Russian Roulette in West Virginia 9

B E

6 The Last Temptation of Brother Ray

12. The Reagan Court Is In

15. In Search of a Heritage

19. The Happy Day

26. Interview in a Dungeon

30. "But Mr. Bing..."

Russian Roulette in West Virginia 9.

A Magazine of Religious Freedom Vol. 87. No. 3 May/June, 1992 PER SP E C T I V

I B E R T Y irreverent reference to Christ Baptist College. But such From The Editor Jesus." funding could not be legally Publishing the book now, obtained by a sectarian What Price Honor? say church officials, would institution. (See Liberty, What Price Faith? Robert L. Dale not mean endorsement of its Sept.-Oct. and Nov.-Dec.) Chairman, Editorial Board "The love of money is the views. It would mean the The solution? Secularize the root of all evil"—I Timothy Roland R. Hegstad church's eligibility for the college—at least in the Editor 6:10. $98 million bequest from the yearbook. Remove or water For $98 million a church Loleta Thomas Bailey estates of Knapp, who died down evangelical postulates. Assistant Editor is willing to publish a book in 1958, and his wife and Falwell spoke, and it was elevating its founder to the James A. Cavil sister-in-law. Their wills done. The court spoke, and status of deity. For $60 Copy Editor offer that sum upon publica- it was undone. million an evangelical college tion of an "authorized" There was another college Leo Ranzolin is willing to become "secu- Robert S. Folkenberg edition of The Destiny of the that wanted government larized." For a government A.C. McClure Mother Church and its funds. Same problem. Consulting Editors grant another evangelical distribution in the 2,700 Religious. Church-affiliated. college selectively reports its Vernon Alger Christian Science reading Had standards. Required funding sources. Karnik Doukmetzian rooms around the world. chapel and Bible courses. Richard Fenn The $98 million sellout is But competitors for the The solution? Fudge on Darrel Huenergardt in the news and as of May Ted Jones bequest, Stanford University replies to the questionnaire 27, in court. Clayton Pritchett and the Los Angeles County from the government John Stevens For that sum the board of Museum of Art, say that agency. List only standards Lewis Stout directors of the Church of Adrian Westney Sr. plans to publish the book as that the boy scouts might Christ, Scientist has ignited a Consultants a series of 15-volume essays require. And when asked for controversy that could on Mary Baker Eddy would funding sources, mention Gary M. Ross fragment the denomination. U.S. Congress Liaison not meet these requirements. alumni, philanthropic At issue is publication of a A Los Angeles judge is organizations, and "other Mitchell A. Tyner book that elevates church scheduled to weigh the sources." Don't mention Legal Advisor founder Mary Baker Eddy to claims. that one of the other sources, Harry Knox the status of deity. Eight editors of religious indeed, the principal other Designer The book, The Destiny of publications at the source, was the Seventh-day George Crumley the Mother Church, was denomination's Boston Adventist Church. Treasurer privately published in 1947. headquarters have already In this case, the church Church officials of that time voted—with their resigna- slapped hands and insisted repudiated the book because tions. One of them, Stephen that its document A Liberty is a publication of the author Bruce Knapp called Seventh-day Adventist Church. L. Fair, said the decision to Statement Respecting Eddy an "incarnation of publish the Knapp book was Seventh-day Adventist Published and copyrighted ©1992 truth" as was Jesus Christ. by the North American Division of "a clear and unequivocal Philosophy of Higher Educa- Seventh-day Adventists, 12501 Old She, said Knapp, was God's Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD violation of the church's tion, containing an un- 20904-6600. Address corrections "original woman" just as manual" and "raises the abashed declaration con- only: Liberty, 55 West Oak Ridge Jesus was God's "original Drive, Hagerstown, Maryland 21740. most profound issues for the cerning the Christian nature PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. man." Eddy's Manual of the future of our ... move- of its schools, be filed with Printed bimonthly by the Review Mother Church, still the ment." the government agency. and Herald Publishing Assn., 55 official policy book, forbids West Oak Ridge Drive, Hagerstown, Money. The root of all MD 21740. Subscription price: US "careless comparison or $6.95 per year. Single copy: US evil. $1.50. Price may vary where national currencies differ. Vol. 87, Jerry Falwell needed a $60 No.3, May/June, 1992. Postmaster: million bond issue to finance Address correction requested. indebtedness of his Liberty

COVER ILLUSTRATION BY RICHARD LaLIBE RTE AND TIMOTHY KNEPP

2 LIBERTY MAY/JUNE 1 9 9 2 P E R S P E CT I V E

Money. $98 million. $60 [The Greek word baptizo, Concerns of "HardCor" million. Peanuts. from which we derive the Religious Right After reading this article The love of money. The baptism, translates literally Your January- by Fred Clarkson (Novem- root of all evil. "It is through "to dip into or to dip under February issue was ber-December) I purchased this craving that some have water." Mark 1:9 states the critical of the concerns of Sara Diamond's book wandered away from the means and purpose of the Religious Right that Spiritual Warfare. faith and pierced their hearts baptism. In Greek it their freedoms are being I found it to be a depress- with many pangs" translates "to be baptized in denied. I find this ing account of a movement (I Timothy 6:10). water unto repentance." criticism inappropriate. that rivals the inquisition of And let him that thinketh The ceremony of baptism, to Christians today are the Dark Ages. he standeth take heed lest he be practiced as advocated in being denied their Diamond refers to the fall.—R.R.H. the New Testament, would freedoms in many Reconstructionists as a require immersion.—Ed.] quarters. Seventh-day group that would use capital Spiritual Economics Adventists should be punishment for homosex- It didn't quite fit with the I thank God for loving, supportive of the uals, adulterers, and incorri- above. But here it is. caring people like Julia Religious Right's efforts gible criminals. A Texas oilman at a Vernon. She truly showed to maintain their Fred Clarkson says that R. banquet jocularly preposi- Jesus' love. This is what a Constitutional rights. J. Rushdoony's extreme tioned a dowager. "Would "caring church" is all about. DAWN JOHNSON views include opposition to you sleep with me for $10 We must respect what others Spokane, Washington democracy and advocacy of million," he asked. "Well believe. Thank you, Julia, for the death penalty for (coyly), maybe for $10 sharing a sad but beautiful [Liberty reported the homosexuals, adulterers, million...." experience. Rutherford Institute's blasphemers, astrologers, "How about $10?" VIRGIL ERICKSON involvement in one such witches, teachers of false "Ten dollars! What do Arkdale, Wisconsin case on page 5 of that doctrine, and incorrigible you think I am!" issue (see "Cross Is children. The idea of using "We've already estab- Stumbling Block").—Ed.] capital punishment on lished that. Now we're just children abhorred me. Can determining your price." you document? Thirty pieces of silver has DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES PATRINA M. BEHRMANN a historic ring. Silver Creek, New York

From Our Readers he God-given right of religious liberty is best exercised [We quote from R.J. Twhen church and state are separate. Rushdoony's book, The "Baby Boy Hodges' Government is God's agency to protect individual rights Institutes of Biblical Law, Baptism" and to conduct civil affairs; in exercising these responsibilities, published by the Presby- Julia Vernon's touching officials are entitled to respect and cooperation. terian and Reformed story reminds me of the Religious liberty entails freedom of conscience: to worship Publishing Company, argument that to be baptized or notto worship; to profess, practice and promulgate religious copyright 1973, The Craig like Jesus requires immer- beliefs or to change them. In exercising these rights, howeverp Press. sion. Being baptized in one must respect the equivalent rights of all others. "If capital punishment is flowing water seems just as Attempts to unite church and state are opposed to the not basic to God's law, then logical—sins "removed" in a interests of each, subversive of human rights and potentially Christ died in vain, for some pool are not really "washed" persecuting in character; to oppose union, lawfully and honor- easier way of satisfying away. ably, is not only the citizen's duty but the essence of the Golden God's justice could have LEONARD H. PONDER rule—to treat others as one wishes to be treated. been found. If capital Enka, North Carolina punishment is not basic to

LIBERTY MAY/JUNE 1992 3 PER SP E C T I V E

the second commandment, ancient African religion and was brought to the tion ceremony—between then the altar was a bloody featuring the ritual slaughter United States by Cuban 12,000 and 18,000 animals mistake, and God has been of chickens, sheep, goats, refugees, has an estimated are slaughtered each year in needlessly worshiped by ducks and other animals, 50,000 to 60,000 adherents in such rites alone. wantonly shed blood" announced plans to open a south Florida. Animals are They said the law was not (p.76). church on an abandoned sacrificed at birth, marriage unconstitutional under the "The blood of the altar used car lot. and death rites, to cure the peyote ruling because any and the fact of the altar are The case, Church of the sick and to initiate members. burden on the practice of thus a declaration of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Lawyers for the church Santeria was only an necessity of capital punish- Hialeah, is likely to be noted that the state allows "incidental effect of a ment. To oppose capital significant because it will be hunting, fishing, and generally applicable and punishment as prescribed by the High Court's first trapping; permits animal otherwise valid provision God's law is thus to oppose consideration of the religious shelters to kill stray animals; prohibiting animal sacri- the cross of Christ and to freedom issue since a 1990 and sanctions medical fice."—Reprinted with deny the validity of the ruling that gave governments research that includes the permission from the Washing- altar" (p.77). greater leeway to adopt laws torture or killing of animals. ton Post, copyright 1992. "The laws concerning the that infringe on religious "Hialeah has not inter- death penalty can be briefly practices. fered with the sale of lobsters summarized" (p.76): In the 1990 case, Employ- to be boiled alive, and the "Deuteronomy 21:18-21: ment Division v. Smith, the record does not show that it For incorrigible juvenile Court said Oregon did not has interfered with the delinquents; Leviticus 24:11- have to make an exception in practice of feeding live rats to 14, 16, 23: For blasphemy; its general drug laws to allow pet snakes," they said. Religious News Service is a re- Leviticus 20:10; the ritual use of peyote in "Religion is almost the only source for "On the News." Deuteronomy 22:21-24: For Native American religious unacceptable reason for adultery; Leviticus 18:22; ceremonies. Those challeng- killing an animal in Florida." Moving? 20:13: For sodomy; (see ing the Hialeah ban argue But lawyers for Hialeah page 77 for additional that it violates their right to said it was legitimate for the Please notify us 4 weeks in advance corroboration of Fred free exercise of religion city to "prevent tens of

Clarkson's statements).—Ed.] because—unlike the Oregon thousands of chickens, goats, Name peyote law—it is specifically ducks, and other animals

On the News targeted at animal slaughter from being uncleanly held, Address (new, if for change of address) for religious purposes. inhumanely killed, and

Court to Review "Hialeah has not made it unsafely discarded through- City Animal-Sacrifice Ban a crime to kill animals," out the homes and streets of

The Supreme Court has lawyers for the church and an urban community." State Zip agreed to decide whether a one of its priests said in They noted that a federal

Florida city's ban on urging the justices to hear judge, in upholding the To subscribe to Liberty check rate below and fill sacrificing animals in the case. "Rather, Hialeah prohibition, had found that— in your name and address above. Payment must religious ceremonies violates has made it a crime to with 20 to 30 animals accompany order. the constitutional guarantee sacrifice animals to your sacrificed at a single initia- ❑ 1 year $6.95 of religious freedom. God." Mail to: The city of Hialeah's Santeria, which is Liberty subscriptions, 55 West Oak Ridge Drive, animal-sacrifice prohibition practiced in the Caribbean Hagerstown, Maryland 21740. was adopted in 1987 after ATTACH LABEL HERE for address change or inquiry. If moving, list new address above. adherents of Santeria, an Note: your subscription expiration date (issue, year) is given at upper right of label. Example: 0392L1 would end with third (May-June) issue of 1992.

4 LIBERTY MAY/JUNE 1992

PER S P E C T I V E

A PLEA TO CONGRESSIONAL STAFFPERSONS

SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH WORLD HEADQUARTERS 12501 OLD COLUMBIA PIKE SILVER SPRING, MD 20904 PHONE (301) 680-6000

RELEASED BY: Gary M. Ross May 11, 1992

Religious liberty is no "luxury:" it remains the inalienable right granted by God Himself to His creation and is therefore not subject to human manipulation. Because of this verity, the Seventh-day Adventist Church joins many other organizations in deploring Oregon v. Smith and in advocating expeditious consideration by Congress of the reversal bill introduced by Mr. Solarz (D-N.Y.). This position does not represent a defense of the use, even sacramental use, of drugs, but rather a defense of the test by which this or any other exercise of religion ought to be judged. That test, dating from Sherbert and best known for invocation in Yoder, makes religiously motivated actions permissible except where a demanding level of proof—a demonstrated compelling state interest—prohibits them. Egregiously the Smith ruling subordinates religious expression to laws that are facially neutral and generally applicable. Redress is obtainable through exemptions granted by legislatures, but in Justice Scalia's own words, "leaving accommodation to the political process will place at a relative disadvantage those religious practices that are not widely engaged in." But, replied Justice O'Connor, "the First Amendment was enacted precisely to protect the rights of those whose religious practices are not shared by the majority and may be viewed with hostility." Worse even than vacating a reasonable and workable test, the Court (1) did so without argument, inasmuch as the relevant oral arguments presupposed that test; (2) subsequently denied a petition for rehearing; and (3) immediately demonstrated through Hershberger and other findings that its new rule of law was not an aberration. A consensus of historic magnitude underlies the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. It enjoys bipartisan co-sponsorship in Congress and the support of one of the most diverse public coalitions ever to galvanize in defense of the First Amendment. Enactment of this bill. H.R. 2797, is absolutely imperative. The national and world headquarters of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which are located in Silver Spring, Maryland, oversee an organization of six million plus members worldwide. -Adventists often encounter religious liberty problems in Communist, Muslim, and other nations," says Pastor Al McClure, president of the church in North America, "but it is sobering to note that the United States Supreme Court has upset decades of settled constitutional law regarding the most special rights of minorities."

LIBERTY MAY/JUNE 1992 5 ome of you are wonderin'," says Bob Elkins

softly, "why someone else didn't get bit and die."

The question dangles uneasily in the air. A

folding chair creaks. Every seat in the Church of the

Lord Jesus, and every bit of standing room, is

occupied for this unforgettable funeral.

"Well, maybe the other feller wasn't worthyto

die for the Word!"

A chorus of lusty amens.

It's been 29 years since the

last time worship killed a

person in this humble

back-roads congrega-

tion in the hollows of

Jolo, West Virginia,

the last state in the

Union where religious

snake handling is still

not a crime.

6 LIBERTY MAY/JUNE 1992 TEMPTATION OF BROTHER ROY

Every weekend parishioners had already suffered two heart at- BY BILL SNEAD gather here to show their faith in tacks and whose doctor was wor- the Scriptures by singing hymns, dancing to ried enough about his health to order him to cut rockabilly gospel, and reverently passing hand to back on his favorite meal of corn bread, milk, and hand squirming rattlesnakes, cottonmouths, beans. In fact, Johnson had been bitten twice and copperheads. before in church, and recovered each time with- Most of the worshipers are locals, but some out medical intervention. And so, this time too, are pilgrims who drive here from more than 100 he merely went to Chafin's home to lie down and miles away. Ray Johnson was one of those. Most take some nourishment. Through the evening every weekend Ray, his wife, Betty, and their five parishioners dropped by to pray for him. children made the trip from Galax, Virginia, 300 "He drank some 7-Up, some orange juice, and miles back and forth, bunking in a vacant cabin some chicken broth," recalls Geneva Chafin, on a nearby mountaintop. When he wasn't pray- Dewey's wife. Quietly Johnson called out the ing, Johnson was out on the mountain ridges names of everyone in the room and told them with a pole, a noose, and a burlap bag, pulling up that he loved them, then slowly closed his eyes. rocks to see what slithered out. The death stunned the church members, but it The Bibles at this church tend to be cracked at has not seemed to daunt them. They will con- the spine, falling open naturally to the book of tinue to handle snakes at their regular Sunday Mark, chapter 16, verse 18, where it says "They services. Betty Johnson is expected. shall take up serpents; and if they drink any An outsider may be tempted to dismiss the deadly thing, it shall not hurt them." Here, the parishioners at the Church of the Lord Jesus as Bible is regarded not as a guide but as a word-for- frenzied fanatics, and indeed, the religion they word decree. practice is as reckless as Russian roulette. But to And so it was that Ray Johnson wore a cap watch one of their snake services—conducted af- with this inscription: "God Said It, I Believe It, ter the picnic lunch is served—is to watch an and That's It." Johnson died last Monday at the exercise in faith and cleansing passion that few of age of 52. us will ever know. Once, during an evening He was bitten 13 hours earlier, during Sunday service, several members of the congregation services, almost precisely on the spot where his were holding rattlesnakes and copperheads, open casket lay at his funeral. Those who saw the keeping wary eyes on the animals' heads, when fatal bites say they happened in a split second. the room went pitch black. Power outage. Wor- Johnson was holding a three-foot timber rattler shipers bolted for their cars to find flashlights lightly around its belly, and it just turned on him while the nervous snake handlers remained in the and struck twice on his left wrist, snap-snap, a terrifying blackness, arms extended to the max, blur of fang and fury and shiny flat head. The shouting out their positions lest someone back second bite was deep and nasty, and it took a few into a pair of fangs. By and by, the snakes were seconds to pry the snake's head off his wrist. returned to their boxes by flashlight. "I asked Ray if he wanted to go see a doctor Candle holders now adorn the church's walls. and he said no," Dewey Chafin says. Chafin is At Ray Johnson's funeral the line of mourners shaken but proud of his friend's resolve. Chafin who filed past his open casket included his wife; himself has been bitten 116 times, he says, and his mother, Leu Blankenship; and his 12-year- has treated each with prayer alone. old son, Jerry Ray, who knelt and placed in his Death from snakebite during religious ser- dad's shirt pocket a folded piece of paper. vices is a relative rarity—only a dozen or so have When the coffin was closed, the last things to been reported in this century. The last fatality in disappear from view (or more precisely, the two Bill Snead is a staff writer the Church of the Lord Jesus was that of Dewey things you remembered the longest), were the for the Washington Post. Chafin's sister, Columbia, who died in 1962 at white glove that had been placed over Johnson's Reprinted with permis- the age of 22. Chafin still mourns her. purpled snake-bit hand, and the tattered, dog- sion. Copyright 1991. Ray Johnson was a disabled mechanic who eared Bible that rested on his chest. K

PHOTOGRAPH BY THE AUTHOR

LIBERTY MAY/JUNE 1992 7 r.

Ray Johnson died in vain. Despite his sincerity and devotion, he was wrong. Dead wrong.

andling the lethal timber rattler was every bit as foolhardy as playing Russian roulette. The only

difference in Jolo was that Johnson and his fellow worshipers invoked the name of Jesus before

II they put the loaded pistol to their head. Bob Elkins, the minister in the story, allegedly suggested that Johnson's death came about because he was "worthy to die for the Word." In fact, snake handling demeans the Word. It springs from a wrong understanding of the Christian Scriptures, just as it distorts the Bible's view of life, God, religion, and faith itself.

BY WILLIAM G. JOHNSSON II Wrong Use of Scripture he is gathering a pile of brushwood for a fire, he is bitten by a The snake handlers of West Virginia base their bizarre viper. To the amazement of the pagan crew, Paul shakes off the practice on one verse of the Bible: "They shall take up deadly snake and suffers no harm (Acts 28:1-6). serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not Note the contrast with Jolo: Paul did not look for a snake, hurt them" (Mark 16:18).* let alone pick one up. He was bitten while in the line of service, Taken just as it reads, this verse seems to back up the and God performed a miracle to save his life. That pattern people ofJolo. Could they be, after all, the only ones to take the holds for all the signs of the book of Acts—they accompany Bible seriously? Could they be right and the mass of Christians missionary activity, not private worship. be wrong? A good rule to remember in studying the Bible is: Don't No. Scripture itself discounts the snake-handling interpre- establish your faith on one verse of Scripture. The Christian tation. tradition is littered with the shipwrecks of individuals and First, the verse's authenticity is in question. None of the movements that have taken one verse—usually out of context— most reliable of the early manuscripts of the Gospel of Mark and made that their foundation. They built; but they built a include the final 12 verses of the book—the account ends at house of cards. Mark 16:8. Nor do the earliest Christian writers (those of the Scripture is a totality. It has many writers but only one second century) refer to these verses. Author. We need to see it whole, grasp it as a unit. The total A distinct change in style follows verse 8. In the original Word of God supplies the foundation for faith and life. Greek the difference is even more pronounced. The conclu- There's the weakness of the snake handlers—they build on sion seems inescapable: the final 12 verses come from a differ- only one verse. No other Gospel suggests the key idea in their ent hand. They likely were a fragment from some Christian's religion, nor does any other book of the Bible. account that in time became attached to the end of Mark's The snake handlers mean well, they seek to take the Bible Gospel. We know that other lives of Jesus apart from the four seriously, they are sincere—but they are wrong. The followers Gospels were circulating. of Jim Jones likewise were sincerely wrong. In seeking to be Second, even if we grant the authenticity of Mark 16:18, the true to the Word, the snake handlers of West Virginia negate snake handlers misinterpret its meaning. As the adage goes: A the Word. text without a context is a pretext. Here is the setting of the verse: "He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the II Wrong View of Life good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized It's heady, fascinating, to take death in your hands— will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. the loaded gun, the deadly snake—and play with it. But And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my that approach devalues life and runs counter to the name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new biblical view. tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when Religions can be divided into two categories: those they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will that affirm this world, and those that deny it. Biblical religion place their hands on sick people, and they will get well'" (verses belongs in the former: it upholds life, teaching that life is good, 15-18). comes from God, and is not to be destroyed. The context reveals a preaching or missionary purpose. As "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" the followers of Jesus went out proclaiming the good news, (Genesis 1:1). The Scriptures open with a world view. God, miracles would accompany their efforts—exorcisms, not some lesser or evil being, made the world. God is the glossolalia (speaking in tongues), protection from snakes and Author of life: "In him we live and move and have our being" poisons, healings. These "signs" would come in the course of (Acts 17:28); all things hold together through Him (Colossians preaching, not worship. They would be for the purpose of 1:17). God, having created man, pronounced him "very good" spreading the gospel to others, not for private spiritual nur- (Genesis 1:31). ture. Thus God opposes murder, writing the prohibition into The book of Acts, the record of the spread of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:13). early Christianity, documents these very Death is an enemy, not to be sought, finally to miracles. Paul casts out a demon in the name William G. Johnsson is be destroyed (1 Corinthians 15:26, 54). Jesus, of Jesus (Acts 16:16-18), the apostles speak in editor of the Adventist the God-man, spent the largest part of His other languages (Acts 2:1-11), and the dis- Review. He earned a ministry in healing people and raising the dead ciples lay hands on the sick and make them well Ph.D. in biblical studies (Matthew 4:23-25; 11:4, 5). He affirms life: "I (Acts 3:1-8; 5:12-16; 8:5-7; 9:17-19, 36-41). from Vanderbilt University have come that they may have life, and have it Only one miracle from the list of Mark 16-18 is and served as to the full" (John 10:10). missing—protection from deadly poisons. professor of New This view of the world runs counter to that One incident from Acts is especially signifi- Testament at Andrews of the ancient Greeks. For them, the body was cant because it bears specifically on the snake University. Berrien a prison holding back the soul from its full handlers' practices. Paul, now a prisoner on Springs. Michigan. expression. So in Plato's account of the death his way to Rome, is shipwrecked on Malta. As of Socrates, the famous philosopher took the

ILLUSTRATION BY RICHARD LaLI BERTE AND TIMOTHY KNEPP

LIBERTY MAY/JUNE 1992 9 cup of hemlock and drank it gladly, And what concept ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: believing that he was about to find the to do good or to do evil, to save life or to soul's full freedom. But Jesus of of God lies behind the destroy it?" (Luke 6:9). Nazareth went to His death with ago- Life—this was the essence of Jesus' nizing prayers and pleas, seeking a way snake-handling ministry. He brought a better life to all out (see Matthew 26:36-42). He touched as He fed the hungry, re- In the Christian tradition the Greek worship of Jolo, West stored sight to the blind and hearing to rather than the biblical view at times has the deaf, cleansed the lepers, and made dominated. The whole monastic tradi- Virginia? What the lame to walk. He spoke words of tion—forsaking the world, flagellating peace and assurance, revealing God as a the body, denying sex and marriage— leads these devotees to heavenly Father who loves all, regard- came from Athens rather than Jerusa- less of age, gender, race, or social stand- lem. roam the mountains ing, who numbers even the hairs on our Early on, some Christians developed head. Jesus of Nazareth lifted people a fascination with death. They sought hunting rattlesnakes, from their despair and brokenness, and martyrdom, raising death to a value gave hope of eternal life in the presence greater than life, forgetting Paul's cottonmouths, and of God. words "If II. . . surrender my body to the That, after all, had been the thrust of flames, but have not love, I gain noth- copperheads and to make the Old Testament writings. "For with ing" (1 Corinthians 13:3). So, this letter you is the fountain of life; in your light of Ignatius, a Christian bishop on his them the high point we see light," King David had sung way to death in Rome early in the sec- (Psalm 36:9). And Yahweh had called, ond century, expresses his desire to die: of Sunday services? "Why will you die, 0 house of Israel?" "Let me be given to the wild beasts, for (Ezekiel 33:11). through them I can attain unto God. I In sharp contrast the God of Jolo am God's, am God's wheat, and I am seems irrational, capricious, demand- ground by the teeth of wild beasts that I may be found pure ing. He sets up an absurd test for His followers. His worship bread of Christ. Rather entice the wild beasts, that they might becomes hazardous for the health: each devotee at Sunday become my sepulchre and may leave no part of my body service may be taken like Brother Ray. behind. . . . Nay, I will entice them that they may devour me promptly." Wrong View of Religion Most people today would consider thinking like that What we find in the West Virginia story is religion pathological. It is; it is unbiblical also. Just like the snake turning in on itself, focusing on the individual and his handlers' view of life. worship, and in so doing, threatening his or her very life. That understanding of spirituality takes an extreme and Wrong View of God bizarre turn among the Jolo congregation. Each year in a village some 70 miles north of Poona flJust as the religions of mankind divide over their view of the in central India, the people celebrate a snake festival. world, so they separate over their view of one's life in the world. They go into the surrounding fields and search for Those that deny the world hold up the ideal of withdrawal cobras. Placing them in clay pots, they take them into from the world, and the result is monks, mystics, and sadhus 1 their homes and keep them for several days, setting out trekking in the Himalayas, and religious communes. food for the snakes. Eventually they return them to the fields. From the perspective of the Bible—the book from which the What Hindu concept of deity lies behind this practice? The snake handlers derive their ritual—this understanding of reli- villagers believe in a triad: Brahma, the creator; Vishnu, the gion is wrong-headed. Just as the Bible affirms this world—the preserver; and Siva, the destroyer. The festival of the deadly world is good, coming from the hand of a good God, and is cobra affirms death itself. finally to be made over by that God—so it affirms life in the And what concept of God lies behind the snake-handling world. worship of Jolo, West Virginia? What leads these devotees to "He has showed you, 0 man, what is good. And what does roam the mountains hunting rattlesnakes, cottonmouths, and the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and copperheads and to make them the high point of Sunday to walk humbly with your God" (Micah 6:8)—this is the zenith services? of Old Testament religion. And the zenith of New Testament Certainly not the biblical view of God. Jesus, the God-Man, spirituality is: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and repeatedly demonstrated the axiom that "the Sabbath was with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and made for man, not man for the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27). He greatest commandment. And the second is like unto it: 'Love often healed on the Sabbath, frequently during the course of your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang worship services. One time when challenged, He replied, "I on these two commandments" (Matthew 22:37-40).

10 LIBERTY MAY/JUNE 1992 That is, the greatest religious value, according to the Chris- Bible is a personal being; though unseen He may be known by tian Scriptures, comes from living for God rather than dying man. "I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that for Him (apart from occasional exceptions when loyalty to he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day," God becomes the paramount virtue). Indeed, we might argue wrote Paul (2 Timothy 1:12). "Though you have not seen him, that the more difficulttask for the devotee is to live in the world you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you of human relationships, live with the pressures and frustra- believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious tions of daily experiences in a manner that honors God and joy," attested Peter (1 Peter 1:8). uplifts our neighbor. Compared to this challenge, martyrdom Faith isn't a formula for furthering one's ends. Faith isn't looks like a "quick fix" to spirituality. a talisman to unlock the powers of the universe. Most of all, As does playing Russian roulette with timber rattlers. faith isn't a means of manipulating Deity. But what about faith? At least in this regard, do Ray Biblical faith is a deep, continuing relationship with God. It Johnson and his friends put the rest of us to shame? Again, the is knowing God, obeying God. Because of it, through it, God's answer depends on how you define faith—and the Bible gives a followers do mighty works in His name and by His power to different view from Brother Ray's. advance His kingdom. Faith has a counterfeit. Because it sounds like faith, quotes Il Wrong View of Faith Scripture, and seems pious and brave, it looks Ray Johnson's cap carried the like faith. But it isn't. words "God Said It, I Believe It, Faith centers in God and His and That's It." But what did kingdom; the counterfeit ulti- God say? mately centers in the individual. If Mark 16:18 is au- We find faith and coun- thentic, does "They shall take terfaith side by side in the up serpents" mean "You story of Jesus. At the com- shall take up serpents in mencement of His minis- your worship services"? Or try, Jesus confronts temp- does it mean "If in the tation in the wilderness. course of Christian duty Hungry, He hears the you encounter snakes and suggestion that He turn other life-threatening situ- stones into bread. But He ations, I will protect you"? replies with a quotation The apostle Paul's encoun- from Scripture: "It is writ- ter with the viper suggests the ten: 'Man does not live on latter, as we have seen. bread alone, but on every But Jesus did say: "If you be- word that comes from the lieve, you will receive whatever you mouth of God'" (Matthew 4:4). ask for in prayer" (Matthew 21:22). He Then the devil takes Jesus to a did say: "If you have faith as small as a pinnacle of the temple. Quoting Scrip- mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move ture himself—that God will protect—he challenges from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impos- Jesus to throw Himself down. But Jesus responds: "It is also sible for you" (Matthew 17:20). He did say: "According to written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test'" (verse 7). your faith will it be done to you" (Matthew 9:29). The final approach offers Jesus a shortcut to the kingdom. On the face of it, these texts seem to support the snake The devil shows Him the world and invites: "All this I will give handlers. But let's think through this matter. you . . . if you will bow down and worship me" (verse 9). But If"whatever" signifies carte blancheauthority, the person of Jesus banishes him with "Away from me, Satan! For it is faith can ask for and receive the world on a plate. He can jump written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only' off the Sears Tower and God will save his life. He can drive at (verse 10). 100 miles an hour down the highway and emerge unscathed. Counterfaith presumes on God's promises. It puts God to He can become a millionaire. He can curse his enemy and see the test; it manipulates God. him drop dead. That's where Brother Ray, despite his sincerity and earnest- Why don't we find people of faith lining up on the top of the ness, went wrong. That's why he died in vain. Sears Tower? For the same reason that Christian traditions long rejected the reckless me-centered view of faith. The same Word that contains Mark 16:18 calls us to "cor- *Mark 16:18 is from the King James Version. All other Bible rectly handle the Word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15). It tells us texts in this article are from the Holy Bible, New International to be sure that what we call faith is the genuine article. Version. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible In essence, biblical faith is trusting God. The God of the Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

PHOTO BY BILL SNEAD

LIBERTY MAY/JUNE 1992 11 THE REAGAN COURT IS IN BY RONALD B. FLOWERS

n a Peanuts cartoon strip Lucy van Pelt offers also called the "no preference" or "nonprefer- psychological therapy and counseling ser- entialist" view.) vices from a curbside stand. Her sign says The other major perspective on the Establish- I "The Doctor Is In-54." ment Clause is the "separationist" view. Not only Likewise, the Reagan Court is in. For those should the state not aid one religion, but even who cherish religious freedom the cost will be nondiscriminatory aid to religion is unaccept- much higher than Lucy's therapy. able. Government and religion should neither Today's debate over church-state relation- depend on nor aid each other. Religion and the ships stems from the Supreme Court's reversed state should be strictly separate. interpretation of the religion clauses of the First The "original intention" view is accommoda- Amendment: "Congress shall make no law re- tionist. The argument is that the writers of the specting an establishment of religion, or prohib- Constitution intended only to prevent one reli- iting the free exercise thereof." gious group from becoming the "national First, the Establishment Clause. Advocates of church." They never intended to forbid govern- strict construction, a view championed by Ro- ment aid and support for religion in general. In nald Reagan, argue that the Constitution should the current Supreme Court, this position has be interpreted in line with the "original intent" of been argued most strongly by Chief Justice its authors. They believe moderns can know the Rehnquist in a dissent in Wallace v. Jaffree.' He intentions of the Founders from the plain sense argued that in the light of the Founders' inten- of the Constitution, and thus how to apply it to tions, strict separation between church and state cases today. is mistaken. Historically, there have been two primary "The evil to be aimed at . . . appears to have ways of understanding the Establishment been the establishment of a national church, and Clause. One is the "accommodationist" view: perhaps the preference of one religious sect over government should accommodate religion. The Dr. Ronald B. Flowers another, but it was definitely not concern about government may provide aid (including finan- is chairman of the whether the Government might aid all religions cial aid) for religion, so long as it does not choose Department of evenhandedly. . . . one religious group for favored treatment. Gov- Religion Studies at "The Establishment Clause did not require ernment patronage must be nondiscriminatory. Texas Christian governmental neutrality between religion and No religion should be the official religion of the University in irreligion nor did it prohibit the federal govern- state or receive preferential treatment. (This is Forth Worth, Texas. ment from providing nondiscriminatory aid to

ILLUSTRATION BY RAY DRIVER

12 LIBERTY MAY/JUNE 1992 religion. The 'wall of separation between church held, in County of Allegheny v. ACLU of Pitts- and state' is a metaphor based on bad history, a burgh,6 that a freestanding Nativity scene was metaphor which has proved useless as a guide to unconstitutional because it had the primary ef- judging. It should be frankly and explicitly aban- fect of advancing religion. But a menorah stand- doned."• ing alongside a Christmas tree did not, because Over the years the Court has developed a the combination of symbols does not endorse a "three-part test" for interpreting the Establish- particular religion; it only recognizes a holiday ment Clause. For a law or government program that has secular status in our society. In its to be constitutional, it must have a secular pur- opinion, the Court utilized Justice O'Connor's pose, have a primary effect that neither advances endorsement language. nor hinders religion, and avoid excessive en- Justice Kennedy, in dissent, argued against the tanglement between religion and civil authority.3 endorsement test. Noting that the test says that During the past 20 years this formula has resulted by government endorsement of religion a law is in some very separationist decisions, especially in unconstitutional when nonadherents are made the area of government aid to church-related to feel like "outsiders" in the political commu- schools. Recently various members of the Court nity, Kennedy said that few government recogni- have begun to question the validity of the test. tions of religion would not have that result. He Justice Sandra Day O'Connor proposed one Government gave several examples: national days of prayer, of the most creative modifications in a concur- the phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Alle- ring opinion in Lynch v. Donnelly,4 a case about a may aid giance, and "In God We Trust" on our currency. city-sponsored Nativity scene. O'Connor refor- In short, the endorsement test is entirely too mulated the test to refer to government endorse- religion if that broad. Its flaw is that it would not allow sufficient ment or disapproval of religion. She began her government accommodation of religion. analysis with the assumption that all citizens are aid does not What is the test for a sufficient government equal in the "political community." accommodation of religion? The practices of "A direct infringement is government en- make religion American history. Throughout our history gov- dorsement or disapproval of religion. Endorse- ernment has recognized the religious sensibilities ment sends a message to nonadherents that they relevant to of our people in many ways, e.g., those men- are outsiders, not full members of the political tioned above. The Establishment Clause must be community, and an accompanying message to people's interpreted so as to be sensitive to that tradition. adherents that they are insiders, favored mem- "Whatever test we choose to apply must per- bers of the political community. Disapproval status in the mit not only legitimate practices two centuries sends the opposite message."5 old but also any other practices with no greater Analysis of the purpose of a statute or pro- political potential for an establishment of religion. . . . A gram, O'Connor suggested, should ask whether test for implementing the protections of the Es- government intends to endorse or disapprove a community. tablishment Clause that, if applied with consis- religion. Analysis of the effect of a statute or tency, would invalidate longstanding traditions program should determine whether it conveys a cannot be a proper reading of the Clause."' message of endorsement or disapproval of reli- In order to accomplish that goal and reject the gion. An affirmative answer to either inquiry endorsement test, Kennedy narrowed the scope should invalidate the challenged practice. of Establishment Clause prohibition of govern- O'Connor's reformulation of the tests for in- ment aid to religion to coercion. Forbidden terpreting the Establishment Clause is not as government practices would be taxation of the accommodationist as the nonpreferentialist population to benefit a state-sponsored faith, view of the original intention group. She does direct compulsion to religious practice, "or gov- not believe that the only purpose of the Establish- ernmental exhortation to religiosity that ment Clause is to prevent the government from amounts in fact to proselytizing." Government favoring one religion over another. She believes coercion to observance and direct benefits are all that government action that sends a message of that are forbidden. Government may aid religion endorsement of religion in general violates the in a variety of ways. Kennedy's position has at intent of the clause. However, she is not a strict least two problems: Government money is rarely separationist, either. Government may aid reli- free of accompanying control. One also is re- gion if that aid does not make religion relevant to minded of Thomas Jefferson's assertion "that to people's status in the political community. compel a man to furnish contributions of money A major challenge to accepted Establishment for the propagation of opinions which he disbe- Clause jurisprudence came in 1989. The Court lieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical; that

LIBERTY MAY/JUNE 1992 13 even forcing him to support this or that teacher of really applied the test; it just found that judicial his own religious persuasion is depriving him of deference to military regulations weighed more the comfortable liberty of giving his contribu- heavily in the balance than Goldman's religious tions to the particular pastor whose morals he practice. The same was true in O'Lone v. Estate of would make his pattern, and whose powers he Shabazz,'9in which the Court weighted deference feels most persuasive to righteousness.' to prison officials' judgment about security mat- Justice Kennedy's dissent was joined by three ters more than Muslim inmates' religious needs. others, so its radically accommodationist view of In some cases, however, the Court seemed to the Establishment Clause is near gaining a major- depart completely from the compelling interest ity on the Court. The Reagan test. In Bowen v. Roy" the Court denied the That could happen soon. Before the Court is religiously based request of a Native American Lee v. Weisman,9 a case about the constitutional- Court, has also not to have a Social Security number applied to ity of prayers at a public school commencement his daughter. The Court's rationale was that the exercise. The Bush administration, through an caused gigantic "Free Exercise Clause simply cannot be under- amicus curiae brief by the Justice Department, stood to require the Government to conduct its implored the Court to use the case to install changes in the own internal affairs in ways that comport with Kennedy's concept as its method of interpreting the religious beliefs of particular citizens." No the Establishment Clause. The Weisman decision Interpretation compelling government interest test here. is due momentarily. The same reasoning was used in Lyngv. North- The Reagan Court has also caused gigantic of the Free west Indian Cemetery Protective Association." changes in the interpretation of the Free Exercise When Native Americans try to prevent the gov- Clause. As early as 1879 the Court ruled that Exercise Clause. ernment from building a road across their sacred government may interfere in or prohibit reli- lands in a national forest, they are trying to get the giously motivated behavior that it considers to be As early as 1879 government to alter its procedures based on their inimical to public welfare. Belief was insulated religious beliefs. Under Bowen v. Roy, they can- from government intrusion, but action was sub- the Court ruled not prevail.° ject to broadly defined government encroach- These retreats from a strict and broad applica- ment.10 From that time until development of the that tion of the Free Exercise Clause were minor com- "compelling government interest test" in Sher- pared to the effects of Employment Division of bert v. Verner," decisions of the Court restricted, government Oregon v. Smith.2° A Native American challenged in stages, the scope of government's power to the state's denial of unemployment compensa- interfere with religious behavior. The test seeks may interfere tion after he was fired for using a prohibited drug, to determine (1) if the government has placed a peyote, in the worship service of the Native burden or restriction on the free exercise of reli- in or prohibit American Church. Smith claimed that the Free gion, (2) if so, whether the government has a Exercise Clause protected his use ofpeyote in that compelling reason to do so, and (3) if so, whether religiously context. In an opinion by Justice Scalia, the the government has an alternative means to reach Court not only denied that claim but virtually its goal without infringement on religion. To motivated destroyed the Free Exercise Clause. interfere in religious action, government must The Court affirmed that a state may not re- have a good reason. Said the Court: "In this behavior that it strict religious belief or the expression of belief. highly sensitive area, 'only the gravest abuses, When belief breaks out into action, a state may endangering paramount interests, give occasion considers to be not ban those acts, nor may it compel acts that for permissible limitation.'"12 In this balancing religious conviction forbids "if it sought to ban test government's interest must be heavy indeed inimical to such acts or abstentions only when they are en- to prevail against religious freedom. For this test, gaged in for religious reasons, or only because of the rule is religious freedom; the exception is public welfare. the religious belief that they display."2' government interference. But it is a different matter when there is a The Sherbert test became "the standard ana- religiously based request to be exempt from reli- lytic tool" for deciding free exercise cases after gion-neutral laws of general applicability, as in 1963.'3 But it is said that there were cases in which this case (the law prohibiting peyote use was not it was not used. For example, Goldman v. directed at peyote directly, but at all drugs con- Weinberger," in which the Court ruled that mili- sidered to be hallucinogenic). The Free Exercise tary regulations against wearing headgear in- Clause does not apply to laws aimed at general doors must prevail over an Orthodox Jewish behavior. If the law has not targeted religion, but serviceman's obligation to wear a yarmulke. Al- is aimed at general behavior that the state needs though the Court seemed to discount Sherbert, it to regulate, e.g., drug abuse or the fraudulent

Continued on page 28 14 LIBERTY MAY/JUNE 1992

In Search of a HERITAGE

A memorial to a small group of Protestant reformers Raises disquieting questions

BY ROLAND R. HEGSTAD

In October 1685, King Louis XIV revoked the heritage: Die Vlei, Vanderstelspas, Eerstehoop, Edict of Nantes, which had conceded freedom of Vyeboom, Floorshoogte. Yes, Floorshoogte! I conscience to French Protestants. The Huguenot spelled them out as my wife, Stella, wrote them reformers were, he decreed, members of a "false down. Our attempts to pronounce them dissi- religion" that had divided the nation. Spurred by pated the tension of driving on the "wrong the subsequent persecution, more than 200,000 side" of the highway. I had long insisted that fled. One small group went to South Africa . . . "eternal vigilance is," indeed, "the price of liberty." It was, as my wife reminded me, also the fter a late-morning visit to the Cape price of safety. of Good Hope, we had driven east to We had flown British Airways from Kenya Danger Point, near the junction of to Johannesburg, and South African Airways to Athe Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Capetown on September 16. In Nairobi I had That afternoon we headed north on Highway handled publicity for the All-Africa Congress of 320 through Caledon into the province's fertile the International Religious Liberty Associa- interior. Townsites testified to the area's Dutch tion. Its theme, "Freedom of Religion: Hope

Approaching Franschhoek, an early center of South Africa's Huguenot refugees, we top a hill and see a great cultivated amphitheater in the Cape's heartland. Farm workers walk fresh-cut yrows, nestling seeds into the spring-warm soil.

PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR

LIBERTY MAY/JUNE 1992 15

In Franschhoek, triple arches of the Huguenot monument challenge mountain splendor. They represent the Trinity; the sun above them is a symbol of righteousness. Cut in granite, three languages—Afrikaans, English, and French— record the monument's commemorative purpose.

Standing serenely atop the world is a woman representing the Huguenot church—the "church of the wilderness." She casts off the cloak of oppression. The Bible in her right hand and the broken chains in her left signify religious freedom.

for Lasting Peace and Unity," had sensitized us to In the museum, situated the merits of eternal vigilance. When we learned next to the monument, are that a number of Huguenots fleeing France had artifacts from the early settled on the Cape, we decided to see how their Reformers and their descendants had fared. How well had they re- descendants. Among membered their heritage? them: a walnut grandfather Nearing the Berg River Valley, I switched the clock made by Jacques windshield wipers from low to intermittent and Hubert; a French Bible adjusted the visor as sunbeams and raindrops printed in Geneva in 1693; tussled playfully for possession of the early spring prescriptions signed by afternoon (yes, spring; seasons as well as high- pioneer physicians Le ways are reversed in South Africa). On our left, Grand and Du Plessis; and a creek tumbled down a rocky hillside and stag- photostats of the baptism gered drunkenly across a meadow. On our right, certificates of the farm workers walked fresh-cut furrows, nestling Huguenot congregation. seeds into the black soil of a great cultivated amphitheater. Only a few miles ahead, in the heartland of what had once been the home of the Hottentots, was our destination: the town of Franschhoek, settled in the late 1600s by Hugue- nots. There were never many, only about 250 by the beginning of the eighteenth century, but that figure constituted one sixth of South Africa's free burgher population. A few, like Maria van Riebeeck, Francois Villion, and Guillaume du Toit, had arrived early: the first group, 21 Hugue- nots, landed at Saldanha Bay on April 13, 1688. Commander Simon van der Stel of the Dutch colony had allocated them farms along the Berg HUGUENOT HUG ENOTE- MEMORIAL MUSEUM River, in the districts of Franschhoek, Daljosafat, GEDENI/AUSIEUNI 1967 Wamakersvallei, Simondium, and Paarl. I knew

11 r.,i1i11111iti,TrUq«firEF711111191-rtt

16 LIBERTY MAY/JUNE 1992 In gardens between the these Protestant Reformers from visits to their museum and the French homesites. Perceived as a threat to King monument, early spring Louis XIV's assumption of absolute power, and flowers charm the visitor. the pope's presumption of universal spiritual Here, protea kiss the sun. authority, they had stained the battlefields of seventeenth-century France with their blood. Prelates and politicians conspired together to slaughter 3,000 in Paris on Saint Bartholomew's Day. In the provinces thousands more died. In one infamous incident, papal forces massacred the entire congregation at Meaux. And so they fled-80,000 to the Netherlands, 50,000 to the British Isles, 43,000 to the Protes- tant areas of Germany. Switzerland absorbed 20,000; Ireland, 10,000. Denmark, Sweden, and Russia took 2,000 more. Later smaller numbers emigrated to the Colonies of the New World. Two hundred survived storms and shipboard

With dates spanning the centuries, gravestones document the certainty of death. But on their weathered surfaces can be read Scriptural assurances of eternal life. Surround- ing one tilted and broken stone, the weeds of spring proclaim the certainty, if not the quality, of resurrection. A handless figure leaves the visitor wondering what timeless truth has vanished with the inexorable "change and decay" of all things human. Within the same plot, memorials to parents and children of the present flank memorials to grandparents and great-

grandparents. From the OW ancient to the modern, -• o ru only the aesthetics of the stone seem changed; JAMES CURD CACAO. words of hope of one vow r22•22.220 ,222 2122 COI .002 1222. generation find echo in the W2 12 .22.1 hope of another: "Twilight and Evening Bell And After That the dark 0 May There Be No Sadness of Farewell When I Embark."

LIBERTY MAY/JUNE 1992 17 Huguenot prowess at methode champenoise, pro- ducing sparkling white wine of French quality. But winemaking would not be their legacy. Nor would they be remembered primarily because of the French first names so prominent in South Africa—Pierre, Etienne, Jacques, and Louis. Rather, we must look to their coherence as a community with common religious convictions and a passionate desire for religious freedom as legacies bequeathed to South African society. Their strong Calvinistic convictions, independence, moral values, unimpeached conscience, commitment to God and family—these too are recognized by South African historians. At Franschhoek we wanted to start with the Huguenot monument, built to memorialize the 250th anniversary of their arrival. But where was it? I rubbed protesting Toyota hubcaps against a sidewalk. Stella got out and asked a young clerk at the corner grocery. "I'm sorry," the woman responded. "I'm afraid I don't know." A middle- aged man did. The monument was only a few blocks away. We found triple arches towering against a backdrop of mountains and pines. The arches— topped by the sun, a sign of righteousness—represent the Trinity; standing serenely before them On the way back into disease to reach the Dutch-administered Cape. on top of a globe (the southern tip of Africa Capetown, raindrops Between 1685 and 1721, more than 250,000 Hu- visible), a female figure casts off the cloak of spatter our windshield. guenots left France. oppression. The Bible in her right hand and the "Twilight and evening The loss to their homeland was devastating; broken chains in her left signify her religious bell" herald the triumph of the gain to other countries immeasurable. Hu- freedom. night. But suddenly the guenot skills in medicine, banking, law, architec- The Huguenots had likened themselves to the evanescence of a triple ture, and the arts still benefit Switzerland, Brit- Apocalyptic woman clothed with the sun and rainbow arches the ain, the Netherlands, Germany, and the United with the moon under her feet, who "fled into the heavens, and we know that States. Among the Huguenot names in American wilderness" to escape persecution (Revelation morning shall come. And history books are Delano, as in Franklin Delano 12:6). Surely architect J. C. Jongens, a Dutch the sadness of farewell Roosevelt; Revere, as in Paul; and Faneuil, as in immigrant, had known that. The replica of the shall give way to the Faneuil Hall, Boston. John Jay helped write The Edict of Nantes in the museum on the site pro- eternal joy of reunion. We Federalist and worked to ratify the Constitution; vided the needed leitmotiv to the woman's flight. remember words carved Matthew Fontaine Maury became one of the Stephen F. Du Toit, honorary president of the on the Huguenot founders of modern oceanography, and James Huguenot Society of South Africa, summarized memorial: Post tenebras De Lancey was a lieutenant governor and New the meaning of the memorial. "We have now lux—"After darkness, York state supreme court justice who presided raised a banner," he said, "and accomplished an light." And remembering over the trial of John Peter Zenger. emblem for posterity not to forget 1688." we hope that we have The Huguenots who came to the Cape in- But one had already forgotten. The clerk. In found at last the legacy of cluded merchants and tradesmen, but most were Franschhoek itself. We wandered through the the Huguenots. the "agriculturists" whom the Dutch had graveyard beside the museum. Beside grave- wanted. A 1687 letter to Simon van der Stel, stones bearing the names of early settlers stood Commander at the Castle, informed him that gravestones inscribed with the names of their among the Huguenot refugees were "vine culti- children and their children's children. Had they vators as well as those who understand the manu- remembered? What was their commitment? facture of brandy and vinegar, so that we hope And what of those living still? that the lack of these articles so frequently de- On the monument we had seen the words Post plored by you will now be supplied." They were. tenebras lux—"After darkness, light." Really? Or Our route through the valley emphasized the could it read "After light, darkness"?

18 LIBERTY MAY/JUNE 1992

0.11.1k AA 4 1 A ✓ I V V 4AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA•AAAAAY VA•A•A••••••AAAAAAAAAAAA•. 4 4 The . 4 4 4 l& P II 4 4 4 . 4 4 1 Jr . 4 Europe,1587-1589, when antagonism between Catholics and Protestants raged more 4 0. 4 4 furiously, passionately, and deadly than in today's 'Belfast. 4 O. 4 4 3n the sixteenth century, however, the violence stretched across Europe, and instead of 4 A an occasional firebomb or random shooting, Catholic and Trotestant armies and armadas A 4 4 scattered blood and bone from Tortuga! to glolland. 4 4 4 Surmounting political intrigue and economic machinations, the post-Reformation 4 O. 4 4 religious antagonisms developed into a struggle for control of Europe. 4 4 4 ,..qn execution contributed to spread of the conflict. On Jebruary 18, 1587, at 0. A I. 4 4 Jotheringhay, England, atary Stuart-known as ,..Nary, Queen of Scots-stood before her 0. 4 4 4 captors and said, "3 shall die as 3 have lived, in the true and holy Catholic faith. ,21l you 4 IIP. 4 4 can say to me on that score is but vain, and all your prayers, 3 think, can avail me but little." 4 ► 4 ,q, few moments later, a black-masked figure cut off her head. 4 ► 4 4 (Vith the death of LW,ary, whom many had hoped would one day rule England, most 4 I. 4 Catholics knew that only foreign intervention would restore Catholic rule to England and 4 4 (Philip of Spain believed himself to be the instrument that in glis wisdom 4 Scotland. -god 4 4 had ordained" to reassert Catholic domination over England, and eventually all Europe. Po 4 I, 4 4 Pitted against this objective were the ULuguenots-embattled Rrotestants struggling 4 4 4 valiantly against overwhelming odds to maintain their beliefs in the midst ofCatholic 3rance. A 0. 4 4 The following (excerpted from Barrett ,Nattingly's Pulitzer-prize winning ,2rmada), 4 IP. 4 4 is an account of the bitter battle at Coutras in1587 between the rotestant 91,uguenots and P. 4 4 4 Catholic armies of trance- a battle that foreshadowed the decisive defeat of the Spanish 4 4 • armada off the coast of England in I589.-C.9. ► 4 4 ► 4 ► 4 ► 4 ► 4 BY GARRETT MATTINGLY ► 4 0. 4 ••••••••V•VVVV•VYVVVVVVVYYVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVYVYYVVVYVIIVVVVV Coutrao, October 20, 1581

he king of Navarre and his army were perhaps less, Joyeuse would have them neatly trapped. The bulk of the Huguenot shut into the fork between the Dronne, which troops could not possibly escape the they had crossed yesterday afternoon, and the powerful Catholic host so suddenly come upon Isle, which they expected to cross this morning. them. The only desperate chance to save them lay It was a bad position to be caught in. The in committing the whole Huguenot force to un- straggling indefensible village where they were equal battle, and if that were risked, the odds were quartered ran down the middle of a narrow that the whole little army and its princely Bour- wedge between the two rivers, a cul-de-sac with bon leaders would be wiped out, a blow to the the duke of Joyeuse already closing its mouth. If Protestant cause, in France and throughout Eu- he hurried, Navarre and his cousins and captains rope. with most of the calvary could still get away, With his customary boldness Navarre had following the vanguard across the deep narrow been leading a picked force, the flower of the ford of the Isle. The bulk of the infantry would Huguenot army, away from the shores of Biscay have to be left behind to buy with their lives time where the Catholics hoped to pin him, right enough for the calvary's escape. That way the across the enemy's front towards Bergerac and leaders, at least, could be saved, though whether the hills. The bulk of that picked force, and with anybody would ever follow them afterward was them Navarre himself, his Bourbon cousins, another question. On the other hand, if they Conde and Soissons, and many famous Hugue- stayed and fought and were beaten, few of any not captains slept the night of October 19 in the rank were likely to survive. The rivers that flowed little village of Coutras, between the rivers together behind them were too deep to ford and Dronne and Isle, on the road that ran from Tours too swift to swim, the one bridge at the end of the and the north through Poitiers to village street was impossibly nar- Bordeaux. The Huguenot captains Conden sed and row, and the Catholic army of M. de struggled awake in the gray dawn of reprint ed with Joyeuse gave no quarter. the 20th to hear the distant popping permiss ion from If the capture of Sluys had of small arms in the woods north of The Arma da, 400th crippled Protestant resistance, the the village, and to learn that the anniversary edition, by destruction of this Huguenot army powerful royal army under the duke Garrett Mattingly. and its leaders would almost para- of Joyeuse, the army they were trying Copyrig ht 1959, lyze it. Here and there isolated to evade, had stolen a night's march Houghto n Mifflin pockets of resistance might hold on them and was already in contact Company. All rights out, but the back of Protestant with their pickets. In an hour or so, rese rved. power in France would be broken,

ILLUSTRATION BY ART LANDER MAN

20 LIBERTY MAY/JUNE 1992

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1VVVYVVVVVVVVVVVVVV•VVVVVVVYVVVVVVVVVV•VVVV7VVVVVYVVVVYVVIV,VVVVV, and the future would belong for some time to the foreign house of Lorraine, the only one of the house of Guise-Lorraine, to the radical fanatics of three Henrys who could profit. A genealogy of the Holy League, and to the paymaster of both, the house of Lorraine showed descent from the king of Spain. That would be an evil day for Charlemagne, and there were people to say that the rebels in the Netherlands, and perhaps an so descended, the duke of Guise had a better right even worse one for the reluctant captain general to the French crown than any descendant of and paymaster of the Protestant coalition, Eliza- Hugh Capet. Probably no one would have said so beth of England. With the collapse of Huguenot out loud under normal circumstances. But the opposition and the extinction of the Bourbon heir to the French crown was a heretic, and the line, the French Channel ports would offer secure more or less acknowledged chieftain of the Hu- bases for the invasion of England, and French guenot party. Whipped on by their preachers, ships and men would be available to reinforce the the Paris mob was ready to revolt rather than Spanish Armada. Toward some such end Span- accept a Protestant king. Financed by Spain, the ish diplomacy had been working ever since the magnates of the League were determined to make death of the last Valois heir, harnessing to its war to the death on the heretics, whether the king service the skill of the Jesuits, the eloquence of the of France was for them or against them, since preaching orders, the authority of Rome, and all either way both their faith and their greed could the forces of the renascent, militant Catholicam be served. The mixture of powerful motives of the Counter-Reformation. The Spanish diplo- made the "War of the Three Henrys" the bitterest mats were able to manipulate these forces the since the aftermath of St. Bartholomew's. more easily because they themselves were pen- Henry of Navarre rallied his party to resist. He etrated and inspired by them, and were so certain replied to the royal edict with an aggrieved pro- that the power of Spain was the chosen instru- testation of his own loyalty and that of his co- ment for bringing all Europe back to the faith that religionists. He replied to the pope's bull with a the interests of Spain and the interests of God's jaunty letter to "M. Sixte" which some daring church honestly seemed to them to be the same. spirit managed to affix to Pasquino's statue, to In France they had manipulated the forces of the mingled wrath and amusement of His Holi- the Counter Reformation so successfully that for ness. And by an adroit campaign which com- more than two years now the Huguenots had bined guerrilla forays with the stubborn defense been fighting, not as they had once fought, for the of selected strong points, he slowed, at least, the triumph of their faith and the establishment of advancing Catholic tide. But, as he used to say God's kingdom, but for their lives. They were, as afterward, that autumn his mustache turned the king of Navarre's secretary had recently writ- white from anxiety. ten, perforce chief actors in a tragedy in which all After Henry of Guise, there was no Catholic in Europe had a share. They had been thrust back France more dangerous to the Huguenots than upon the stage in July 1585. It was 13 months the commander of the royal army south of the since the death of the last Valois heir; a year since Loire, Anne, Duc de Joyeuse. That handsome an assassin's bullet had struck down the prince of young man had rocketed from obscurity to be, Orange; seven months since the Guises and the before he was half through his 20s, a duke, the adherents of the Holy League had been bound by husband of the queen's sister and so brother-in- the secret treaty of Joinville to supply the civil war law to the king, lord of vast estates, governor of Philip needed in France while he dealt with the wide provinces, and admiral of France. What heretics in Holland, and, perhaps, in England. In distinguished Anne de Joyeuse was what has been July 1585, Henry III, cornered by the League, called . . . the passion for command. He had a revoked the royal edicts of toleration and out- reckless effrontery, a sublime self-confidence, a lawed the Reformed Church. In September, the kind of magnanimity, which so imposed upon new pope, Sixtus V, issued a tremendous bull, his contemporaries (not only on the king) that it denouncing Henry of Navarre as a relapsed her- is impossible now to say whether he had any etic, depriving him of his estates, absolving his other extraordinary qualities at all. vassals from their allegiance, and declaring him Into the cause of the League, Joyeuse flung incapable of succeeding to the throne of France. himself with the same headlong fury with which So began the "War of the Three Henrys," of he had plunged into the quarrels and revels of the Henry of Valois, king of France, the last surviving court. Events seemed to justify his contemptu- male of his line, against Henry of Bourbon, king ous confidence that he could carry the king along of Navarre, by Salic law his heir, a war fought at with him, even on a course of policy ruinous to the bidding of Henry, duke of Guise, of the half- the crown. The king made him his lieutenant in

Y2 LIBERTY MAY/JUNE 1992 Aing in the record suggests that [henry entertained for a moment the idea of escape. ,...7fhe shunned the perils now forced upon his companions, he would not only lose an army, he might lose forever the only support he could rely on in his progress toward the crown.

the principal theater of war, and gave him a fine If Henry seemed delighted at the prospect of a field army; then, when he had frittered most of it fight, he was less pleased at the disposition his away, gave him another, even stronger and more captains were making. In some fashion not clear splendid. It was this second army which, ever in any of the accounts, the Huguenots were be- since midnight, had been plunging southward ginning to align themselves along the east-west down the Chalais road to trap Navarre at road with harquebusiers in the houses of the Coutras. village and their defensive position pivoting on Henry had meant not to fight Joyeuse, but to the chateau. The field was cramped and broken elude him. He had done that all summer, mean- by the line of the village street, and Henry would while helping the Catholic army toward disinte- have none of it. Although the rattle of small arms gration by constant harassment. The Protestants was now at the edge of the wood, less than a mile scarcely ever won a pitched battle, and for years away, Henry ordered a general advance to the had not risked one, but they were seasoned par- open meadows at the north end of the village, and tisan troops, and that summer, as before, they there began to redeploy his army, practically in were the usual victors in a hundred petty skir- the presence of the enemy. mishes. When Henry heard that Joyeuse had As he did so his artillery, three bronze guns, returned to the field with a new army, he got one of them an 18-pounder, came hurrying back together all the Huguenot troops that could be at his orders from the crossing of the Isle and were spared from the defense of La Rochelle and the sent to take up their position on a sandy hillock lesser Protestant towns of Poitou and Saintonge on the left of the new front, a modest elevation, and prepared to slip across in front of the royal but commanding the whole little field. Before army to the Dordogne and the tumble of hills and they could reach this mound, and while part of valleys that ran southward to Pau and his princi- the Huguenot infantry was still coming up in pality of Beam. column on the right, and the Huguenot horse The Bearnais moved fast; it was one of his were either still in the narrow street or just wheel- chief distinctions as a captain. But this time he ing into positions as yet uncovered on their was too slow. He had thought Joyeuse's main flanks, the vanguard of Joyeuse's army began to army a good 20 miles away when, in fact, it was debouch from the wood into the amphitheater of scarcely more than 10, and he had not reckoned open meadow. upon the willingness of dainty courtiers to ride "If at this juncture the king was in difficulties, half the night in order to force a battle in the the duke was not without them." When Joyeuse morning. Now, as he listened to the crackle of learned that the Huguenots had reached Coutras small arms, which showed that his outposts were and were planning to slip by in front of him, it was being driven in, he faced the unpleasant fact that nearly midnight, and his army, roused in the although he himself could still get away, he would scattered villages where they were quartered, had have to leave most of his troops behind. to converge on their objective by narrow roads Nothing in the record suggests that Henry and bridle paths in pitch-darkness and often in entertained for a moment the idea of escape. If he single file. In the wake of the calvary which had shunned the perils now forced upon his compan- driven in Henry's outposts, a sluggish serpent of ions, he would not only lose an army, he might mixed horse and foot was now stretched out for lose forever the only support he could rely on in miles along the Chalais road. So, each com- his progress toward the crown. mander being about equally embarrassed by the

LIBERTY MAY/JUNE 1992 23 disorder in his own ranks and the presence of the worn, in stained and greasy leather and dull-gray enemy, and "neither army knowing what the steel. Their armor was only cuirass and morion, other meant to do," the two hosts deployed on their arms mostly just broadsword and pistol. opposite sides of the meadow, ignoring each Legend was to depict Henry of Navarre as wear- other, as if by mutual consent, until their forma- ing into this battle a long white plume and ro- tions were unsnarled and their ranks dressed. mantic trappings, but Agrippa d'Aubigne, who The sun was just rising when the duke's light rode not far from Navarre's bridle hand that day, horse emerged from the forest on the spectacle of remembered the king as dressed and armed just their deploying foes. It was two hours high before like the old comrades around him. Quietly the Navarre's artillery, later on the field than the Huguenots sat their horses, each compact squad- duke's but earlier in position, opened the ball. ron as still and steady as a rock. The king of Navarre had chosen the better Opposite it the line of the royalists rippled and position and his dispositions were the more skill- shimmered. It billowed out here, shrank back ful. On the right, behind a deep ditch which there, as its components jostled each other and marked the edge of the warren attached to the jockeyed for position like riders at the start of a park of the chateau, Henry stationed his four race, curvetting their horses and now and then skeleton regiments of infantry. Their position breaking ranks to exchange a greeting with a was invulnerable to calvary and in the broken friend or an insult with a foe. The flower of the ground and rough thickets from which they court had accompanied M. de Joyeuse on his would be firing it mattered less that they had not journey to Poitou. More than six-score lords and enough pikemen. On the left, a much smaller gentlemen served as troopers in his first rank, force of infantry was somewhat drawn back and most of them accompanied by their own armed covered by a marshy brook. Across the center the servants. So the lances with which the duke had Huguenot heavy calvary were stationed in four insisted they be armed were gay with pennons compact squadrons, six or more files deep. and bannerets and with knots of colored ribbon Picked detachments of arquebusiers were posted in honor of noble ladies, and there was a great in the gaps between the squadrons with orders to display of armor, as much armor as anyone ever hold their fire until the enemy were within 20 saw in combat anymore, even to cuisses and paces and then pour in a concentrated volley. gorgets and visored casques, and every conspicu- Beyond the last squadron of men-at-arms, La ous surface chased and inlaid with curious de- Tremoille's light horse, which had been skir- signs, so that d'Aubigne wrote afterward that mishing with the enemy since daybreak, closed never was an army seen in France so bespangled the gap towards the warren where the bulk of the and covered with gold leaf. infantry were. These were cunning dispositions; This glittering calvary was still adjusting its the Huguenots were going to need whatever ad- alignment when Navarre's three guns, ensconced vantage they could win from them. on their hillock, opened fire. The round shot, Opposite them Joyeuse had ranged a similar fired at an almost enfilading angle, tore holes in but simpler line ofbattle. On each wing he posted the Catholic ranks. Served by veterans and com- two regiments of royal infantry, those on his left manded by a first-rate artilleryman, the Hugue- at least as strong as the four regiments opposite not guns fired 18 deadly rounds while Joyeuse's him in the warren, those on his right much stron- battery was managing six harmless ones. "We ger than the scratch force beyond the brook. lose by waiting!" the duke's adjutant general, Across the center stretched his calvary, the light Lavardin, cried, and the duke's trumpets signaled horse opposite Henry's light horse, and opposite the attack. the Huguenot cuirassiers, the royal heavy calvary, Lavardin, on the Catholic left, was first off the the famous gendarmes d'ordonnance, not in mark. His charge struck Tremoille's light horse squadron columns but "en haye," one long, un- and Turenne's squadron beyond them with irre- broken double line. Joyeuse himself commanded sistible force, bowled them over and drove them the gendarmes. With them he expected to break back on the village street. Turenne rallied part of the back of the Huguenot cause in one over- his force (18 recently joined Scotch volunteers whelming charge. Not one heretic, he promised made him a solid nucleus), but some of the light his officers, not even the king of Navarre himself, horse who had fought so gallantly in the morning should leave the battlefield alive. galloped off to spread the news of Navarre's Across the few hundred yards of open ground, defeat over the countryside, and the Huguenot the opposing horsemen had time to eye each ranks heard Catholic cries of "Victory!" in the other. The Huguenots looked plain and battle- village behind them.

24 LIBERTY MAY/JUNE 1992 or the commander who had ordered the 9iuguenot wounded killed on the field, who had hanged prisoners by the hundreds and butchered garrisons who had surrendered relying on the laws of honest war, there was not much chance of quarter.

The band of infantry on the left, thinking they to fight hard." It cannot have been a minute later might as well die attacking as attacked, flung that the harquebusiers fired their volley and the themselves in a headlong rush across the brook, massed columns of Huguenot horse, quickening and before the royalist regiments grasped what their trot, crashed into the galloping line. was happening were in among them, rolling un- That blow decided the battle. Under the im- der the pikes or dragging them aside with their pact of the solid columns the Catholic front hands and closing in with sword and dagger. The broke in pieces, and the Huguenots began rolling startled royalists broke ranks, and the whole of up the fragments by the flank. There was a that side of the field dissolved into a confused minute or two of desperate, scrambling fighting. hand-to-hand melee. Meanwhile the infantry on The prince of Conde was unhorsed and his suc- the Huguenot right were briskly engaged, though cessful opponent, after a look, no doubt, at the not so busy defending the warren as to be unable field, dismounted and presented his gauntlet to to spare an occasional volley for Lavardin's the discomfited prince in token of surrender. horse. The king of Navarre, having pistoled one adver- But the battle was to be decided in the center. sary and taken a sharp rap on the head with a The duke's trumpets sounded, the shimmering lance butt from another, recognized the seigneur line swayed forward, the long lances came down de Chateau Renard, the standard-bearer of the to point at the foe, their pennons shadowing the enemy troop he had smashed, and seizing his old ground before them. The tempo of the drum- companion round the waist, crowed joyfully, ming hoofs rose to the thunder of a gallop. "Too "Yield thyself, Philistine." soon," the Huguenot veterans breathed to one In another part of the field, the duke of another. When the duke's trumpets blew, the Joyeuse was cut off by a clump of horsemen as he chaplains of the Huguenot heavy calvary had just tried to escape. He flung down his sword and finished prayer. Still quietly sitting their horses, called out, "My ransom is a hundred thousand the men-at-arms raised the battle hymn of their crowns." One of his captors put a bullet through party: his head. For the commander who had ordered the Huguenot wounded killed on the field, who La voici la heureuse journee had hanged prisoners by the hundreds and Que Dieu a fait a' plein desir butchered garrisons who had surrendered rely- Par nous soit joye demenee . . . ing on the laws of honest war, there was not much chance of quarter. Indeed, until King Henry It was a metrical version of Psalm 118, beginning furiously intervened, little quarter was given to with the verse "This is the day which the Lord any of the royal army. Three thousand common hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." Still soldiers were slaughtered, more than 400 knights singing, the solid squadrons took up a slow trot. and gentlemen, and an impressive roll of dukes, As the drone of the psalm reached the quickening marquises, counts, and barons, more, d'Aubigne advance, some gilded darling, riding knee-to- thought, than had fallen in any three battles of the knee with the duke, cried out gleefully, "Ha, the century. The Catholic host was utterly destroyed; cowards! They are trembling now. They're nothing was left of that glittering army. "At confessing themselves," to be answered by a vet- least," said Henry of Navarre at the day's end, eran on the duke's other hand, "Monsieur, when "nobody will be able to say after this that we the Huguenots make those noises, they are ready Huguenots never win a battle."

LIBERTY MAY/JUNE 1992 25 pnterview in a

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n every person's mind, I suspect, is the mental image of a dungeon. The one I visited recently fit my stereotype perfectly. DIt was cold; water was running down the walls. I began to shiver. There was no window. Prisoners had been shoved in through a hole in the ceiling which also admitted a few rays of light. An inscription on the wall told me that a well-known dissident had once been confined here. I had read his report of the months he suffered under inhumane conditions. And suddenly, standing in the shadows of the cell, memory seemed to become reality. There—behind the light fighting for its place—it was he! I winced as I saw the heavy chains which had cut deep wounds into his hands and feet. He looked up, saw my sympathy, lifted his arms against the weight, and said wryly, "Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil." Surely 1 was just remembering the record of his imprisonment, left for posterity in letters to churches he had pastored and, in one case, to a young friend. But so real the dungeon, so vivid the memory, that . . . He coughed, a deep, racking sound. "You're cold, aren't you?" I asked, edging closer. "Yes. I've asked Timothy to bring me the cloak I left at Irons with Carpus. I've expressed my hope that he gets it here before winter."

BY JACQUES FREI He shrugged. "I've been pretty much alone since my finish my question. "Every advantage I had, I considered first trial. Everyone deserted me—God forgive them." lost for Christ's sake. Yes, and I look upon everything as loss "Don't you have hope that God will free you some way?" compared with the overwhelming gain of knowing Christ "I feel that the last drops of my life are about to be poured Jesus my Lord. For His sake I did in actual fact suffer the loss out for God." of everything, but I considered it useless rubbish compared His words were grim—or perhaps "realistic" would be a with being able to win Christ." better description. Still, his voice revealed no fear. I could "Your eyes, they're inflamed. Are they painful? Can't see he wasn't a handsome man. Disfiguring scars marred God at least give you the solace of healing?" his face, and when he turned away I saw that his back also Did I hear him sigh? "So tremendous were the revela- was a map of beatings. tions God gave me that, to keep me from the sin of pride, I The words burst out—"Who tortured you?" was given a physical handicap—one of Satan's angels—to He appeared to ponder for a moment and then spoke harass me." He paused—I could sense a mental shrug, a slowly, as if challenging his own recall. "Five times the Jews touch of humor. "Three times I begged the Lord,tfor beat me the regulation 39 stripes." Did he wince? In the healing, but His reply was 'My grace is enough for you; for pallor of the cell I could not be sure. "I was beaten with rods where there is weakness, My power stands forth all the three times. I was stoned once." more.' So I have cheerfully"—he turned directly toward me, Yes, and that's not all, I thought. Shipwrecked three letting me see the trace of a smile—"made up my mind to be times. Twenty-four hours struggling for life in the angry proud of my weaknesses, because they mean a deeper sea. How many times had I sought courage in his writings. experience of the power of Christ. I can even enjoy weak- He seemed to read my thoughts and took up the litany: "In nesses, suffering, privations, persecutions, and difficulties my travels I have been in constant danger from rivers and for Christ's sake. For my very weakness makes me strong in floods, from bandits, from my own countrymen, and from Him." pagans. I have faced danger in city streets, danger in the I nodded in response. "I suppose your attitude stems desert, danger on the high seas, danger among false Chris- from your vision on the way to Damascus." As soon as I tians. I have known exhaustion, pain, long vigils, hunger referred to the experience, I regretted it. Surely it would and thirst, doing without meals, cold, and lack of clothing." bring to mind the way Jesus had identified Himself—"I am "Without even a coat for winter," I added silently. And Jesus, whom you persecute." His tears were almost instan- then my indignation burst forth. "When you came to taneous. Macedonia you came at the command of God. With what "I am the least of the apostles, because I persecuted the results? In Philippi, where you preached for Him, you were church of God." whipped. Your feet were locked in stocks—you had to lay How I wished I might wipe his tears away! I was wiping that night on your lacerated back, unable to sleep because them from my cheeks as I felt the intensity of his love for of the pain. If it had been my back, I would have demanded Christ. The love that intensified his grief at having, even in some answers from God! Why? Why did You not protect ignorance, persecuted Jesus in the person of His saints. me when I came here at Your command?" My eyes were still buried in my handkerchief as I heard— I saw the profile of his face lifted toward the light. The shall I call his words a requiem?—"I have fought a good fight. echo of my question died into silence, and still he sat. At last I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. In my he turned, and I saw his lips move. "We must realize that future is a crown of righteousness that God, the true judge, to those who know God, who are called according to His will give me in that day—and not, of course, only to me, but plan, everything that happens fits into a pattern for good." to all those who have loved what they have seen of Him." He turned away again, and then, almost as an after- It must have been my tears that dispelled the vision. For thought, added quietly: "All who live godly lives for Jesus when I opened my eyes I saw only the cold stones of the Christ shall suffer persecution." ancient cell. Dear God! What might I have spoken to him "But how could you carry on, beaten as you were? Cold still? Should I have told him of the inspiration of his prison as you are now? Sure as you are that you'll never leave this letters? Of the millions who had died, heartened by his hellhole?" testimony of faith? No, soon enough he will receive their "Through Jesus I am strengthened to do whatever needs thanks. Soon enough, his crown of righteousness. to be done." And I? Would I, as he had advised, "strip off everything "But look, before your conversion you were that hinders—the sin that so easily besets us— rich and esteemed. You had hundreds of Jacqu es Frei and run with patience the race that is before friends, a high position in your country. is direc for of the us"? Honor. Money. You gave up everything. And Stud y Tour In silence I climbed the steps from the now—coughing. Cold. Don't you find—?" Agency i f7 Lopagno. Mamertine prison and stood once more in the This time he didn't even wait for me to Switz erland. sunshine of Rome.

ILLUSTRATION BY JESS SCHLAIKJER REVIEW IS HERALD PUBLISHING ASSN.

LIBERTY MAY/JUNE 1992 27 Continued from page 14 solicitation of funds, the Free Exercise Clause odd. Justice Scalia said, in essence, "That's does not apply and may not be used as an adjudi- tough." He spoke of the penalty as just an "un- cating principle. Even if a law prohibits behavior avoidable consequence of democratic govern- that a religion demands, or mandates behavior ment."" Here is a classic expression of that religion prohibits, if that law is one of general majoritarianism, or statism, which many believe applicability, a plaintiff (individual or group) is the orientation of the Reagan Court. In dissent, may not utilize the Free Exercise Clause for relief. Justice O'Connor pointed out that the First Does that mean in all circumstances? No, the Amendment was "enacted precisely to protect Free-Exercise Clause may be used to strike down the rights of those whose religious practices are a law of general applicability that is burdensome not shared by the majority and may be viewed to religion so long as it is used in tandem with other with hostility."26 constitutional principles, such as freedom of The Smith opinion ignited a firestorm of criti- speech, freedom of the press, or the rights of cism. In her strong dissent, Justice O'Connor parents. The effect of this language is that, after What has said the decision so reverses precedent and so Smith, the Free Exercise Clause is no longer a denigrates the constitutional protection of reli- freestanding constitutional freedom. It has been been the gious behavior from governmental infringement shunted to the periphery of constitutional prin- that it "is incompatible with our Nation's funda- ciples. It is no longer a pillar of the constitutional impact of mental commitment to individual religious lib- superstructure of what makes this nation erty."27 Many religious leaders and constitu- unique—and great. In Jehovah's Witnesses cases Smith? tional scholars decried the decision. Quickly they of the 1940s, religious freedom was called a "pre- filed a petition for rehearing, sponsored by a ferred freedom."22 Now, after the work of Justice Religious coalition of 14 religious and secular groups from Scalia and his four colleagues in the majority in across the ideological spectrum, ranging from the Smith, it is not even a discrete freedom. freedom is Unitarian Universalist Association and the What is the practical implication of this ACLU to the National Association of Evan- reinterpretation of the Free Exercise Clause? being gelicals and the Christian Legal Society, and by a Scalia does not leave the reader wondering. He long list of law school professors. When the declared the compelling state interest test to be curtailed, Court rejected the petition, the coalition pro- essentially null and void. He said the Court had posed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, used it only in unemployment compensation except as consequently introduced in Congress as H.R. cases (technically true) and that it should be used 5377 and S. 3254. The purpose of the proposed only in those kinds of cases in the future. It should cases can be legislation, now languishing in Congress, is to not be used in laws of general applicability. restore the compelling state interest test as a "To make an individual's obligation to obey decided on judicial tool in the interpretation of federal and such a law contingent upon the law's coincidence state laws. with his religious beliefs, except where the State's state What has been the impact of Smith? Religious interest is `compelling'—permitting him, by vir- freedom is being curtailed, except as cases can be tue of his beliefs, 'to become a law unto himself— constitutional decided on state constitutional grounds rather contradicts both constitutional tradition and than federal. (See box.) common sense."" grounds From the perspective of those who value sepa- Applied to religion, the compelling interest ration of church and state, the Court's orienta- test, would result in "a private right to ignore rather than tion does not encourage optimism. On the Estab- generally applicable laws," and that "is a constitu- lishment Clause side, the three-part test, though tional anomaly."" The government, except in federal. intact, is under attack from several on the Court. very narrow exceptions, no longer has to show The forecast is pervasive government involve- that it has a strong interest, indeed, any reason, to ment in religion, which will inevitably produce justify its burden on religious exercise. excessive entanglement between church and What the courts should not do, legislatures state. An accommodationist decision in Lee v. may. If they have any solicitude for religious Weisman would signal greater government con- freedom, legislatures may (they are not required trol of religion and the possibility that citizens to) carve out exemptions to laws of general appli- will have to pay taxes to support religious con- cability. In that circumstance, small, obscure, or cepts in which they do not believe. unpopular religious groups may be at a decided On the Free Exercise Clause side, Smith reverts disadvantage. Legislators may not be supportive to the nineteenth-century jurisprudence of of the practices of religious groups that cannot Reynolds v. United States." More than 100 years produce many votes or are thought of as being of broadening the scope of the free exercise of

28 LIBERTY MAY/JUNE 1992 religion have been wiped away. The government now has much more latitude to interfere with the religious activities of Americans. It must show no LOSSES UNDER SMITH compelling interest (and the emphasis has always been on compelling) in order to interfere with or control religious exercise. And to preserve the viability of the "internal affairs" of government, Following are eight key cases of the nearly government may essentially destroy religion. three dozen decided in which the free exercise President Reagan was an accommodationist claim was denied under the Smith rule. and wanted to be known as a friend of religion. Montgomery v. County of Clinton: He wanted judges in the federal courts to be A federal court in Michigan denied an Orthodox Jew's judicially passive and strict constructionists. His appointees to the Supreme Court were of that claim that the medical examiner's autopsy on her son violated her free exercise rights. type—with the results summarized here. The Reagan Court is in. With friends like these, who needs enemies? American Friends Service Committee v. Thornburgh: A federal appeals court rejected Quakers' argument that the employer sanction provisions of the immigration FOOTNOTES laws violate their free exercise rights. ' 472 U.S. 38 (1985). 2 Ibid., pp. 99, 100, 106, 107. The test is commonly called the Lemon test because the three Friend v. Kolodzieczak: components were first used together in Lemon v. Kurtzman 403 U.S. A federal appeals court turned away a prisoner's chal- 602 (1971) 4 465 U.S. 668 (1984). lenge to a ban on the possession of rosaries and scapu- Lynch v. Donnelly 465 U.S. 668 (1984), p. 688. lars. 6 492 U.S. 573 (1989). ' Ibid., p. 670. Thomas Jefferson. "A Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom," in Salvation Army v. Department of Community Affairs: Robert T. Miller and Ronald B. Flowers, Toward Benevolent Neutral- A federal appeals court disallowed the Salvation Army's ity: Church, State, and the Supreme Court, 3rd ed. (Waco, Texas: religiously based claim to an exemption from a law Baylor University Press, 1987), p. 584. 9 728 F. Supp. 68, 908 F.2d 1090 (1990). regulating boarding houses. I° Cf. Reynolds v. United States 98 U.S. 145 (1879). " 374 U.S. 398 (1963). Welsh v. Boy Scouts of America: 12 Ibid., p. 406, quoting Thomas v. Collins 323 U.S. 516 (1945), p. 530. " Mitchell A. Tyner, "Is Religious Liberty a 'Luxury' We Can No A federal court in Illinois denied the Boy Scouts' claim Longer Afford," Liberty, (September-October 1990). Tyner points that forcing the organization to admit those who did not out that as of May 30, 1990, Sherbert had been cited in 546 federal believe in God violated its free exercise rights. court cases and 393 state court cases, 939 times in 27 years. " 475 U.S. 503 (1986). 1' 482 U.S. 342 (1987), except this case does not even mention St. Bartholomew Church v. City of New York: Sherbert. A federal appeals court rejected the Episcopal church's 16 476 U.S. 693 (1986). " Ibid., p. 699. free exercise argument against the application of a his- " 485 U.S. 439 (1988). torical landmarking ordinance to a building owned by the " Ibid., pp. 451, 452. church. " 110 S.Ct. 1595 (1990). 21 ibid., p. 1599. 22 Cf. Jones v. Opelika 316 U.S. 584 (1942), p. 608; Murdock v. NLRB v. HannaBoys Center: Pennsylvania, 319 U.S. 105 (1943), p. 115; United States v. Ballard, A federal appeals court rejected the Catholic school's free 332 U.S. 78 (1944), p. 87. In many quotes in these cases, freedom of speech, press, and others are mentioned as preferred freedoms along exercise argument that the National Labor Relations Act with religion. But there is never even a hint that the others take should not be applied to its nonteaching employees. precedence over religion or that freedom of religion receives its life only because of its affiliation with the others. Indeed, in Jones v. Opelika (p. 621), Justice Murphy, joined by three others, wrote in Hope Evangelical Lutheran Church v. Iowa: dissent: "Important as free speech and a free press are to a free An Iowa court denied the Lutheran church's free exercise government and a free citizenry, there is a right even more dear to objection to payment of taxes on consumer items pur- many individuals—the right to worship the Maker according to their needs and the dictates of their souls and to carry their message or chased from out-of-state employers. their gospel to every living creature." " Employment Division of Oregon v. Smith, 110 S.Ct. 1595 p. 1603, Reprinted with permission from Report From the quoting Reynolds v. United States 98 U.S. 145 (1879), p. 167. " 110 S. Ct. 1595, p. 1604. Capital. Copyright 1992. " Ibid., p. 1606. 26 Ibid., p. 1613. " Ibid., p. 1606. " 98 U.S. 145 (1879).

LIBERTY MAY/JUNE 1992 29 elcome, folks. We're here in majority of its citizens." Abalong, Alabama, talking to a "Can you reveal one issue your group is dealing member of the Committee to Rede- with?" fine the American Way, or CRAW. "Well, sir, our group is involved in a very impor- Your name, sir, is . . . " tant issue. Humanism and godless atheism have "Bing, Lem Bing." chased Christian prayer out of our public schools. "Yes. Mr. Bing, what is your function here at Our children are being taught to love mammon CRAW?" more than God. Religion and its values are being "I'm vice president in charge of strategic and trodden underfoot by the secular priests of the far analytical services. I more or less pioneer heathen left. We want to change this negative trend." terrain and then map out the best plan we can use "Why is prayer in public schools so important? in that area to further our Christian interests." Shouldn't that responsibility fall on the church and "I see. What does your organization concern the home?" itself with?" "Son, when was the last time you read the Scrip- "Sitting in my church pew one day, I suddenly tures? You are obviously ignorant of the devil's realized that America had lost her innocence, her methods to win souls for his cause. See, the first first love. We're soft on Communism, on liberals, thing he does is he gets them away from soul-saving on humanism, and on morals. Something had to religion. After that, it's damnation for sure. Public be done to save God's U.S. of A. So we founded the schools are the devil's favorite place to gain dis- Committee to Redefine the American Way. I be- ciples. We're trying to change that by putting lieve it's the hope of these United States." Christian prayer back in school." "Ifind your committee title intriguing. How "But won't espousing one type of prayer for a did it come about?" diversity of beliefs raise religious tensions both at

”ga g II •••

BY DANIEL R. CRISTANCHO

"Praise God, I'm glad you asked me that. As you school and at home?" may know, for many years, the liberal powers that "Look, to the honest Christian parents who are be have been poisoning the American public with concerned about the salvation of their child, it their sick version of what it is to be an American. shouldn't matter what denomination wrote the Well, we're here to set the record straight and prayer as long as it's a Christian denomination and redefine this distorted view. America is a Christian the child is praying. Children praying is the impor- nation. We uphold Christian morals and Christian tant thing. And besides, a Christian is a Christian." principles; it's what made us number one." "And what of the non-Christian religions? "But Mr. Bing, we have hundreds of different What of those that have no religion? How are they religions in America—some Christian, some non- supposed to react? Wouldn't this be a type of Christian." discrimination? After all, some parents have put "Look, son, that may be true, but in terms of their children in public school for the simple reason numbers, we Christians got 'em licked [winks]. In that it is a religiously unbiased place of learning." a democracy it's the big numbers that count. The "Don't be ridiculous, son. No one's going to bigger numbers call the shots." discriminate against anyone. And think of the "Wouldn't you agree that America's greatness is witnessing potential. All those little Jewish, Bud- reflected through concern for the rights of minori- dhist, Hare Krishna, Muslim, Mormon, and atheist Daniel R. Cristancho is ties?" children being exposed to the gospel. It would a professional nurse and "Calm down, son. I'm not encouraging some warm the cockles of my heart to see it so." free-lance writer residing kind of Christian Fascist regime. After all, we're not "But many Americans do not subscribe to the in Berrien Springs, like the Ayatollah Khomeini. I just happen to think Christian way of thought. By the same token, they Michigan. that a nation should reflect the concerns of the probablywould not want their children to be taught

30 LIBERTY MAY/JUNE 1992 Christian doctrines or practices." children be given a small dose of religion in the "Well, that certainly is a sad prospect! A true schoolroom." American would never be anti-Christian. I just "Is it fair to demand that special considerations can't get over the cruelty of parents that would sit be made toward one religion simply because the back and literally watch their children walk into the members ofthat religion cannot afford to send their lake of eternal fire and brimstone." children to schools of their own religious persua- "Isn't it their right as Americans to reject Chris- sion?" tianity, just as it is your right to reject Buddhism?" "Come on, son, you make it sound so bad. It's "Now, come on, son! It's not the same thing. We not like we're asking for the world—just a little Jesus both know Buddhism is a bunch of malarkey. A lot in between geometry and geography." of these religions are. Any religion that gives glory "You'd be willing to al- to God and recognizes Christ as Saviour and King low the same consider- of kings, is all right in my book. 'Beware of false ations for Buddhists, Mus- prophets' is a direct quote from Scripture." lims, Mormons, and the "Mr. Bing, the Constitution of the United States like?" guarantees all Americans the right to exercise their "Now, just a minute If choice of beliefs, regardless of what that belief may here, son! I don't know be. Isn't your organization going to trample on this about you, but no kid of We're trying right?" mine is going to be exposed to build fora more "Now, don't get touchy, friend. If a child refuses to some mumbo-jumbo, to take part in prayer to God he'll be excused from anti-God ideology. 'Be ye godly people, and the room. We don't like to throw pearls before not linked together with swine." unbelievers' is a direct we do it by "Wouldn't this arrangement subject the child to quote from Scripture. injecting just a unnecessary stress and ridicule? A child would be Next thing you know, we'll asked to choose between the beliefs held at home be inviting the Commu- little itty-bitty dose and the pressure of peers. He or she might even be nists to run our schools." of religion victim to unmerciful taunting and physical abuse. "But Mr. Bing, how can Isn't this a form of persecution?" you think of claiming wherever the "'The wages of sin is death'! There's always a rights to a privilege you are clouds of darkness price to pay when you reject Christ. 'If you are not not willing to share equally for me, then you are against me' is a direct quote with other religions? Isn't reign. We're not from our Saviour. But I think you're blowing this that in opposition to the out of proportion. Kids are more civilized now." pluralist views of the Con- trying to violate "Are we then going to make parochial schools stitution?" any religious obsolete by putting more religion in public schools? "Hold on there, mister! Aren't you in a sense working against the parochial We're talking about a prin- privileges, just school system?" ciple here. Our concern is trying to spread a "Now, just a minute there, mister. The parochial the future of America. school is a very important part of what's good in What's the next generation little of God's love America. Wanting to put a little Christian atmo- going to be like? How can sphere in our secular schools doesn't mean we're we help to strengthen our ►wherever we can." denouncing the parochial school. We need these Christian heritage and special schools to fulfill the needs of many honest keep this country great? God-fearing folk." We're trying to build for a "Why aren't more of these God-fearing families more godly people, and we do it by injecting just a taking their children out of the secular schools and little itty-bitty dose of religion wherever the douds putting them in parochial schools that cater to their of darkness reign. We're not trying to violate any particular beliefs? Isn't that more practical than religious privileges, just trying to spread a little of imposing religious practices on the secular system? God's love wherever we can. I'm sorry you can't That way we could please everybody." understand that." "Now, you may have lots of bucks to throw "But Mr. Bing, how . . . ?" around, son, but a lot of us Christians are humble "Sorry, son. That's all the time I have for ques- people with humble means. Parochial schools are tions. I've got things to do for the Lord. Good day a luxury, and when folks can't afford one, then I and God bless." don't think it's too much to ask that Christian "But . . . "

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