Unrequited Love: A Recipe For A Potential Prison Sentence
There’s Nothing New Under The Sun
The only book that is a best-seller — year after year — contains extraordinary insights into the human psyche.
Its’ contents inspired and continue to inspire some of the most renowned men and women who has walked the face of this earth.
That book is the Bible.
Hidden in its’ pages are untold wisdom and words that hold the keys to life. Read it for yourself!
King Solomon was known as the wisest man that ever lived. He experienced life’s every imaginable pleasures and opportunities known to man.
Solomon finally concluded, “ What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again.
There is nothing new under the sun. ( Ecclesiastes 1:9/ NIV )
Life Happens …Good or Bad
Whether one is a believer or not — good things happen, bad things happen — it’s called life!
No one has a perfect life or perfect situation. Misfortunes happen to everyone at some point in time.
In an ideal world, everyone we loved would reciprocate that love. Wow…”what a wonderful world it would be!”😍
Someone once said, “it is better to have loved and lost than not to have loved at all.” Go figure…
Now, let’s pivot over to Wikipedia.
Wikipedia defines ‘unrequited love’ as: one-sided love is not openly reciprocated or understood as such by the beloved. The beloved may not be aware of the admirer’s deep and strong romantic affections or may consciously reject it.
A Biblical Account of Unrequited Love
Let’s examine how the biblical account of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife parallels with the Brian Banks story.
In Genesis 39:1, one can infer that Potiphar’s wife had ‘unrequited’ affections for Joseph — sold into slavery by his brothers.
Potiphar, an Egyptian slave master, bought Joseph from the Ismaelites. Potiphar saw that the Lord was with Joseph, and made him overseer over his entire household.
Joseph was a handsome young man with a physique to match!
As time past, Potiphar’s wife took an ‘interest’ in Joseph, and made sexual advances toward him.
But, Joseph refused her daily attempts to ‘lure him into her web!’
Joseph was loyal and devoted to his master, Potiphar.
It was unthinkable for Joseph to betray his master’s trust by having an affair with his wife.
It is noteworthy to mention that Joseph had the favor of God and obeyed him in his daily walk.
It has been said, “a desperate woman is a dangerous woman!” 👿
Whether or not this is a true statement, Potiphar’s wife set her alluring sights upon Joseph.
She plotted to catch him alone in the house when all the servants were gone for the day.
(We all have to be careful of what we wish for!) The day soon came when she was all alone with Joseph!
She demanded him to go to bed with her and proceeded to seduce him.
But Joseph wasn’t ‘game’ to her intended sex trap. ( Good job, Joseph!)🤗
He quickly ran out of the house with his cloak — of many colors — dangling in his hand!🏃♂️
Feeling insulted that her sexual advances were not reciprocated, Potiphar’s wife cried out to the house servants and accused Joseph of rape!
She lied to her servants and to her husband that Joseph had raped her. Please…just hog’s wash!🐷
No one witnessed Joseph being in the house that day.
It was Potiphar’s wife’s narrative — her story — that landed Joseph in prison!
He went to prison for a crime did not commit.😥
Yes, even today, Solomon’s revelations about life and its many vicissitudes — “there is nothing new under the sun” — still reigns true.
False Accusations Are Nothing New
For centuries, men and women have been falsely accused of crimes they did not commit.😢
Many times, an alleged rape is in the top ten of this infamous list.
Unfortunately, many innocent people are imprisoned as a result of false accusations.
There are many documented cases where innocent people went to jail or prison because of a false accusation of rape.
The Brian Banks’ Story
Recently, a movie was released — July 2019 — depicting the real-life story of a high school youth, Brian Banks, 16. Brian was falsely accused of rape in 2002.
As the story unfolds, young Banks shares a few moments of intimacy with a female schoolmate on school property.
Their intimacy did not involve sexual intercourse.
Yet, those few moments of casual intimacy — absent of sex — quickly, ripped away five years of a sixteen-year-old’s life.
This young man was accused of rape by the female teenager involved in the matter.
How awful!
Young Banks had been awarded an athletic scholarship to play football at University of Southern California (USC).
A budding bright future…gone!😣
Banks’ accuser said he raped her, and her mother sued the school district.
Because the alleged rape took place on school property, the law found the school district liable.
When the case was settled, the family was awarded over a million dollars in damages.
Here again, someone — in this case, the teenage girl — made a false accusation of rape.
Now, here’s the horrible twist:😱
Brian admitted he was guilty of having committed the rape!
Why would young Banks admit to a crime (of rape) he did not commit?😪
The prosecution had no DNA evidence.
As in young Joseph’s case, there were no witnesses to corroborate the other teenager’s story of rape by Brian Banks.
According to Banks, he was advised by his lawyer to accept a ‘plea bargain’.
This meant — if he pled guilty to having committed the rape — he would serve three or four years in prison instead of forty-one years.
Banks, sixteen at the time, agreed to accept the plea bargain.
Consequently, Banks spent five years in prison and five years on probation.
Ultimately, the young woman confessed she lied about the rape ever taking place.
Thanks to the assistance of the California Western School of Law’s Innocence Project, Banks was able to have his case re-opened.
On May 25, 2012, NP reported that Brian Banks, now 26, was cleared of all charges and the case was withdrawn.
And, now Banks was able to play in the NFL — a long-awaited dream.
Some Questions To Ponder…
My question to you, the reader, is this:
Was the teenage girls false accusation of rape a matter of ‘pay back’ for Banks’ unreciprocated affections?😡
Was Banks not aware of her deep feelings for him as he pursued other female interests?
After all, Banks had been awarded a football scholarship and no doubt was a very popular guy….
Did he consciously or unconsciously reject her?😮
Who can say what the underlying reasons were that spurred this false accusation of rape?🤔
One thing is for certain: the age-old sentiment uttered years ago still holds true…
“What has been. Will be again; What has been done, will be done again. There is nothing new under the sun.”
The Brian Banks story was reported on NPR’s All Things Considered, May 25, 2012.
