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Oh Really?

Leave My Personal Life Out Of It


Hollande's administration moved into crisis-management mode, with the resident threatening legal action for !reach of rivacy !ut not denying re orts of the affair" However, hours after the revelations #riday, Hollande's artner, $alerie %rierweiler, was ta&en to a hos ital, suffering what friends told 'ournalists was a (severe !out of the !lues"( %he scandal too& another une) ected turn Monday with claims that the a artment used for the resident's alleged secret meetings with *ayet was lin&ed to the +orsican mafia ,htt -..www"washington ost"com.world.euro e.french- residentscom le)- ersonal-life-on-view/" (%hese are ainful moments" 0ut I have one rinci le, and that is that ersonal life should !e treated rivately, res ecting each erson's intimacy,( this #rench President declared when as&ed a!out his ersonal life1s eccadilloes" It is a commonly held view nowadays that the u!lic and rivate life of oliticians and other eo le in the lime light of u!lic scrutiny should !e &e t se arate" It is the view that the one has nothing to do with the other" Hence the #rench President1s statement was made to the gathered 'ournalists to leave well alone" %here were times when this se aration was deemed untena!le and lainly wrong" It was R"L 2a!ney ,theologian, 3456-3474/ who advised voters to loo& at the olitician1s ersonal life and integrity rather than follow the arty line when ma&ing the decision for whom to cast a vote" He held to the firm !elief that a erson1s ersonal life would !e largely determinative of the manner in which such a erson would fill u!lic office in an ethically sound way" %he way a erson thin&s is the way a erson will act" In 0i!lical arlance, in the words of our Lord 8esus +hrist, 9O generation of vi ers, how can ye, !eing evil, s ea& good things? for out of the a!undance of the heart the mouth s ea&eth: ,Matthew 35-;</" %o ut it lainly, !oth according to 8esus +hrist and R"L" 2a!ney the #rench President and the general u!lic today are guilty of ado ting a false dichotomy" It is atently false and ethically im ossi!le to se arate the manner in which a erson o erates rivately and u!licly" It is the same erson in !oth realms acting out of a moral dis osition which will colour ethical decision ma&ing and actions" %he Lord ma&es this a!undantly clear with the rhetorical =uestion He oses through the Pro het 8eremiah, 9+an the >thio ian change his s&in, or the leo ard his s ots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil: ,8eremiah 35-5;/" 2a!ney again has a wise word regarding this matter, 9%he moral 'udgments and acts of the soul all involve an e)ercise of reason, so that it is im ossi!le to se arate the ethical and intellectual functions": It was =uite telling that the 'ournalists let the matter dro when the President told them to do so" ?o one challenged the leader1s resum tion that rivate and u!lic should !e &e t se arate" He also informed the meeting that shortly !efore his visit to the @AB he would ma&e clear whether he would ta&e his steady concu!ine ,who went to hos ital with de ression/ to visit the Chite House, or otherwise"

Bs has already !een shown from =uoted Acri ture, +hristians do well not to !uy in to this fallacy of rivate and u!lic se aration" It is a stance that needs to !e challenged for the hy ocrisy it re resents" #ailure to s ea& out against this convenient stance leads to a schiDo hrenic situation where leaders are e) ected u!licly to !e role models in morality, in ethical soundness, while rivately indulging in atterns of immorality" Martin ?iemoller was a Protestant astor in ?aDi *ermany" He watched assively as others were trodden u on" #inally it was his turn and he went through the hell of 2achau" Bfterwards he voiced these famous words9%hey first came for the communists, and I didn1t s ea& u , for I was not a communistE %hen they came for the 8ews, and I didn1t s ea& u for I was not a 8ewE %hen they came for the @nionist, and I didn1t s ea& u , for I was not a @nionistE %hen they came for the +atholics, and I didn1t s ea& u , for I was not a +atholicE Bnd they came for meFBnd !y that time there was no one left to s ea& u ": #or wrong ethical erce tions and actions to fester, all it ta&es is for the righteous to remain silent, however let it !e &nown that Grighteousness e)alteth a nation- !ut sin is a re roach to any eo le1 ,Prover!s 3<-;</" It has !een said that re resentatives of the eo le are to !e Ga!ove re roach"1 %he 0i!le certainly is clear that office !earers in the +hurch of +hrist are to !e such ,cf" 3 %imothy ;/" %his Ga!ove re roach1 delineation is 0i!lically defined in the rivate s here to determine whether a man is suited for u!lic office" Pro!lematic in the world out there is the fact that in order to define some one as !eing Ga!ove re roach1 an o!'ective standard is re=uired !y which to determine whether a erson is re roacha!le or not" %hat o!'ective standard H and the only one availa!le to man&ind is the Cord of *od as it has come to man from outside man himself, thus ma&ing it i so facto o!'ective H has !een eroded, shoved aside, with man now increasingly !eing the measure of his own morality" #or that reason it is understanda!le that the #rench President did not meet with challengers to his rivacy statement" %here was no o!'ective !asis for such a challenge in the roomI

2r Herm Jandman 34.63.563<

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