DAVID CONN
SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

G

ti

S

here comes a moment during the televised discus-
sion about Noah and the flood that threatens to test
Bill Moyers' faith in the unifying power of biblical
debate.
The participants, an eclectic group of writers, cler-
gy, artists, psychologists and others, have the au-
dacity to question God's ethics in drowning the
world. Some find it dangerous to declare the flood
a positive moral lesson in a century that has wit-
nessed the Holocaust and the specter of nuclear de-
struction.
But one Baptist pastor, Samuel Proctor, stands
firm. He bristles at the chutzpah of man question-
ing God's morality, prompting Rabbi Burton L. Vi-
sotzky to jump in:
"Sam, why are you so protective of God? ... I mean,
can't God endure some criticism here?"
"No!" Reverend Proctor responds firmly. "Not the
God I know, not the God of perfection and holiness
that I'm talking about. No. No. It's our business to
try to comprehend, in the light of our limited expe-
rience, what it is that God is doing."
The tension passes, and the participants move on
to other aspects of the powerful story in good hu-
mor. Mr. Moyers' faith survives: Maybe people of
enetnbdasc. kgrounds, of firmly held beliefs,
ayerfri
stlyadwiff
vwaalli
about such a thorny topic as re-
re
can talk reasonably
ligion. And maybe they can do more than keep their
knives from each others' throats: maybe they can

•

MaSterilleCe

JANE HWANG PHOTOGRAPHER