Wednesday, June 26, 2024

Am I My Brother’s Keeper?

How much are we responsible for the actions of others?

By André van Heerden, Communications Director

Many would agree that parents are responsible for the actions of their children—at least up until a certain age. I remember being a teenager and my father learning about some trouble that my friends had caused. He asked if I had been with them when the offense happened. I hadn’t.

He told me that if I was, even if I hadn’t participated, he would consider me guilty by association. I didn’t think that was fair, but he explained that if I was there and didn’t stop my friends, I was just as guilty. It took me a number of years to understand and agree with his logic.

In the famous story from the Bible, God asks Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” Cain answers, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:9)

Cain of course was lying, and God knew it. Cain had murdered his brother. But the sentiment he expressed—I’m not responsible for others—has been expressed by many ever since.

It’s much easier to claim innocence than to take responsibility for others—especially when it’s a responsibility that could be awkward or unprofitable.

The Oxford dictionary defines hypocrisy as “the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one’s own behavior does not conform.”

I’m sure we can all think of good examples of this, but the most glaring one hitting recent headlines is the dubious relationship between professional sports and legalized sports betting.

I love both participating in and watching sports. But a big part of enjoying sports is knowing that it’s a real competition.

For anyone who watches any sports now, it’s impossible to avoid the multiple advertisements for sports betting. Even half-time commentators are now more focused on the possible bets that can be made than analyzing the actual competition.

The problem with allowing and encouraging gambling on professional sports is that it introduces far too many temptations, pitfalls, and dangers for athletes to become involved in impacting games. The argument that there’s a lot of money to be made makes the justification even worse—and even more dangerous.

Former NBA Commissioner David Stern offered a similar sentiment, saying that sports gambling “inevitably carries with it the suspicion of fixing.” He added that “when a fan has bet money on a team, every missed shot, turnover, and coaching misjudgment will inevitably give rise to speculation, suspicion, and accusations of game-fixing and point-shaving.”

Just in the past few weeks, MLB player Tucupita Marcano and NBA player Jontay Porter were banned for life from their sports, and baseball star Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter was sentenced to 33 years in prison—all for being caught betting on their sports.

Obviously, what they were doing was wrong. But it’s difficult to stomach any outrage from the leagues when they’re making billions of dollars on what they’re now condemning.

Highlighting this hypocrisy of legalized sports gambling, someone tweeted: “Welcome back to SportsCenter presented by ESPN Bet. For more on the Ohtani situation, we go to our FanDuel MLB insider Jeff Passan at our DraftKing Studio in Los Angeles brought to you by Caesar’s Sportsbook. Jeff, how could something like this happen?”

Having sports-gambling businesses financing sports broadcasting and teams is like having liquor or marijuana companies sponsoring construction contractors. The two don’t mix. Advertising and promoting something while at the same time warning against using that same product is disingenuous at best and greedy and cavalier at worst.

Employers have a responsibility and duty to protect their workers through safety training and providing a safe workplace. No responsible, caring employer would promote products that are harmful to their employees.

Whether we’re a parent, a friend, a coworker, an employer, or a politician, we should all be more interested in each other’s well-being than making an extra buck, whether from betting itself or promotion of the same.

Should we be our brother’s keeper? If we care about others at all, the answer is definitely yes.

Am I My Brother’s Keeper?

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