It certainly came as no great shock to learn that Rev. William Sloane Coffin died on April 12. In an article written in April of 2004–the page title reading ironically, “Coffin ready”, the author wrote, “He may not see another Easter this side of eternity. But he acknowledges death casually, like a man awaiting the first snowflake of the winter, not knowing its day or time.” So he actually lived longer than many expected him to. The only thing that saddens me is that I never had the opportunity to meet him, and that many other people had never heard of him at all. That, at least I can remedy by introducing him to you now.
Bill Coffin was once asked in a Beliefnet interview “If you had a pastoral visit with the president, what would you say?”
I think I’d have to say: “Mr. President, in the British military, the chaplain assumes the rank of the person he’s addressing. Can we for a moment accept that understanding between us?” And if he said yes, I’d say, “Then George, may I have your permission to talk about one or two things that I found sorrowful?” I would have to ask, because otherwise people get defensive. But if they give permission, presumably they’re willing to take it.
I would take it as Christian-to-Christian. I would say, “George, Jesus is considered the servant of the poor. He was concerned most for those society counted least. You don’t come through very Jesus-like in your approach to the war. And as for these rather grandiose dreams of hegemony, economic and military hegemony for the United States, have you ever stopped to think that the devil tempted Jesus with unparalleled wealth and power? It was the devil.” There would be a couple of things like that. Then I’d probably say, “I don’t want to keep you much longer. I’ll just leave you with that.”
Click here to read more about Bill Coffin, including what he had to say about Joe Lieberman.