John Roberts and Madalyn Murray – The Turtle and the O’Hare

Website design By BotEap.comAlthough I never met Supreme Court nominee John Roberts, I did have a run-in of sorts with America’s most notorious atheist, Madalyn Murray O’Hare, in the 1980s. When I went into a radio station to drop off tapes of my previous radio show, the DJ called me from his booth. When I got into the booth, he said, “We have a minister here who can answer that question.” He pulled a chair up to the microphone and motioned for me to sit down. He whispered to me that it was a phone connection from somewhere in Texas and Madalyn Murray O’Hare was on the line being interviewed. It seemed my volunteering was already underway, so I agreed and listened to O’Hare’s questions. I calmly answered each question and the more I asked, the angrier she seemed to get. The straw that broke the camel’s back was when he asked me if I wouldn’t agree that the only thing any minister was interested in was money. She said that even I was only doing ministry for money. She was lost by a mile when she asked that question. I told him that my current ministry was completely voluntary and that I received nothing for my labors.

Website design By BotEap.comO’Hare was a hair short of using four-letter words in a wild retort that went on so long I thought the DJ was going to interrupt her. In fact, just a few words later, he did exactly that. I have not been able to help noticing that in the cases of people I have known who were possessed by demons, there is always this same type of anger. They curse a lot and do not think of blaspheming God. It is also noteworthy that the Bible says that the last world leader who is completely possessed by the Devil cannot speak without blaspheming God or God’s people. Revelation 13:6 KJV

Website design By BotEap.comIt has struck me lately that when I mention Madalyn O’Hare to someone under the age of twenty-one; many of them don’t know who she is. In 1964, O’Hare was said to be the most hated woman in America according to Life magazine. She was hated because she single-handedly managed to eliminate sentences from the American public school system. In the case of Murray v. Curlet in 1963 O’Hare won a historic victory that summarily removed prayer from our schools. She caught churches off guard and the best clergy sleeping at the wheel. I have often thought that her complete victory, which was done almost stealthily and with almost no resistance, should be the subject of much study. A comparison can be made to the victories of Adolf Hitler, who managed to lead a nation into the murky waters of the Third Reich, while the church debated theology, held rummage sales, and generally slept until the water was clear. too dark to see through. After that, the responses of the church in Germany fell under the heading of… Too little, too late.

Website design By BotEap.comPerhaps like the turtle who through persistence and a bit of cunning finally got the upper hand in that famous fantasy race, Mr. Roberts may be America’s favorite to win as Supreme Court nominee. For Conservatives it’s the first choice, but even the most edgy Liberals would have to recoil a bit from Robert’s brilliant record. Now turned over to the Senate Judiciary Committee, there are more than 5,000 pages of material from the Ronald Reagan Library on the details of John Roberts’ government service. In a memo dated November 21, 1985, Roberts said that he was critical of the decision to stop voluntary prayer in schools and that such a decision was essentially not mandated by the Constitution.

Website design By BotEap.comThe race did not end twenty years ago in the mind of any American. The O’Hare took the lead, and if it weren’t for minor problems in her life (just like the hare’s diversions), she might still be in the running. The rule is the rules and side trips even though the hare looks like the tortoise is about to give a demo. Roberts can’t bring the sentence back one-handed, but he’s the best scale-turning prospect since he started the race.

Website design By BotEap.comWill voluntary prayer in our schools heal all the problems our school system now faces? Of course it will not cure all problems. You can begin to remove the insult given to the God most of us worship. It can help mitigate the insult of not acknowledging God to our most precious gift, our youth. It will also begin to balance the unwillingness we have had to even mention him against his willingness to bless us with goods and materials above any nation in history.

Website design By BotEap.comOur new self-proclaimed enemy, militant Islam, is unfazed when it comes to prayer. Several times throughout the day Muslims stop everything they are doing to pray. Whether we agree that the God they pray for is really God is another matter entirely. Your dedication to these prayers should be enough to put any Christian, any American, to shame. The Senate hearings may be the ones that lead to the final decision on John Roberts, but I maintain that there is at least one thing we can do to help the outcome of the hearings. It’s something we can’t miss again like we did in the sixties. You guessed it… pray!