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In ancient Israel the priests were a special people set apart by
God's revealed directives. The priests were drawn from descendants of
Aaron and were members of the tribe of Levy. They were not allowed to
own land or serve as civil or military leaders . They lived off the
sacrificial offerings of the people and served as judges in the more
difficult cases. They were not allowed to marry women of questionable
background. They guarded the Ark of the Covenant, served in the Temple,
and ran towns of refugee where fugitives could seek protection before
having their cases heard. (Over 1200 years after God directed this
special status for priests in the Pentateuch, Christ was tried and
condemned by the priests at the home of Caiaphas, the high priest. It
was Roman Law which forbade the priests from carrying out their sentence
before obtaining the approval of the Roman authorities; that is why
Christ had to appear before Herod and Pilot.) In Medieval
Europe, a similar situation obtained. Priests ran courts where a common
man could obtain a fair hearing of his grievance according to the Canon
Law. The churches were "places of refuge" where a fugitive could be safe
until a proper Canon Law Court could hear his case. Priests were a class
apart. They did not marry; they took vows of chastity and obedience to
the bishop and Pope. Many even took vows of poverty. Most important,
priests were not allowed to accept positions of temporal leadership. No
matter how "high born", priests were not authorized to serve as a king,
duke or baron. They might aspire to the office of abbot, bishop,
cardinal or even Pope, but their influence over the hearts and minds of
the people rested on their special connection to God and their special
expertise in the area of faith and morals. (A vestige of these century
old limitations was seen recently. Even though priests and bishops have
lost their special standing relative to the total community, a few years
ago, Rev. Robert Drinan, S.J., a U S Congressman from Boston, was
forced to resign his seat because the Pope did not want a Catholic
priest holding a position of temporal power.)In America today,
lawyers (and judges) serve these "priestly" functions. They are the
arbitrators of society's morals, providing guidance on such things as
homosexual marriage, abortion, proper places of prayer, etc. They run
courts and
represent
fugitives seeing to it that they get a "fair" hearing. They offer
advice, formal opinion, and dicta about "right" and "wrong", seek the
"truth", and work in awe inspiring chambers
from which they dispense
"justice". However, in America the lawyer-priest is also allowed to serve
as
both a civil or military leader, he is allowed to amass great wealth,
and there are no special restrictions on his personal life or behavior.In earlier societies select people possessing these special powers
where required to accept major restrictions on the scope of their other
activities. There were expected to live modestly with few worldly goods
or pleasures, to cultivate learning and virtue, and to put themselves
at the service of their fellow man. In America, however, this class of
people uses its special status as a spring board toward positions
possessing greater honor, power, wealth, and worldly pleasures.
The priests of ancient Israel were directed by God's revealed
word. The priests of Middle Ages were directed by God's revealed word
refined slightly by a careful, conscientious study of the God's plan as
revealed in nature (i.e. The Natural Law). Departing from this
tradition, the modern American lawyer-priests are mostly directed by
their own intellects as formed primarily by America's remarkable "values
free" educational institutions, most notablly its law schools.
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