9/11 AND GOD's SPORT BILL MOYERS

Cross Currents, Winter 2005–2006

This article was originally delivered on the occasion of Union Theological Seminary's 170th Convocation, September 7, 2005. Along with his wife, Judith Davidson Moyers, Mr. Moyers was the recipient of the Union Medal.

To be in the company of so many friends, faculty, and students of Union is to be reminded of the great conversation that has occurred at Union Theological Seminary for 170 years. I find it exhilarating and intimidating just to imagine the long train of witnesses who constitute this community of faith.

Just in my lifetime:

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was studying here when he decided to return to his native Germany and join the resistance against Hitler and the Nazis. The choice cost him his life.

Paul Tillich taught here, reminding his students that “being religious means asking passionately the question of the meaning of our existence and being willing to receive answers, even if the answers hurt.”

Reinhold Niebuhr taught here, always seeking to apply Christian morality to public issues even as he warned against the “ironic tendency of virtues to turn into vices when too complacently relied upon.” It was his profound insight into human nature and the nature of politics that enabled so many of us to understand that “Man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible; but man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.”