Casting The

The word has never crossed my lips, so it is rather ironic that I find myself defending someone who has used it.

It is a two syllable word that is ugly and there is no place for it in anyone’s vocabulary.

However, now it also has the weight of a sword destroying others who once fell in its path.

I heard it often in my youth. However, I heard many other words equally vile and that made me cringe.

I was described ethnically by those who belonged to another culture and I turned away. Cruelty of any type, either vocal or physical had no appeal even in youth.

Yet does the moment of cruelty that allowed the use of a word, possibly once, warrant the end of a career?

Today’s news seems to justify the abrupt end of a young talented woman’s career because of her use of the ugly word while in her teens.

It seems rather a harsh penalty for a youthful misstep for which an apology has been made.

I am reluctant to examine all the mistakes I may have made in adolescence that some self righteous judge may wish to unearth now decades later.

I must wonder about the purity of soul of the accusers in the current court of public judgment. Do their own teen age years allow examination that would eliminate their comfortable careers?

And would they allow public examination of their lives?

I never called anyone a name. I know that. Possibly because I lived in a society where name calling had little consequences. Or to be more candid, I believed it only reflected on the lack of vocabulary of the speaker.

I avoided others who were limited with their descriptive abilities. Should I be shunned also?

And what about you? Is there one among us who never made a mistake?

Dare we look into your files?

Or perhaps best to remember the words,

“Let he who is without sin.........”

And allow the young lady to keep her well earned job and share her God given talent with others.