Promises, Promises Series

Moses has been gone up in the clouds on Sinai for days and the elders are getting nervous. Finally he appears, carrying two large hunks of rock, with what appears to be writing on them. The elders are nervous, understandably, given what’s been happening - the golden calf, and so on. Moses approaches and says, “I’ve got good news and bad news.” “Yes, Moses, yes - just tell us.” “The good news is, I got him down to 10. The bad news is, adultery’s still one of ‘em.”

I’ve got good news and bad news, too.

The good news is, adultery’s still one of ‘em.

The bad news is, who cares?

We’ve read and heard and watched the most appalling things in the news in the last few decades, things about our national leaders that we would really rather not know and that we especially would rather our children did not know. The one piece of good news is that sexual harassment is at last being taken seriously.

More than 15 members of the U.S. Congress have had to resign in the last decade over sexual misconduct, alleged or actual. Boy Scout leaders are under investigation, and the Baptists have joined the Catholics in the church sex scandal lineup. And more than one of our presidents are about as far from being a model of moral rectitude as anyone could invent.

Back in the days of Presidents Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and of course even earlier, sexual misconduct, from long-term romantic liaisons to quickies in the office, was politely ignored. As the 70’s and 80’s rolled on, though, aspiring journalists were quick to jump on misbehavior – anybody remember Wilbur Mills and Fannie Foxx? What about Gary Hart and The Monkey Business? And then, of course, Bill Clinton. And then Donald Trump – who didn’t misbehave in office, but has a pretty lurid past. Anybody remember Barney Frank, or Al Franken? Even women are not immune; California congresswoman Katie Hill recently had to step down. Critics line up pretty predictably on the basis of political preference, with many either excusing the behavior of their guy – or gal - or ignoring it completely.

The Clinton scandal is probably the most noteworthy, so I’m going to stick to the 90’s, because it’s in the past and emotions have cooled a bit. What was the buzz back then?

Nobody’s perfect. Everybody does it. What’s the big deal?

Even Saint Carter lusted in his heart, said one writer.

That one really brought me up short. Did the editorial I read really think that Jimmy Carter’s confession to a less than perfectly pure thought life provided cover for our former president’s - er - difficulty?

I kept reading things, hoping to figure out what was going on, hoping to get some clue as to why there didn’t seem to be any outrage out there. I kept wondering if I’ve gotten out of bed on the wrong side of history. And I kept wondering why women remained Clinton’s strongest supporters. You’d think women would know, if anyone does, how destructive adultery is.

At one time during the height of the scandal, the New York Observer sponsored a gathering of educated, successful, professional Manhattan women to discuss the situation. And all of the women, without exception, were titillated, rather than disgusted. I cannot even quote some of the comments, not in a family setting. I’d have trouble quoting some of them in private. These women were discussing the President’s virility in terms that would have disgraced a men’s locker room.

What has happened to us?

One of the many Presbytery meetings that voted on ordination was very eye-opening to me. At that time, about 25 years ago, the West Jersey Presbytery elected - by a margin of 1 vote - to retain language in the constitution requiring fidelity in marriage and chastity in singleness. I was pleased, and relieved. We’d been discussing the issue of sexuality in the church, sexuality in the culture, for years, and I thought I was beyond being surprised by anything anyone might say. But I was wrong.

A lot of the discussion over the proposed amendment had to do with theological minutiae like whether we should be “instructed” by our confessions or “live in conformity” to them. We spent a good chunk of time on Christology, which is of course always worth discussing, but is not the key issue in this debate. In my naive desire to be helpful, I thought that we should recognize right up front that the central issue before us was chastity in singleness. I wanted us to be clear about what we were debating so that we could actually be the church, that is, provide moral guidance on the cultural issues that face and often divide us. I hoped for honest discussion, and clear theology.