light as prior to the chain of events that led to his prison sentence.

Awesome!

This will allow us to benefit from such a horrific situation. It will also allow Vick to make some sort of reparation for his actions: If he does the right things!

No event in history has positively affected the awareness of animal cruelty.

Ever.

Not the Spotted Owl movement. Not the fight against killing whales and baby seals. Not the "Dolphins in the Tuna Nets" cause that led to a huge marketing event by those who wanted to charge more for the "dolphin safe" tuna.

We tend to learn very little from subtle ripples. Splash some water on the beach and nobody notices. Create a tsunami that wipes out every thing in its path and we start to pay attention. We research the cause of the tsunami. We take steps to avoid such future devastation.

We learn from what we experience, especially in extreme environments: Slavery, the Holocaust, Apartheid, Guantanamo Bay.

There are constant injustices the human race has inflicted against its own humanity and the more heinous the event, the more we learn from it,  the more we move towards preventing it from ever happening again.

Does anyone in America not know who Michael Vick is?

Has it altered our behaviors to not discipline our own dogs because it chewed through the new couch cushions?

Do we hug and pet and feed our dogs better now because of how disgusted we were by the news of what Vick had done?

The day the news broke about the atrocities that Vick participated in and may have even been the driving force behind, was the day every dog fighting ring in America took notice and shut their doors.

Attention to illegal and immoral activities can effectively eliminate those activities.

Michael Vick needs to earn his second chance. There are three steps that Vick can take to reestablish himself as worthy of a second chance.

1. Continue his maturation process that appears to have begun with his time in prison. Grow as a person and become less selfish. Think of how his actions can and will effect others and participate accordingly with only good intentions. 
2. Separate himself from anyone prone to participate in illegal or immoral activity. Everyone makes mistakes, but surrounding himself with those less prone to make inappropriate choices and with higher moral and ethical standards, will help keep Vick's moral compass more likely to point in the right direction.
3. Use his money, his influence, and his notoriety to keep the issue of animal cruelty in the forefront of our consciousness, this time for all the right reasons.

Vick will never be forgiven. His actions will never be forgotten.

Great!

Let him and society learn from his mistakes, atone for his injustices. He has done more for the cause against animal cruelty than any protests against him will ever do.

Let him earn his second chance. His participation in the NFL will only enhance our fight for animal rights...if he does the right things!