Rating: 
Summary: Wogaman fails to make his case
Review: What I find most troubling about J. Philip Wogaman's book is that he gives one the impression that there is only one truly Christian response to Clinton's actions. He implies that those who do not respond in the way he counsels are acting in an anti-Christian way, that they are the true villains. In effect, Wogaman is politicizing Christianity, using his own pulpit to bully Christians of other political inclinations.As for Wogaman's suggestion for how the nation should respond to Clinton's actions: He cousels that, because the President's crimes were brought to light by his political enemies and because he is a human being, imperfect like everyone else, he deserves to be treated mercifully and with love by the law. I am reminded by Christ's words in the gospel to "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." Caesar, in this case, seems to be the courts, and what Caesar (that is, the courts) demanded in this case is that Paula Jones had a right to ask about sexual matters that would be private under normal circumstances (and this based on a law that Clinton himself signed and approved in September 1994) but could in this case shed light on the charges against him. Clinton, however, took it upon himself to act as his own judge, and determined to conceal the truth that the law demanded of him. In other words, he took it upon himself to determine what was and was not Caesar's. This is precisely the kind of thing Jesus seems to be counseling against in the Gospel. Of course, Wogaman neatly glosses over facts like these in his attempt to write Clinton a legal pass for his lawlessness. The simple truth that Wogaman demonstrates is: Clinton's defenders, Wogaman included, believe he should get off the hook for lying under oath because they like his politics and dislike his enemies, while other "imperfect men" like Bob Packwood and Clarence Thomas, whose politics they do not like and whose enemies they are fond of, are not deserving of the same soft hand of love and forgiveness.
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