Today’s Scripture Reading (October 20,
2016): 2 Chronicles 17
Just two blocks east of the White House in Washington, D.C., stands the Willard Hotel. The hotel’s
proximity to Washington power has made it a place of stories for much of its
history. It was in his hotel room at the Willard that Martin Luther King, Jr.
composed his “I Have a Dream” speech. The cast of characters that has stayed at
the Willard includes, among many others,
P. T. Barnum, Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, Harry Houdini, Gypsy Rose Lee, Emily
Dickinson and Charles Dickens. Many Presidents have graced the halls of the
Willard. In fact, it is thought that
every president since Franklin Pierce has either slept or attended an event at the hotel at least once. Abraham Lincoln,
under threats of assassination, was even housed at the Willard Hotel for almost
two weeks before his inauguration on March 4,
1861.
But maybe
the story that defines the history of the hotel, and this is a story that the
hotel actively promotes, is that President Ulysses S. Grant had a habit of wandering
over to the lobby of the Willard Hotel to
enjoy a glass of whiskey and smoke a cigar during the evenings in Washington.
It was a way for the President to relax after a hard day in the office. It didn’t take long for the people to begin to
understand that if they wanted an audience with the President, the easiest way
to get that audience was to walk over to the Willard Hotel in the evening and
talk to him. Many of these people began to bring the President gifts or offer
to buy the President drinks during these nocturnal visits. Of course, the gifts were not
given out of the generosity of their hearts. They wanted to have
influence with the man in charge, hoping that they could sway important decisions
in the government to go their way. According to Willard Hotel folklore, this is
where the term “lobbying” was coined by
President Grant. Grant used the word
to describe these annoying nightly visitors who came to him in the lobby of the
Willard Hotel and who seemed to want nothing more than to disturb his whiskey
and cigar with their meaningless prattle.
Whether or
not the term “lobbying” was coined by Grant
at the Willard Hotel, we do know that the practice is much more ancient than
the people who came to the Willard Hotel to try to influence President Grant.
Even in antiquity, individuals and
nations would make voluntary payments to a king to
gain power and protection in the king’s
court.
In the case
of Jehoshaphat, the “lobbying” came in this passage from two distinct groups of people. “Some Philistines”
probably indicates the portion of the Philistines that had forged strong ties
with David. These Philistines still wanted to be included under the protecting
influence of Judah, and so they “lobbied” Jehoshaphat for protection. The Arabs
were nomadic desert wanderers. Like the group of Philistines that brought tribute,
they required the protection of a nation. After Judah had defeated Edom (it is likely that the Arabs had “lobbied”
for Edomite protection up until that time) they came to Judah with gifts hoping
to influence the decision making in Jerusalem to supply protection for their
nomadic tribes. The tribute was a small price to pay for a voice in a
government that at this time dominated the political landscape in, at least,
that portion of the Middle East.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Kings
17
No comments:
Post a Comment