Newspaper Page Text
Friday, February 4, 1966
THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
pm*
OFF THE RECORD by Nathan Ziprin
Conversation With a
(A Seven Arts Feature)
One of the major themes on
the pulpits of America is the
spirit of lawlessness in the land.
A Baptist minister I met on my
recent vacation in Miami told
me that Christian clergymen
today were devoting more of
their sermons to “this sick phen
omenon” in America than to the
purely religious theme. He said
he comprehended the “spirit of
restlessness among the young,”
their “searching for a place in a
society in which they seem aliens”
and their "quest for new expres
sion as well as their alienation
from religion,” but that he was
completely baffled “by the read
iness of our young people to defy
law when it suits their purpose."
The conversation took place in
the main lobby of Jackson Hos
pital in Miami, a wonderful pub
lic institution that' is dedicated
to healing the sick of all races
and religions. As we turned the
comer of the building, the clergy-
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man halted before a creche that
had been on display during the
Christmas week. “Mercy, here the
spirit of Christ still rests,” the
churchman remarked.
Without thinking—for I have
learned never to argue with men
of the cloth—I remarked: “Here,
sir, is the answer to the puzzle
you posed about lawlessness. If
men of God can violate the spirit
and letter of the law separating
church and state when it serves
their purpose, why should ordi
nary mortals be denied the exer
cise of the same right in pursuit
of what they too deemed sacred
purpose? This display is wholly
commendable, but it has no place
at a public institution that is
maintained by funds coming from
people of all faiths and from un
believers as well. I don’t know
whether the courts in Florida
have ruled against such displays,
but it seems to me that Christian
leaders in matters of law should
be able to rise above mere legal
ism and abstain from practices
even if courts of law, always sen
sitive to community climate and
pressures, may have ruled it per
missible. Lawlessness begets law
lessness.”
I did not expect this expertise
to make an impact on the gentle
man, a kindly man who appear
ed ever-ready to share his bread
and bounty with all he encoun
tered. He just could not see how
“a good Christian act can be an
encouragement to lawlessness, an
evil example to others,” and, in
further defense of h ; s theme, he
pointed to the fact that the Mi
ami municipal council had just
given unanimous approval to a
resolution authorizing the placing
of a cross before the municipal
building for the duration of the
Christmas week. With evident
delight, he remarked that not a
single Jewish member of the
council voted against the resolu
tion. In fact, the only one to at>-
pear at the hearing against the
resolution was a Protestant cler-
gvman who. in'”'d°ntal1v. was
treated d-srocoectfiillv. One of
the lawmakers was reported to
have shouted “throw the bum
Ollt.” Jewish orean ! 7ations were
straneelv rn : ss : ne from the hear
ing. reg : ster ! ng the ; r protests in
stead in letters to the two mnior
newspapers, the Miami Herald
and the Miami News, whose able
editor took a position against the
development.
Without in any way meaning
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to press or disconcert my Baptist
friend, I remarked that the coun
cil motivation behind the resolu
tion was “in effect a denigration
of Christianity since it was pred
icated on the contention that the
cross was not a religious but a
secular symbol. The implication,
then, is obvious—in order to jus-
ity its action the council was com
pelled to change the symbolic sig
nificance of the cross. If you, as
a man of God, approve the coun
cil’s action, you must ipso facto
accept its rationalization, for
there is no escaping the fact that
the formulation was a tacit ad
mission that religious symbols
have no place on public build
ings. If you accept the thesis that
the cross is not a Christian re
ligious, symbol you are trodding
on dangerous ground—violation
of basic Christian essence, if on
the other hand you reject that
thesis, then you must concede
that the council acted lawlessly,
or at least in violation of the
spirit of the lawj^and that who
ever placed the creche before the
hospital also breached the law.
Which of these actions do you
condone? Surely you cannot go
along with the council’s formula
tion. But if you assent to the act
without accepting its motivation,
you are in the precarious position
of saying that an unlawful act
is lawful when it is made to serve
a religious purpose. Now, the
young people we spoke about at
the beginning of our conversa
tion are believers in their own
way. How can you deny them the
right to indulge in lawlessness
in furtherance of their particular
brand of faith when you condone
it in furtherance of your own re
ligious purpose?”
I shall never know how my
newly acquired friend was Im
pressed by my formulation even
though he remarked on parting
“this meeting, I am afraid, will
bring me many sleepless nights.”
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