The Transgression of Uzziah, King of Judah

Archbishop: Beware of politicians with 'line to God' 
by Aries Rufo, abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak 08/18/2009 10:12 PM MANILA


 - Beware of politicians who say they talk to God and receive His endorsement, according to a leader of the Catholic church in the Philippines. Lingayen Archbishop Oscar Cruz said he would not vote for a candidate who claims he or she has an open line to God, saying this is one sure sign of danger. 


“Ang sasabihin ko, di ko iboboto na ito ang qualification: ang kinakausap ng Diyos. Mag-ingat kayo sa kandidatong kinakausap ng Diyos. Matuto kayo,” Cruz, a former president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), said. 


Cruz did not name any candidate, but it will be recalled that President Arroyo once claimed that God “put me here” in the presidency. She also claimed in an interview with CNN that the late Pope John Paul II gave her the moral impetus to lead EDSA 2. 


"It was after my conversation with the Pope, I finally found the – shall I describe it as courage or conviction – that I should make a break and join the bloodless revolution," Arroyo had said. Catholics consider the Pope as Christ’s representative on earth. 


Skills in governance 


So far, none of the declared presidential aspirants have said that God talked to them and backed their decision to seek the presidency. But some politicians say the presidency is a matter of fate, which is like saying it is pre-destined by God. For a man of the cloth, Cruz surprisingly downplayed the virtues of piousness and humility in picking a presidential candidate. 


"Kung sasabihin ninyo ang kandidato ay kailangan banal, kailangan mapagdasal, kailangan ay mapagkumbaba, pwede ba? Kumuha kayo ng madre,” Cruz said. Cruz said governance is a science and an art, and the foremost quality in a politician is someone who really knows how to govern. 


“It is not just the virtues of piety but also virtues of science, knowledge of governance,” he added. 


http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/08/18/09/bishop-beware-politicians-line-god


Commentary 

It's fascinating how a Protestant like me would overwhelmingly agree with a Catholic Archbishop.

Moral leadership is one of the many contributing factors of good governance. But, once again, I must emphasize that it is not the only answer to good governance. More so, excessive reliance on moral leadership in the realm of public governance has the tendency of favoring conditions unconducive to democracy as a form of government; it is detrimental to democratic processes and principles, and particularly damaging to participatory democracy i.e., direct participation of citizens in determining the official actions of the polity.

Dependence on moral leadership discourages the people to hold accountable those whom they have chosen to rule over them. Indeed, why would the people need to hold their rulers accountable if the rulers are already considered to be "morally" superior i.e., do no immoral acts and thus, immune to criticism?

The perpetuation of virtuous rule not only concentrates power to a few, but also causes the persistent disease of democracy: people's non-participation in the public realm and apathy to public policy. Who and why does one needs to mind the affairs of the state if we already have the best and moral individuals minding our political affairs? Now comes the rule of the best in terms of those who claim moral virtue, not popular legitimacy.

That's why we have leaders of the church, priests and pastors, and even founders of religious organizations committing the grave mistake and folly of Uzziah, a king of Judah.

Who was Uzziah?

I will spare everyone the biblical story of Uzziah given that we ourselves choose to neglect the daily study of the Book of Books.

But the lesson of this topic is contained in this verse: They confronted him and said, "It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD. That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful; and you will not be honored by the LORD God.

" http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Chronicles%2026:18;&version=31

The context of the verse revolves around Uzziah's efforts to assume priestly duties even though only the descendants of Aaron were allowed to do so under penalty of levitical law.

As punishment, Uzziah was stricken with leprosy: a debilitating skin disease. There are two points I wish to emphasize regarding Uzziah's violation of divine command: (1) infringement of the Levite and Aaronic inheritance, the specific of which pertains to the exclusive nature of temple duties assigned to Levi and his descendants and in particular, the priestly duties reserved alone to Aaron and his descendants, as stipulated in God's instruction to Joshua during the tribal partition of Israel; (2) as ultra vires acts of kingly prerogative driven by pride and lust for power.

This particular story in the bible was of unprecedented importance to the concept of church and state separation as it confirmed and defined, for the first time, the boundaries of political power exercised by the kings of Judah vis-a-vis the religious duties of priests, who were the descendants of Aaron.

If the Archbishop is right in saying that the art of governance is the main qualification of a politician, then we must believe in the opposite: that is, we must always think of politicians as individuals inevitably predisposed and primarily interested in the furtherance of their self-interest (including their families); that, no doubt, the only way to counter such rational instinct is to create a system of accountability which pits politicians against each other.

Emphasis on moral leadership naturally confirms the deep-rooted notion of man as unconditionally susceptible to immoral, and unrighteous but rational behavior of putting himself and his interest above others, as the fall in the garden of Eden suggests. Relentless calls for moral leadership implies the absence of moral leadership, or perhaps the very rarity of its existence.

No wonder, Aristotle advocated the rule of the few over the vulgar many.

But I believe democracy need not be discommended just because the many are unaware of the dangers of non-participation in the public realm. The imperfect mode of representative democracy must be strengthened not by moral leadership as embodied by the likes of Solon and Publicola; but rather, by encouraging citizens to participate and to have deeper involvement in the political life of the nation-state.

We all aspire to do good things. It is just that in pursuit to do good things, we become blind to our own falterings, which are always ever present. When, not if, that happens, someone must hold us accountable, just as the priests held Uzziah accountable for his usurpation and indiscretion of mixing secular and divine duties.

 Posted by Pontius Pilate at 5:49 PM 0 comments Monday, April 20, 2009