As God Is Their Witness

By PETER DURANTINE
For the Daily News

IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING his conviction last week, disgraced Enron Corp. Chairman Kenneth Lay turned to a circle of about a dozen friends and family members in a corner of his Houston courtroom.
Among them was the Rev. Bill Lawson, who led the group in an immediate, and public, prayer. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Lawson referred to the story of Jesus, "who was convicted and even executed," the story quoted Lawson as saying.
The public has grown used to God's name being invoked after a public accomplishment, from sports to music. And at the moment, invoking God in a particularly big way seems to be de rigueur for powerful people in disgrace.
Lay went as far as to say he felt "blessed" after his conviction. "We believe God is, in fact, in control and indeed he does work all things for good for those who love the Lord," Lay said.
But Lay was only the latest example. Former City Councilman Rick Mariano remarked before his conviction on federal corruption charges that Jesus was his only "political friend."
Then there's Jack Abramoff, the Washington lobbyist who pleaded guilty to fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy to bribe public officials.
"I only hope that I can merit forgiveness from the Almighty and from those I have wronged or caused to suffer," he said, standing before the judge.
Unfortunately, Abramoff is bound to cause more suffering. His deal with federal prosecutors requires that he provide evidence about members of Congress in the far-reaching Washington corruption scandal.
And how about former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay?
After his arrest last fall on corruption charges, he revealed, "I said a little prayer before I actually did the fingerprint thing, and the picture... . My prayer was basically: 'Let people see Christ through me. And let me smile.' "
In his mug shot, he is indeed smiling.

Of course, there may not be anyone more in need of salvation than a crooked CEO or politician.
But the fact is that political - and societal - trends have made sweeping, public expressions of religion particularly acceptable right now.
In the Bush White House, Jesus is a role model and faith-based programs are often used to solve societal problems; the Iraq conflict has been seen, by terrorists and perhaps the White House too, as a religious war.
So these powerful people may be sincere - or simply be playing to the crowd.
To society, it may actually not make that much of a difference. The religious beliefs getting such a workout in powerful mouths include forgiveness. And that's an important ritual in society, said Dr. Thomas Smith, chairman of the Department of Humanities at Villanova University.
"You can see how that can be used in a cynical way," Smith said, who teaches a course on religion and politics. "Even if the uses are cynical they still point to a standard that is important," he said.
Quoting 17th century French classic author François La Rochefoucauld, Smith said, "Hypocrisy is a tribute vice pays to virtue."

One thing about these invocations, most everyone who utters them has their own, shall we say, unique perspective on God.
Televangelist Pat Robertson sees God as wrathful toward the mortals who don't adhere to the agenda of conservative religious believers - as in his now-famous diatribe against the people of Dover, Pa., who can just forget God's help if a disaster strikes.
Robertson says that's what they get for rejecting a school board that wanted "intelligent design" taught as scientific theory.
Singer Mary J. Blige has a more positive view of God - though some might wonder if it's a realistic one: "My God is a God who wants me to have things," she told Blender magazine. "He wants me to bling. He wants me to be the hottest thing on the block. I don't know what kind of God the rest of y'all are serving, but the God I serve says, 'Mary, you need to be the hottest thing this year, and I'm gonna make sure you're doing that.' "
And then there's Osama bin Laden, who once told Time magazine: "Hostility toward America is a religious duty, and we hope to be rewarded for it by God."
President Bush may be the first president to invoke God in a more specific rather than general way. He once responded to a question about whether he seeks advice from his father, the first President Bush, by saying he appeals to a "higher father."
The BBC reported last summer that former Palestinian foreign minister Nabil Shaath, in a meeting he and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas had with Bush in June 2003, quoted the president saying, "I'm driven with a mission from God.
"God would tell me, 'George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan,' " the quote continued. "And I did, and then God would tell me, 'George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq... . ' And I did. And now, again, I feel God's words coming to me, 'Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East.' And by God I'm gonna do it."
Contrast these comments to Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address as the Civil War came to a conclusion. When it came to the war, Lincoln said, "The Almighty has His own purposes."
But, Villanova's Smith says, for healing a nation divided, Lincoln said it was to be done with "firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right."
"The question," Smith says, "isn't whether God is on your side, it's whether you're on God's side."
Ken Lay - and the others - may have to wait for the verdict on that one.