Once on a visit to our nation’s capital I had the privilege of sitting in on a session of our Supreme Court. If ever you have the opportunity, don’t miss it. It does something to you. The building which houses it is constructed of solid granite, symbolic of what this Court is supposed to be to our nation. To see these honorable justices on the bench decked in their judicial robes is an awesome sight.

But recently our awe and respect for this Court received a severe jolt. One of its members divorced his wife, the second one so disposed of, and five days later married a woman his junior by better than thirty years. At about the same time his divorced wife married another divorced man, a long time friend of the family.

Would not one expect this to outrage the moral conscience of our nation? One would expect such a furor on the part of the public, such an outburst of indignation on the part of the pulpit that he would be pressured into resigning his office. To date we have heard nothing of the kind. Where are the preachers, the John the Baptists, the Jonathan Edwardses, the Spurgeons, the Henry Ward Beechers, to denounce the wickedness in high places and to call forth the judgment of heaven upon a “Christian” nation that is thus rushing headlong into moral decadence and self-destruction?

First it was one of our governors, one who reportedly aspires to the presidency of our nation. Now it is a member of the Supreme Court. In neither of the cases does marital infidelity seem to enter into the picture. Here we are no longer dealing with honorable divorce and remarriage; we are dealing with legalized adultery.

THE PULPIT AND PUBLIC MORALITY

In line with the above a significant editorial appeared in the Grand Rapids Press of Friday, August 9. It was titled “Immorality in Government” by David Lawrence. He uses the term “Immorality” in its broadest sense and speaks of corruption, chicanery, trickery, subterfuge, devious ways which skirt the borderline of honesty and integrity. The philosophy of the ends justifying the means seems to prevail almost everywhere. Lawrence deplores the fact that the clergy by and large are either ignorant of or indifferent to the decline of morals in government. There was a time when the pulpit was a potent force in such matters, and no politician would dare ignore what the reaction of the clergy would be. That time seemingly has vanished. And then he utters a scathing but not undeserved rebuke. when he intimates that many of the clergy are so busy getting themselves arrested, organizing freedom marches, staging civil rights demonstrations, that they do not have time to be concerned about public morals. BENEDICTUS!

AN OPEN DOOR TO ANARCHY

It is the law of the land that in our public schools no Bible shall be read and no prayers offered for devotional purposes. Well, we give a sop to our Christian public that our schools may still adroit that the Bible exists. Of course, prayer is ruled out. Can there be a prayer that is not devotional? And to show bow far this irrationality (or should we say idiocy?) goes, the state of New York has decreed that the last stanza of “America” may not be sung in the class room. Better add “God Bless America” too. It could offend the sensitive conscience of atheists. The conscience of Christians of course is of no consequence.

But now we are confronted with an anomaly. The public press informs us that the school authorities of a number of states have no intention of conforming to the decree of the Supreme Court. What a situation this creates! Our public schools exist for the purpose of creating responsible, intelligent, and law-abiding citizens. And that very educational system will now, at least by example, teach the children that the law is not to be taken too seriously. The governor of the state of Alabama states flatly that in his state Bible reading and prayer is prescribed by law, and it will be done if he bas to go into the school to do it himself.

Now our sympathies are all in that direction. However, when a public official, in this case n governor of one of our states who is committed by a solemn oath of office to uphold the Constitution of the U.S. and its laws, openly defies the law of the land, then you are no longer standing at the threshold of anarchy. YOU HAVE CROSSED IT! Will we ever realize that our public education, which was to be our savior, now that it has become godless will rise up to destroy us? Did anarchy ever do anything else?

CHRISTIAN HUISSEN