THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 27, 1995 TAG: 9504270002
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
I thought I had become numb to the drivel that passes for op-ed commentary in your paper. But ``Politics and the president's Sunday sermon'' (April 23) has reached a new low in ``journalism.''
While I have never expected fairness or balance from Cal Thomas in his role as mouthpiece for the Moral Majority and now the so-called Christian Coalition, this most recent piece of partisan slime is beneath even a Pharisee of Mr. Thomas' stature. He attacks President Clinton by way of his preacher.
Mr. Thomas would have us believe that after attending Ivy League schools, spending years in the political fray in Arkansas, campaigning for and winning the presidency and spending their lives in the debate and formation of public policy, the Clintons are now merely parroting what they hear from the pulpit every Sunday.
Getting beyond the fact that the Clintons' political views were probably well-developed by the time they arrived in Washington to attend Foundry United Methodist Church and hear the Rev. J. Philip Wogaman's sermons, let's look closely at Mr. Thomas' attack. This is not even a first-hand account of the offending preacher's remarks.
Cal Thomas is summarizing a conservative think tank's ``examination'' of the Rev. Mr. Wogaman's sermons. And what does he find? That Foundry United Methodist Church is guilty of tolerating homosexuals. That its budgeted expenditures on ``community programs'' are not up to Thomas' standards. (One could only wish that we had such free public access to the budgets of Jerry Falwell's or Pat Robertson's many organizations.)
Thomas finds that Wogaman has, on occasion, been critical of the brutalities of the free market. That he has decried social injustice and inequality and even recognized value in political positions that the Christian Coalition loathes. Obviously, the man is dangerous and must be silenced.
To lend credence to his critique, Thomas quotes frequently from the reverend's sermons and writings. The longest of these quotes is nine words - cited as coming from sermons in 1985, 1989, 1990 and 1992.
First, I have never met a Methodist preacher whose theology or political philosophy could be fairly discussed in terms of three- to nine-word quotations. I must assume that, to the extent the quotes are accurate, they have at least been taken out of context.
Second, I seem to recall that Bill Clinton was elected president in 1992 and took up residence in Washington in 1993. If we examine Thomas' text, Bill and Hillary did not actually hear any of the remarks he deems so offensive.
There is hope, however. Thomas points out that Bob and Elizabeth Dole are members of Foundry - certainly they heard the message during this time.
ERIC A. POTTER
Virginia Beach, April 24, 1995 by CNB