Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson have more in common than the fact that their domestic violence has become headline news. They\u2019re both running backs in the midst of successful careers. Both have wives and child(ren). And both men are, apparently, Christians.<\/span><\/p>\n Adrian Peterson, in his first \u201cofficial\u201d statement after being indicted by a grand jury for injury to a child, posted a photo of Bible verses to his Twitter account. Ray Rice, who was cut from the Baltimore Ravens once video surfaced of him punching his wife so hard she lost consciousness, reportedly became a \u201cborn again\u201d Christian after the incident. He claims to be a \u201cchanged man.\u201d<\/p>\n At face value, their crimes seem different. Peterson, acting in what he saw as an appropriately loving way, beat his son bloody with a \u201cswitch\u201d\u2013or, as he called it, \u201cwhooped\u201d him\u2026 in the legs, buttocks, and scrotum. Many people, including celebrities and former athletes like Charles Barkley, have defended Peterson\u2019s actions. Spanking is not abuse, they say. Since they themselves survived being \u201cswitched,\u201d so can their kids.<\/p>\n Not as many people have sought to defend Ray Rice\u2019s actions, which, unlike Peterson\u2019s, were caught on video. Rice can be seen punching his wife Janay in an elevator, then standing over her unconscious body, apparently unphased. While Peterson was just suspended for his actions, Rice was (eventually) cut by the Ravens.<\/p>\n