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Mark Wahlberg, the pardon and differing Catholic and Protestant views on sin
By adamg on Sun, 12/07/2014 - 12:57pm
The former punk who made good continues to generate controversy with his pardon plea. Sarah Francis, who lives in Dorchester, has started an online petition urging the parole board to reject the former Marky Mark's petition:
Under the present racial climate in this country this petition for pardon is both out of touch with the fair and procedural workings of our political justice system and if passed, at the present time presents a dangerous hindrance to the building of community connections both racially and economically in the city of Boston.
In a message to Wahlberg, she adds:
I don't need to tell you about Dorchester. You lived it and in your recent past you have given back to your old town. Your work on the behalf of Dorchester children is commendable and I personally thank you for reaching out to your community. I must ask you though: How many of those children who have run into trouble before or after experiencing your summer camp experiences will be able to expunge their records? How many of them were treated unfairly, harassed and manipulated by a system that you are petitioning to grant you a pardon from your past transgressions?
Mike Ball doesn't think Wahlberg deserves a pardon, but says he should at least be given the chance to expand his burger business, given all the good he has done since he was "a racist punk" who partially blinded a Vietnamese man, beat up another and threw rocks at black kids and their teachers.
Ball contrasts the Catholic concept of confession and absolution, with the sterner Yankee Protestant ideas of permanent sin:
Wahlberg does not deserve a pardon to pretend he never did the dreadful racist attacks. However, his point of the unfairness of stenciling his life perpetually with a stencil from his 16-year-old sins is crazy. ... Yes, he should forever he known for his bad deeds as he wants now to be known for his good ones. But the business regulations should not add perpetual real-world punishment to the shame.
Marjorie Arons-Barron also acknowledges the good work Wahlberg has done with his charity, but adds:
Mark Wahlberg terrorized his Dorchester neighborhood, and backed his racial slurs against blacks and Vietnamese with brute force. People were traumatized, some for life. Wahlberg has turned his life around. The neighborhood still faces challenges.
Pardon him perhaps, after a full public hearing and a thorough review by the Governor, who should be less star struck than the Governor’s Council if Wahlberg comes before them. But first let Wahlberg engage his victims, provide substantial support and make it personal.
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Comments
Come on Mahky Mahk...
Be an adult. You need to own your mistakes and educate others about how you were wrong, not hide them. Disappointed.
Governor Patrick has pardoned no one in his tenure
Now that he has indicated that he will entertain petitions, I think Marky Mark's should fall behind those of non-violent offenders or those where there is some indication of prosecutorial misconduct (like Gerald Amirault).
Timing
"Governor Patrick has pardoned no one in his tenure"
Governors and presidents tend to pardon people as one of the very last things they do before they leave office. It's kind of a tradition. The timing of this Mark Wahlberg hing is not coincidental.
He did in November
1 commutation and 4 pardons.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/11/10/closer-look-governor-deval-p...
Thank you
The article I found reported no pardons in eight years. That was a few days before this article, which did not pop up when I did a search for reasons unknown.
Thanks for the correction.
Walberg needs to own up his his violent racism first
In his pardon request and in general talking about his past, he omits his racist thuggery and talks generally about making mistakes. He needs to own up to his violent racism before he can ask to have his record cleared. He served a very short sentence for such a violent, hateful string of attacks its hard to say the system was unfair to him. If he cant talk openly and honestly about his racism, it seems like he feels like it wasn't/isn't a problem, and this will set Boston backwards if he is cleared of it without accepting it.
I agree
It's rather off-putting that he tried to pass it off as a teenager trying to steal beer. Maybe that was the underlying motivation, but the crime was much worse than that.
I agree. In most religious
I agree. In most religious and legal traditions, it order to achieve forgiveness and redemption, one has to confess one's sins/transgressions openly and completely. In this vague and unspecific application for a pardon, he does not do this. He doesn't speak to the brutality and racism of his crimes and the long-lasting impact they had on individuals and this community. That must be the very first step. I do feel that Wahlberg should not be perpetually punished for something he did all those years ago; he should be allowed to develop his business in spite of this. But he doesn't deserve a pardon, and I doubt if he'd even be asking for one if the business were not an issue.
Not convinced he's "made good"
No one with Wahlberg's sort of money has an excuse to not donate a chunk of it to charity, spend some time with poor kids, and hire a publicist to talk about. It doesn't give him any moral high ground over anyone else seeking a pardon. Everyone needs to be judged by their circumstances.
Now granted, I wouldn't want to be judged for the rest of my life by the things I did when I was 16, but he needs to convince us he deserves it more than anyone else convicted of a felony at 16. Otherwise we might as well just expunge everyone's record after x amount of years. I'll be open minded, maybe he can convince me of this, but he hasn't yet.
Interesting ideas here
Let's be honest: Wahlberg's fortunes have not in any meaningful way been limited by this conviction on his record - he's still a wealthy person despite his past. He will never have to work again if he doesn't want to. The fact that these convictions are keeping him from making more money is why he is seeking a pardon.
Contrast this with people who cannot vote and cannot even get a job because of their past convictions, including those for non-violent felonies.
If this is truly about justice, why doesn't he lobby and fund lobbying efforts to change the laws that brand people for life even after they have managed to turn into productive and decent human beings? Why should MarkyMark be absolved of his past when the guy who cleared the way for the Patriot's kicker so many years ago still wears his despite decades of good citizenship? Why is he only looking to change things for himself, when many people in similar situations are relegated to poverty, rather than just barred from liquor licenses?
Instead of talking pardons, maybe this conversation should veer toward reforms that give people like him something to work for rather than trap them for life?
In fact, while discussing Christian themes
I am reminded from my own Catholic days of the Widow's Mite:
Let's see if the pardon board views in the same way.
Source: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+21%3A1-4&version=NRSVCE
No pardon
No, don't pardon Mark Walberg. But I say that in considering the victim of Walberg's offense. Not because of PC garbage forced on us by the likes of opportunists like Sarah Francis.
Indeed Mark Walberg is an excellent actor and has turned his life around and contributed to charity. I get it. But his victim can never get his sight back. Walberg's difficulty in getting a potential business license, or whatever is the catalyst for this attempt, is a minor inconvenience. That's nothing compared to a lifelong injury.
Calvinist Protestants
Are there anyone more pompous and full of themselves? What can you say about a people who went from one extreme, Puritanism, to another, Unitarian Congregationalist? That's like going from being a Nazi to being Marxist.
The more I ponder it, the
The more I ponder it, the more obvious it becomes: Marky Mark Wahlberg is/was the Justin Beiber of 1992. Don't pardon him!