Consider this statement: “The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government. No administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting.” This sounds like something posted by one of the news agencies the president banned from the White House, doesn’t it? (CNN, Political, and MSNOW ) In fact it appears on the Fox News website of all places. It is a joint statement from all of the White House television pool members, which includes Fox, ABC, CBS, CNN, and NBC.
Or how about this one: “The Constitution protects the freedom of the press from government interference. That protection does not depend on whether the president likes a news organization’s coverage, agrees with its reporting, or approves of the questions its journalists ask.” Again, this sounds like one of the president’s many opponents, right? In fact this came from Jacqui Heinrich, current president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, and senior White House correspondent for Fox News.
Full disclosure – I find myself disagreeing with Fox News only slightly less than I disagree with our president. (Which is a lot.) But I have to give credit where credit is due. These are acts of high integrity, fully in keeping with the spirit and the letter of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
For a leader of any kind, the need for complete transparency and the presence of constant critique go with the territory. An old, worn-out adage says, “If you want to make everybody happy all the time, don’t be a leader. Sell ice cream.” It could be amended to say, “If you never want to be scrutinized or critiqued, don’t be a leader.” Through decades of leading churches I learned that if nobody was scrutinizing me, challenging me, or critiquing me, then I wasn’t really doing my job.
The founders of our nation knew that the silencing of opposing viewpoints and the stifling of the press are extreme dangers to a free country. We see that proven to be true all over the globe through human history. Leaders who seek to limit or eliminate free speech either have fragile egos or insecurities about their own leadership. No amount of money, power, or influence should overshadow the core values of the First Amendment.
Jesus-followers must realize that every human being is declared worthy of the life, death, resurrection and promised return of Jesus the Christ. That includes our president and every person with whom I might disagree. That means that every voice matters, and that the forced silencing of any voice is thin ice.
I’ll see you around the next bend in the river.
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