Reagan on God and Morality

Charismatic talk-show host George Otis of Van Nuys, California, recently interviewed former California governor Ronald Reagan on spiritual and moral issues. Excerpts of Reagan’s views:

The nation. There has been a wave of humanism and hedonism in the land.… However, I am optimistic because I sense in this land a great revolution against that. A feeling of unhappiness, of anchorlessness, I think, is responsible for much of what has happened to our youth. Without guidelines they feel that they are without an anchor.… I think there is a hunger in this land for a spiritual revival, a return to a belief in moral absolutes—the same morals upon which the nation was founded.… When you go out across the country and meet the people you can’t help but pray and remind God of Second Chronicles 7:14, because the people of this country are not beyond redemption. They are good people and believe this nation has a destiny as yet unfulfilled.

Church-state separation. There is a widespread but false interpretation in many areas that separation of church and state means separation from God.… I don’t think he ever should have been expelled [from the schools]. There is a double threat: there is not only the removal of the calling upon God, but … by taking prayer out it appears in the eyes of young people that there has been an official ruling out of God—that he therefore wasn’t of sufficient importance to be in the schools.

Personal spirituality. I certainly know what the meaning of “born again” is today among those who believe in that. I can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t call upon God.… In my own experience there came a time when there developed a new relationship with God and it grew out of need. So, yes, I have had an experience that could be described as “born again.”

Pornography and sexual vice. The tide has turned … [but] these problems won’t be solved by some sudden sweeping over the land of a warning or something. It is going to come from within the people themselves.… [Regarding the recent legislation legalizing homosexual acts between consenting adults], I would have vetoed it. I know there is a quarrel here with many very fine people who have a libertarian approach to government. They believe in more individual freedom [and some] would carry libertarianism all the way to whatever an individual wants to do. But I have always believed that the body of man-made law must be founded upon the higher natural law. You can make immorality legal but you cannot make it moral.

On legalizing marijuana. I was opposed to it all the time when I was governor. I still am opposed to it. It is a far more dangerous drug than most people are prepared to admit.… I wish in part of this revival that is going on that a generation of young Americans would decide they would be the generation that doesn’t need a crutch.

Abortion. I think it comes down to one simple answer: You cannot interrupt a pregnancy without taking a human life. And the only way we can justify taking a life in our Judeo-Christian tradition is in self-defense.

The Bible. I have never had any doubt about it being of divine origin.… How can you write off the prophecies in the Old Testament that hundreds of years before the birth of Christ predicted every single facet of his life, his death, and that he was the Messiah?… My favorite verses change with my needs. I have to say there have been times over the last few years when one passage alone—“Where two or more gather in my name, there shall I be also”—has been a great comfort to me. [Another favorite passage is] verses 2 through 5 of Psalm 106: “Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord. Who can show forth all his praise? Blessed are they that keep judgment, and he that doeth righteousness at all times. Remember me, O Lord, with the favor that thou bearest unto thy people: O visit me with thy salvation, that I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance.”

Prayer. Yes, I do pray.… There have been so many [answers to prayer] and some momentous ones [including some on decisions regarding proposed legislation]. Yes, I did seek God [before making the decision to become a candidate for President].

Promises. I made a promise to myself in the campaign [for governor], and it still holds true. [I promised] that every decision which I would have to make would be based on what was morally right or wrong, not on what was politically advantageous to anyone. I kept that promise.

The Reverend Mrs.

Evelyn Newman, a 49-year-old United Methodist ordained in 1970, was installed as minister for pastoral ministries and services of the interdenominational Riverside Church of New York City. A widow, she is the first female minister of the 3,000-member congregation, which is about two-thirds female. Her sons Peter, a student at Drew Seminary, and David, an American University student, both took part in the installation service, while daughter Beth, 13, sat at her side.

The church, affiliated with the American Baptist Churches and the United Church of Christ, was founded by the late Harry Emerson Fosdick. Its current senior pastor is Ernest Campbell, who views Mrs. Newman’s appointment as an occasion that “calls for thanks to God.”

Left Out

A year ago Episcopal priest L. Peter Beebe was convicted by an ecclesiastical court on charges that had to do with his allowing—over his bishop’s objections—illegally (or irregularly) ordained women to perform priestly duties at Christ Church of Oberlin, Ohio. The church fired him, and a number of members left with him to worship elsewhere. Then an appeals court overturned the conviction and ordered a new trial. The diocesan judiciary unit, however, decided last month not to retry the case, in effect dropping the charges.

Stopover In Scotland

Only one speaker could have attracted several hundred ministers and church workers from all over Scotland to a lunchtime service in Glasgow. The invitation to hear evangelist Billy Graham had gone out, moreover, from a distinguished sponsoring group that included Presbyterians and Episcopalians, Baptists and Brethren.

As if to set the seal on true ecumenicity, separatist pastor Jack Glass and a few supporters demonstrated outside the church.

From the pulpit from which his friend the late Tom Allan had preached, Graham quoted the Church of Scotland’s new moderator, Dr. T. F. Torrance, who the previous week had called for a return to preaching the simple truths of the Gospel.

This did not involve simplistic solutions, however, for Graham spoke also of the partnership between social action and evangelism, and of how “holy compassion” was part of the communication of the Gospel. He told of his visit to Guatemala, and the help he and his colleagues had been able to organize.

A press conference earlier in the day had followed a familiar pattern, with the evangelist declining to dispense instant wisdom on political themes or turning an answer to make a religious point.

Inevitably the charismatic movement came up, for only the week before the Kirk (Church of Scotland) had disciplined one of its elders who had undergone a second baptism (see June 18 issue, page 31). Graham replied that he thought the movement had brought renewal in certain areas of the world, not least among Roman Catholics. It had, however, proved divisive in other places because of its excesses and because of the growth of counterfeits, he noted.

Graham got good coverage and fair treatment in the land of John Knox (both television networks interviewed him). Twenty-one years have passed since his major crusade in Glasgow, but he has no plans to return to the city. (In a press conference later in London, Graham said he doubted he would hold another crusade there.)

The evangelist was on his way to Germany for a Whitsunday service in Essen Stadium.

J. D. DOUGLAS

Back To Basics

New York Law School, a private institution, will offer a course in Jewish law this fall, according to dean E. Donald Shapiro. Rabbi Emanuel Rackman of the Fifth Avenue Synagogue, who also is a professor at City University of New York, will teach the new course. He believes it is the first course in Jewish Law to be taught in a college or university in New York state, possibly in the nation. The course will trace the nature, sources, history, and methodology of Jewish law spanning thousands of years, partly with an eye to its suitability for a Jewish state in the present, says Rackman.

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