Hilarious Overreaction of the Day
May 22, 2007
If you wonder why religious people seem to suffer from a siege mentality, look no further than this post, where a very respectable blogger links to "about the scariest article I have read in a while." Was the article about global warming? AIDS? The massacre in Darfur? Nope. It was an article about Christian law schools. I kid you note.
One of these law students struck fear into the hearts of (wo)man by noting:
"I didn't want to just be a Christian attorney, but an attorney who dedicates my gifts and talents to Christ," said Chicago-born Daniel White, 25, an African-American.
What is scary about this? I truly do not understand. A student simply wants to use her legal skills to further moral causes. How is this any different from what people in the ACLU and NLG do? Are left-wing students who call students who work for the highest bidder "sell outs" also scary?
Of course, one should fear what the dastardly professors at one law school are teaching:
Liberty integrates the moral and religious roots of the rule of law into every class discussion, an approach Staver calls "law plus." That came through during a recent "Lawyering Skills" class when professor Rodney Chrisman presented a case and then asked his students whether they would compromise their integrity on behalf of a good client. "The Bible says a good name is a greater treasure than silver and gold." Chrisman told them.
Umm.... Isn't is pretty standard fare to ask your students: "Would you lie in order to save an innocent client?" This is a serious issue that lawyers - religious and secular - have wrestled with. What is scary about such a classroom discussions?
The blogger also wonders: "How did these schools get accredited by the ABA? They are subversive." Yes, I did a double-take, too. Subversive? Wow.
What is subversion about using the existing legal system to put into place values you hold dearly? The ACLU believes that church and state should remain separate. They sue to put this judgment into place. Is the ACLU subversive? According to Joseph McCarthy, yes. According to decent people, no.
While I loathe Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Jay Sekulow, and other hucksters, I can't see what is subversive about a bunch of people of faith trying to do what the Left has done for decades - namely, re-shape society through the courts. While I might not prefer to live in a society shaped by hypocrites like Falwell (or, for that matter, John Edwards), I certainly would not consider people working within existing legal structures to be subversive. But, again, at long last, I have characteristics perhaps lacking in others.