The President Speaks--and We Want to Talk Back!

Last night, the President spoke to the nation about the war in Iraq! Don't worry, this is not going to be about the war in Iraq! After the President's speech, however, there was a response from a member of the opposing party. How times have changed! When I was a boy growing up in the '50's and '60's, that didn't happen. If the President wanted to speak to the nation, he did--on all three major networks--and nothing else was on the radio or TV until he was finished. And nobody talked back! The other party, of course, had their prepared statements and reactions on the news programs; but there was no idea that just because the President was of one party, the other party should expect to be able to give a response to the nation. We clearly do not have the same respect for authority in this country that past generations have had--not for authority at any level, of any type. When the President speaks, we want to talk back! When leaders lead, we're not always so eager to follow. Those wielding authority had better be careful how they use that authority because they may just find they don't have any. This is not altogether bad, of course. Blind, unthinking obedience is not what any President or responsible leader desires or deserves. And many people feel that their government has lied to them too many times about important things. This goes all the way back to Vietnam and Watergate and Iran-Contra, and maybe even weapons of mass destruction. I'm sure there were other times in our country's history when people suspected that in some ways, the government was being less than totally truthful; but it was also often conceded that there may be in fact good reasons for withholding certain information. People at least felt relatively sure that the government had the best interest of the country at heart. All that old-fashioned respect for authority is pretty much a thing of the past now; and it affects the way we relate to government, to the church, to our teachers, to business executives, and to political and civic leaders in the public and private sector, all the way from Main Street to Wall Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. It costs us muchof our sense of national unity and sense of purpose, too. This national division and skepticism can be reversed. Men and women of good faith, from all across the political spectrum could make a commitment to bring our country together. Leaders must take seriously the call for integrity that is coming from so many quarters across the nation. We need to pray that true statesmen will emerge for next year's elections. We need to pray for national revival that will bring our nation back to godly principles in politics at home and abroad. And with all that, we need to pray that God will teach us again the proper and respectful way to relate to those in authority over us; and will put people in authority again who understand their responsibilities to be a sacred trust from the Almighty. Then, and only then, will we be more eager to listen than to respond, to act out of duty rather than in defiance, to rally in support of common goals, rather than talk back to the President!