THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 5, 1995 TAG: 9506290009
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
People often listen to God the way cats listen to humans - hearing only what they want to hear.
Back in 1845, Baptists in the North heard God say slavery was wrong. They didn't own any. Baptists in the South heard God say slavery was a just and proper system. They owned many.
With astounding frequency, we hear God tell us to do what is in our best economic interest. Or if he says to share all our wealth with the poor, we seek a second opinion, possibly a psychiatrist, or continue to pray till he comes to his senses.
Pat Robertson heard God say to run for the presidency in 1988. Maybe God believed having Robertson in the race would be good for the nation, even though he would lose. Maybe Robertson didn't hear right.
When a charismatic male religious leader like David Koresh isolates his followers from society and controls them completely, he seems always to hear God command, ``Sleep with the wives.''
The fault lies not with God. The point being made is that people don't always hear so well. Our hearing is as fallible as a five-day weather forecast.
Recently, in an admirable burst of guts and Christianity, the Southern Baptist Convention apologized for their forebears' support of slavery and repented their own sins of racism.
Surely we're not so egotistical as to believe God held one position on slavery in 1845 and a different one today. What happened was, people's hearing improved, at least on the question of slavery. (A cynic would note that the cost of the belated repentance, in dollars, is zero, as is the number of slaves set free.)
Point one, that humans don't listen so well, leads now to point two, that the separation of church and state is essential to our nation's well-being, as a zillion people have said before me.
We no longer can argue politics civilly. Imagine how much hotter our debate would get if one side said, ``God told us to do this,'' and the other side responded, ``He couldn't have, you heathen nits, because he told us to do that.'' Political debate would be holy war, as bitterly waged as a congregation split over a theological question. (Pray that you're never caught in one of those.)
My father, a Methodist, broke down and cried when Jack Kennedy, a Catholic, was elected president. Father assumed President Kennedy would march to the pope's beat, but Kennedy kept church and state separate.
Granted, religion is essential to tens of millions of Americans and should not be shunted to life's margins. Religion, in fact, lies at the heart of life.
But David Koresh presumably was as convinced he was right as Southern Baptists were convinced in 1845 that they were right and Pat Robertson is convinced he is right. A compilation of names of Christians convinced they are right would dwarf the Manhattan phone book - though Christianity is not the majority religion in the world.
In public life, we need people who realize they might have heard God wrong. Should our leaders ever become convinced that their marching orders come directly from God and that all their opponents are anti-Christs, we will not long survive as an open, civil community.
Whenever a politician says that God is on his side, that his or hers is the righteous position, remember that the politician may be (1) lying or (2) sincere but not listening so well.
PATRICK K. LACKEY, editorial writer by CNB