Pray For Our Pastors

CONNECTING TODAY’S CORRUPTION TO THE 17^TH CENTURY

We had a guest speaker in class last week who made an interesting speculation in passing that I wish he would’ve sat on for a little bit. We were talking about the MOVE incident in Philadelphia, and how politicians have to be able to wield force (police at a city level, military at a federal level) in a way that is neither overly timid nor overly brutal. He mentioned that Philadelphia was founded by Quakers, who were deeply and religiously peace-loving. It is a great attitude, he noted, but it may not be compatible with political leadership. And in fact, in the 17^th century, he recounted, most Quakers shied away from politics, choosing instead to found voluntary organizations, many of which still exist today.

In their absence, the visiting professor told us, others who weren’t nearly as morally good as the Quakers, moved in to fill the political vacuum. Corruption began to fester unchecked without the moral influence of the Quakers, who dared not dirty themselves with the brutality of politics and instead contented themselves with voluntary rescue services and monthly social discourses. The professor remarked that you could make a case that today’s corruption is merely a natural outgrowth of seeds planted some 350 years ago. For someone who believes in the old saying that those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it, this is a delicious and thought-provoking hypothesis. I already know a little bit about a messy annexation in 1854 and a revision of the city charter in the 1950’s, both of which are still playing themselves out today. And now I can go back a couple of centuries further. How deliciously intriguing!