Updated from 7/1/15The Pied PiperWhen I was a kid, there was a "children's story" that scared me to death.The Pied Piper was a story based o
The Pied Piper
When I was a kid, there was a “children’s story” that scared me to death.
The Pied Piper was a story based on a legend about the disappearance of departure or death of nearly all of the children from a town in Germany during the Middle Ages.
He was a charismatic figure who was hired by the mayor of a small town to drive out the rats who had overrun the town. To get rid of the rats, the Pied Piper played tunes on his magic pipe. The rats loved the music so much that they followed the Pied Piper out of town and drowned. Hooray! The Piper saved the day!
But when the mayor didn’t pay the Pied Piper the agreed-upon fee, it was on!
Days later the Pied Piper dressed in colorful fun clothing and played joyful tunes on his magic pipe. The music lured away nearly all of the children and they were never seen again.
The townsfolk mourned over the loss of their beloved children, but they were never seen or heard from again.
Well, that’s the version I read. But I hear there are a lot of them.
The Pied Piper still lives among us.
He still wants to steal the treasure of youth.
Look at the small number of our athletes, entertainers, well-known ministers, educators, small-town heroes, and other famous & highly respected people accused of assault and being predatory.
They aren’t misusing their power and preying upon the vulnerable more than others but seeing what happens with them is like looking into a mirror of our society.
Here is one new public relations con that the Pied Piper uses or benefits from:
Today’s Pied Piper doesn’t work alone. They make use of people that I call, the Pied Pipers Peddler.
Pied Pipers’ Peddler: Someone with a platform who will leverage it to speak on behalf of the Pied Piper when he/she is accused of sexual violence.
Qualifications: The Pied Pipers’ Peddler is usually someone that the Pied Piper has previously employed, someone who admires them, and/or someone who is connected to the Pied Piper somehow. It could also be someone who shares something like race, religion, political affiliation, organization, shared sex, or being a beloved athlete or talent etc.
The Pied Pipers’ Peddler is usually someone that many people like, admire, and/or respect. Otherwise, they’d be useless to the Pied Piper.
Duties:
Utilizes their platform to attack the alleged victim by exposing their “motives.”
Utilizes their platform to attack those who ask questions about the allegations.
Utilizes their platform to attack those who have formed an opinion against the peddler.
Utilizes their platform to gather support for the Pied Pipers’ past contributions, talents, and character.
Apparently mans the Pied Piper’s body camera 24/7/365 and has the ability to report these findings to us.
Purpose: The purpose of the Pied Pipers’ Peddler is to keep the Pied Piper shielded from all controversies.
Meanwhile, the victim, and at times their friends & family, are dredged through a muddy ditch. Every past or present choice, decision, relationship is heavily scrutinized. Since we haven’t seen the Pied Piper they might as well be wearing a white suit.
We live in a society that is largely misinformed about sexual violence. That lack of knowledge is used to attack and shut down.
I am concerned for our children. They depend on us to have accurate information.
For further growth
Try to recall any cases where you know that the abuser was convicted of sexual violence. Who would you say was the Pied Piper in that case? (There can be more than one)
Who would you say played the role of the Pied Pipers’ Peddlers?
*The Pied Pipers in our society happen to be both male and female. The Pied Pipers’ Peddlers happen to be both male and female as well.
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