ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 16, 1997 TAG: 9703140013
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: The Back Pew
SOURCE: CODY LOWE
You may have heard the news that Billy Graham - for the 39th time since 1955 - made the list of the top 10 most-admired men among Americans.
I happened to hear about this latest Gallup Poll through Associated Baptist Press.
The press service this month has provided a particularly delicious mix of items that were not purely religious in nature, but do reflect the state of religion in the nation.
The news that Graham finished in third place among men in the poll was just the beginning.
What was more surprising - to me, anyway - was that Bill Clinton topped the list.
While Clinton obviously is admired enough to have been elected president, it seemed to me that most Americans also view him as a man with some noticeable - and unadmirable - flaws.
So, I was a little taken aback that he was more admired than the Pope and Billy Graham.
The most-admired woman, by the way, was Mother Teresa.
Number two? Hillary Rodham Clinton. Considering how widely vilified this woman is, there's apparently no middle ground here. Folks must either lover her or hate her.
Calling in the Guard
Governors of Alabama seem to have a knack for drawing publicity with threats to defy court orders.
George Wallace did it three decades ago in defiance of orders to desegregate schools. This year, Fob James says he will call in the National Guard to prevent the removal of a display of the Ten Commandments from a Etowah County courtroom.
The order by a higher state court in Alabama to remove the display from Judge Roy Moore's courtroom is on hold while the Alabama Supreme Court reviews the decision, which also prohibited Moore from opening his court sessions with prayers by local Christian clergy.
The issue was fiery enough that a nonbinding resolution in support of the display passed 295-125 in the U.S. House of Representatives on March 5.
Though the issue isn't even in the federal courts yet, Judge Moore's supporters point out that there is also a display of that biblical legal code in the U.S. Supreme Court. Opponents say that display doesn't include the texts of the Commandments - only 10 Roman numerals, and that it is part of a larger display with other historical documents and symbols.
It's premature to predict rioting in the streets, but it's a safe bet that this case - which seems destined for the nation's highest court - is going to be raising blood pressure on both sides for years.
What is truth?
Finally, noted Christian writer Josh McDowell - best known for his works to help believers answer pesky doubting-Thomas questions from nonbelievers - told the Southern Baptist Christian Life Commission earlier this month that the most-quoted Scripture by young people is no longer John 3:16. That's the familiar, "For God so loved the world."
Instead, today's Christian youth are more likely to cite "judge not that ye not be judged," McDowell said.
As an example of what he sees wrong with the country, McDowell asserted that to say that Jesus is the only way to God is now considered a value judgment, not a statement of fact.
Of course, what those "doubting" young people may understand better than their parents is that the assertion that Jesus is the only way to God is a statement of belief, not of a "fact" whose veracity can be demonstrated outside of faith.
CODY LOWE -reports on issues of religion and ethics for this newspaper. You may call him at 981-3425 or e-mail him at codylxc2roanoke.com or clowe@roanoke.infi.net
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