If you have not tuned into Bill Moyers’ Journal — 8 p on WILL Channel 12 and 9 p on WSEC Channel 8 — you should. In an age of Hannitys, Limbaughs and O’Reillys, Moyers is a voice of tempered sanity and balancing intellect, a national treasure, a counterpoint to the swill poured into the beer-gut mind-sets of sinsneer, patriotic Americans who don’t iknow the difference between shite and Shinola and will defend, vociferously, their contention that one smells as sweet as the other. Friday night’s program was an arrestingly memorable example, probably the most illuminating of the three broadcast so far.
The program focused on the graduates of Pat Robertson’s law school. Capped and gowned newly degreed students proclaimed their desire to impart to the American system of jurisprudence the “higher law” as inculcated by their years at Robertson’s U, whose advocates would be flattered if I shared its name here. They proclaimed, as proudly as the toddling son announcing to his mother during her bridge club gathering that he just made number two with no help from Daddy, that they intended to serve God first in their lawyering after they pass their bar exam. An inpressive 73 percent of Robertson U’s grads pass the bar on their first attempt, the report noted.
It’s a fair bet that these grads are pretty selective about following God’s law. But there’s no need to suggest how. You can imagine and probably be right. What’s more sinister is that these graduates are dedicating themselves to serve not God the Creator, or God, the Father of Christ or God in whose image humanity was created; they will be serving the God of their Denomination. This is the same distinction that separates the Sunni from the Shiite, the Orthodox Jew from Reform Jew, the Methodist from the Presbyterian. And if you want to appreciate what this portends for “In God We Trust USA (a/k/a God the Creator) take a look at Iraq today and look ahead to the USA in a few years if the Robertson U perversion becomes the new national faith of an American theocracy.
Consider the lessons Christ taught us about Pharisees, who allowed the money changers to set up shop in the temple of God. Whether or not you believe in Christ isn’t important here if you understand the story of his overturning tables and throwing them out can be accepted as worth passing to future Christians. He also said “Render unto Cesar that which is Cesar’s.” One may choose to believe he was talking only about the taxes imposed by Rome, but one may also believe he was talking about the societal order imposed and administrated by Rome. Don’t get confused; the Vatican hadn’t been invented yet. Even he who called himself Son of Man, who became Christianity exemplified, did not see the role of the Government with a capital “G” as one with the faith. In a land of Jews and Gentiles (non-Jews; not anti-Jews), the church and state were separate. If only it were, as in Christ’s time, today!
By elevating themselves beyond the law of the Government, the new waves of “higher low” — make that “higher law” – lawyers are eminiently qualified to sit at the right hand of God (if He will have them) in Heaven, but not at the right hand of our nation’s attorney general. Yet, a Robertson U graduate does just that. She’s the one who has stated that if she is summoned to testify regarding the alleged illegal dismissal of . . . . you know about this; it’s been all over the papers . . . she will take the Fifth Amendment. I wonder if, when she appears before St. Peter at the appointed time (may it be many decades from now), she will also take the Fifth.
The attorney who states he or she will serve God first in remaking the American system of jurisprudence no longer serves the nation in which he/she lives. In disavowing the laws of the USA, I submit to you, the H&Q reader, that he/she ceases to be a citizen of our nation. Do you remember what we call residents within our borders who do not serve according to our laws? The phrase “illegal aliens” comes to mind. My friend Tim Sheehan (not Springfield’s city engineer; another good man of the same name) suggests that attaching such an epithet to well meaning attorneys is a mite over the top.
Christ had a problem with Pharisees. You don’t have to believe in Christ to understand this as part of the historical record of his life as revealed in the Christian Bible. Friends and other good legal American citizens, I suggest that Americans of all stripes of faith recognize Christ’s antipathy and that we adopt it for ourselves. There is a difference between lawyers and Pharisees. Recognizing that difference is more than engaging a symantic exercise; the future of our nation depends on our recognition and acting accordingly.
Live long . . . . . . and proper.
Pat Robertson has a [fraudulent] law school?
Well, someone has to do something to allow tax-dodge universities (Bob Jones {“Bob?” Oh for… Be serious!}, Jerry Falwell, Pat Monkey-face [I mean Robertson. But really, the man has the face of a marmoset. Or a capuchin. I digress, though]) to keep operating. Someone has to defend against those legal challenges to their “religious” status.
They call themselves Christian, but they wouldn’t know Christianity if it grew teeth and bit them on the collective fanny.
Oh well. There’s enough venting for now.
I agree most wholeheartedly with your assessment of the situation, though.
Steve –
Thanks for reading and commenting. The law school is real as angioplasty and fully accredited.
It’s Pat Robertson’s law school. That fact, and with the info you provided, accredidation aside, makes me consider it as real as a 30 dollar bill.
Izzat enough derision for you?
Maybe I’m being harsh, but being accredited anymore is starting to mean less and less to my jaded eyes.