wfn.org | Faith and Life commentary: Respect for the law

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Jan.20, 1999 Contact: Thomas S. McAnally*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.
10-21-71BP(032)

NOTE: A head-and-shoulders photograph of the Rev. Phil Wogaman is available.

A UMNS Commentary
by the Rev. Phil Wogaman*

In debates over presidential impeachment, a recurrent theme has been the
importance of upholding the law.  In particular, it is argued, when the law
is not enforced that leads to disrespect for law.  We all have a stake in
this continuing to be a nation of laws and that nobody be treated as being
above the law.  There is much truth in that.  Nobody can be secure in a
lawless society or one that is governed by sheer arbitrary power.  Respect
for the law by a large majority of the people is essential in upholding this
foundation of civil society.  That is a point that religious groups have
appealed to as they have sought to mobilize support for the civil rights and
civil liberties of oppressed or persecuted racial and religious minorities.

So what contributes most to respect for the law?  Surely enforcement is a
part of the picture.  But, having said that, we have to admit that
enforcement of unjust laws has exactly the opposite effect.  

While watching a TV special on the Selma, Alabama campaign of 1965, I was
reminded again just how wicked law enforcement was in that and other
communities.  People were arrested for violating local segregation laws, the
net result of which was to diminish respect for law by morally sensitive
people.  

Earlier, in his Letter from Birmingham Jail, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had
to respond to the criticism that his movement was willing to break laws.
(The criticism had been voiced by prominent religious leaders, including one
Methodist bishop.)  In reply, King wrote of the difference between just and
unjust laws, and then continued: "I would agree with Saint Augustine that
'An unjust law is no law at all.'"

So respect for law involves more than whether it is enforced or not.  A law
will not be much respected if it is not in harmony with the moral
convictions of fair-minded people.

I want to take this a step further.  Even a good law will not be respected
if the community does not perceive that it is being enforced fairly.  That
is, I suspect, where the impeachment issue finally comes down.  Most of us
would agree that laws against perjury and obstruction of justice are
necessary to the well-being of the nation.  If the president has violated
those laws (and we should perhaps pause over the word "if"), then it may not
be not a trivial matter.  But the circumstances also matter.  Was the manner
of this being discovered fair enough that most people would agree with its
fairness?  Would anybody else have been indicted for such an offense,
involving a civil case that was ultimately dismissed for reasons unrelated
to the questioned testimony?  If the matter of sufficient gravity to warrant
actual removal from office?

Public opinion polls, conducted throughout the months of the process, have
consistently shown that roughly two-thirds of the American people do not
feel that the president's misdeeds are that grave.  Large majorities
conclude that he should not be removed from office.  There may be complex
reasons for this - there always are when the opinions of such vast numbers
of people are interpreted.  

It is proper to ask whether we are to be governed by public opinion polls
rather than by law.  That is a fair question.  But such polls must surely be
taken into account if our concern is over respect for law!  A decision
reached in defiance of the views of a large majority of the American people
would diminish that respect, not enhance it.  

There is, I believe, a deeper theological issue here.  The law is finally
the servant of community.  It is properly respected when it expresses the
community's higher ideals, not when it is an expression of partisan conflict
or vindictiveness.  

Ultimately, we can remember Jesus' own view that love is the most basic law
and that without love the law can oppress.  In the present situation, it is
well that sexual misconduct and attempts to cover it up were properly
"flagged" as unacceptable in our society (whether or not technically
illegal).  But, with an eye toward proportion, common sense, and a generous
measure of compassion, perhaps it is time to forgive and put this behind us.

#  #  #
*Wogaman, pastor of Foundry United Methodist Church in Washington and a
seminary professor of Christian ethics, is the author of 13 books. He is a
clergy member of the Baltimore-Washington United Methodist (regional)
conference.
Commentaries provided by United Methodist News Service do not necessarily
represent the opinions or policies of UMNS or the United Methodist Church.

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