Tony Campolo Arrested

On ABC News last week Tony Campolo was shown being escorted in handcuffs through the rotunda of the Capitol in Washington, D.C. It was reported that he had been arrested for demonstrating against proposed welfare cuts. This was part of a larger piece concerning the fact that the Christian Coalition does not represent the beliefs of all evangelical Christians. The reporter pointed out that it was evident which group of evangelicals has greater political power. While Tony was being arrested, Ralph Reed, the head of the Christian Coalition, was meeting with Newt Gingrich in his office. (The reporter was not being completely accurate here. Tony probably met with Pres. Clinton in the White House sometime during the same trip).

I don’t know how Tony’s being arrested struck you, but it reminded me that sometimes the most admirable place for a Christian to be is in jail (I’m leaving aside any discussion of welfare. Everyone knows it needs to be reformed. We just don’t agree on the best way to do it). Paul wrote a good portion of the Bible while in prison. Martin Luther King, Jr. and many others went to jail during the civil rights movement because they would not observe unjust laws.

I am reminded too of the story of when Henry David Thoreau went to jail rather than pay his poll tax to a state that supported slavery. He was visited by his good friend, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson peered through the bars and exclaimed, "Why, Henry, what are you doing in there?"

The uncowed Thoreau replied, "Nay, Ralph, the question is, what are you doing out there?"

1996 C. David Hess