 |
Gov. Chris
Christie grilled by New Jersey kindergarten students
|
One day as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courts and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to him. “Tell us by what authority you are doing these things,” they said. “Who gave you this authority?”
He
replied, “I will also ask you a question. Tell me: John’s
baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin?”
They
discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From
heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we
say, ‘Of human origin,’ all the people will stone us, because
they are persuaded that John was a prophet.”
So
they answered, “We don’t know where it was from.”
Jesus
said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these
things.” (Luke 20:1-8 NIV).
Authority
hates “loose cannon” questions. An English professor gives an
impassioned interpretation of “Sailing to Byzantium” citing many
sources of scholarly criticism to back it up. Yet, a first-year
mediocre student in the back row blows the entire effect with a
question straight out of left-field based upon his experiences in a
small backwater town. You don’t have to have advanced degrees to
ask questions difficult to answer, or to ask for justification
difficult to come by. In fact, even two-year-olds are pretty good at
it.
Authority
conceived as some sort of unassailable absolute power is greatly
undermined by free speech—as all dictatorships are well aware.
When people are empowered by free speech, profound implications
automatically accrue. One being that authority in a democracy can
chronically assume a defensive posture in response to finding itself
under constant questioning. Authority, thus regularly subjected to
widespread inquisition, is susceptible to appearing downright weak,
vain, and even stupid. This is true not only in the political world,
but affects all venues—including that of work, church, school, and
even the family. If it weren’t for free speech, many more would
yield to the drive to achieve authority status; but seeing the
hazards of it, many prefer to be like sheep well hidden beneath the
radar.
Print Page
