THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 8, 1995 TAG: 9507080078
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E5 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Issues of Faith
SOURCE: Betsy Mathews Wright
LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines
AFTER BLASTING Gov. Allen last week for what I believed were some unchristian remarks, I got blasted in return. Thank God we live in a country where all voices can be heard.
The reader response on this topic was about 70 percent in strong opposition, 25 percent in agreement and 5 percent who were neutral. I've tried to reflect those numbers in the responses below. (And to the three readers who dared me to print their letters entirely: I didn't take dares as a kid, and I'm not starting now.)
One last note: I never said the guy wasn't a Christian. I simply said his remarks were unchristian. Big difference. Christians often do unchristian things or say unchristian things. It doesn't make them non-Christian, it simply makes them human.
Now to the readers:
From Douglas W. Montgomery of Chesapeake: ``Your piece went too far. For someone to write a `religious' article with such a bitter and sleazy tone in order to rail against Gov. Allen for `unchristian' political remarks is hypocritical and indicative of your true colors. Please don't defame the true Christian community with your crass tantrums. With irrelevant references to the Lake Gaston and Goals 2000, I suspect you merely want to ventilate your liberal political frustrations using a personal attack. That's the classic sign of a weak argument.
``While you can debate misquotes, the public understands the governor's intent: `Stop coddling convicts and expect them to take personal responsibility.' ''
From Steve Summers of Chesapeake: ``In defense of Gov. Allen, in Matthew 6:33 we are tasked to seek God's kingdom before everything else, and only then, the rest will come to us as well. . . . There is no denying that the New Testament displays a vital concern for service to the poor and distressed and the need to ameliorate their conditions. However, Jesus has taught that this is not our determinative, over-riding priority. In Mark 10:21, Jesus told the rich ruler to give all he had to the poor and follow him. The `sell everything and give to the poor' points toward the `follow me.' The proper inner relationship has priority, and, as a natural consequence, `all the rest' will follow.
``Gov. Allen has made many positive contributions to `all the rest,' and it is not our right to call into question his inner life because of one policy decision.''
From Robert W. Mathias of Norfolk: ``I was deeply offended by your insulting comments about our governor. One thing your remarks had in common, however, was to demonstrate a complete lack of understanding of the matters at hand.
``. . . I agree he made a mistake trying to quote Scripture in the smarmy world of politics. We elected him governor, not pastor. However, I think you missed his valid point about wasting taxpayers money. . . . In other words, if you truly care about the plight of the residents of Bland Sex Offender Treatment Community, the proper course of action is to marshal your financial resources and invest your personal time to keep it open, privately; not to whine and call people names. . . .''
From Rev. Kathryn Pigg of Portsmouth: ``The Christian groups who see any political person as their savior have lost their balance. . . . Christians need the same kind of skepticism about political leaders, movements and issues that the apostle Paul maintained in the days when the early church met the political establishments of its day. No political solution will save America. The only salvation is in Christ, which is as risky today as knowing the law and living by love has always been. Living by both law and love is harder than championing only one of the two. There is certainly a place for Christians in politics and in political movements, but beware of those who see politics as `the way,' because that makes them captives of someone or something other than Jesus, whom we profess as `the way.' ''
From Jonathan Brown of Suffolk: ``Context. Context. Context. Jesus would not perform any miracles in his hometown because of unbelief. His goal was not magic shows. His primary goal was people believing on him for salvation. No, it isn't a Christian thing to withhold any means of healing from these men. However, the responsibility doesn't belong to government, it belongs to the church. These men need Christ to change their hearts! . . . Changing the heart (salvation) is certainly the first and the foundation for true recovery.''
From Frank Watson of Chesapeake: ``With the many needs within our community, none as important as turning hearts toward Jesus, you have chosen to publicly tear down a man appointed by God to lead Virginia. . . . I voted for Gov. George Allen and am proud to stand alongside his decisions, as I know God himself appointed him.''
From Anthony Buccino of Chesapeake: ``My opinion is that your newspaper purchase Ms. Wright a Bible. She needs to reference the truth.''
From William M. Freismuth of Elizabeth City, N.C.: ``I would suggest that Ms. Wright take a positive approach to the problem, rather than the negative role of quoting Bible verses in an effort to chastise the governor. She could go a long way toward helping the state deal with the `sex offenders' by offering her services on a volunteer basis to form a group of counselors to go into the prisons and help these offenders to redeem themselves. Hands that help are more holy in the sight of God than lips that pray.'' by CNB