Arresting Accusations

It could have actually been a glorious moment for Herman Cain - a planned trip to Washington to elaborate on his economic ideas, a chance to gain greater traction on the national political state, to convince skeptics of the credibility of his candidacy.   But, due to a piece in Politico that explored 15-year-old sexual harassment claims while Cain headed the National Restaurant Association, citing unnamed sources and basically unnamed allegations, the former pizza chain CEO and ordained minister was having to defend these accusations.   

Some, like Penny Nance of Concerned Women for America, who had called for an explanation in light of the charges, said she was satisfied by Cain's comments at the National Press Club yesterday when he said that he was falsely accused and an investigation had found the charges to be baseless.  He said, “In all of my over 40 years of business experience...I have never sexually harassed anyone.”


Nance said to Politico, “Barring other information coming to light I think he has gone a long way to put it to rest."

But in interviews later in the day, Cain seemed to contradict his earlier contention that he was not aware of a financial settlement with the 2 ladies who claimed that he had harassed them.   In fact, the story continues to grow legs as Cain's staff members clumsily attempt to shadow box the accusations.   In a sense, they're feeding the hungry media that is craving to report more.    In a month where Cain's inexperience in the arena has been exposed, this becomes yet another chapter in the saga of a candidacy that is in way over its head.

There is a fine line here - because you can talk too much and fan the flame or not say quite enough and make people think you have something to hide.   For some reason, Proverbs 10:19 comes to mind:

New International Version
When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.New Living Translation
Too much talk leads to sin. Be sensible and keep your mouth shut.

And, when you want to preserve your integrity and improve the perception of others, there is a great temptation to clear the air and provide an abundance of information, which, thrown to the media that is not necessarily in your camp to begin with, can be twisted and turned against you.

If Cain is the man of integrity that so many perceive him to be, I can see how he would want to go to great lengths to clear his name.    If people read to the last page of the Politico piece, they would read these comments from former board members and associates at the National Restaurant Association:

Ron Magruder, Denise Marie Fugo and Joseph Fassler, the chairman, vice chairwoman and immediate past chairman of the National Restaurant Association board of directors at the time of Cain’s departure, said they hadn’t heard about any complaints regarding Cain making unwanted advances.

“I have never heard that. It would be news to me,” said Fugo, who runs a Cleveland, Ohio, catering company, adding such behavior would be totally out of character for the Cain she knew. “He’s very gracious.”

Fassler, who helped bring Cain on board as CEO of the restaurant association, said any inappropriate behavior was not brought to his attention and that he would be upset to learn it had gone on and he was not made aware of it.

“That’s a shock to me,” Fassler said. “As an officer during all of Herman’s years there as a paid executive … none of that stuff ever surfaced to me. Nobody ever called me, complained about this, nor did I ever hear that from Peter Kilgore, nor did I ever hear that from Herman Cain.”

Fassler — who ran a Phoenix food-service company and finished his term as chairman the month before Cain’s June 1999 departure but remained on the board’s executive committee — described Cain as treating men and women identically and asserted it was “not within his character” to make unwanted advances. “It’s not what I know of him,” Fassler said.

Much like Fassler, almost all board members remember Cain fondly and say he left on good terms.  Cain was “extremely professional” and “fair” to female staffers at the restaurant association, recalled Lee Ellen Hayes, who said she “worked fairly closely with” Cain in the late 1990s, when she was an executive at the National Restaurant Association Education Fund, a Chicago-based offshoot of the group.

Cain’s treatment of women was “the same as his treatment of men. Herman treated everyone great,” said Mary Ann Cricchio, who was elected to the board of the restaurant group in 1998. She said Cain left such a good impression on the organization that when he spoke at a group event in January of this year, as he was considering a presidential bid, “he had unanimous support in the room.”

I'm not sure how I would be responding if I were in Herman Cain's shoes today.  From what I saw and heard, I thought his National Press Club explanation was sufficient, and his rendering of the Andrae Crouch classic, "He Looked Beyond My Faults" was very appropriate and a bit disarming to those in attendance.   And, he probably should have left it at that and refused to comment further.  

But, you know we all have an accuser, and I'm thankful that we are given powerful tools when our spiritual enemy levels charges against us, thoughts that are placed in our minds that can cripple us in our walk with Christ if we buy into them and believe the devices of the "father of lies".  And, if we consider his claims against us and attempt to reason and negotiate in our minds, rather than taking thoughts captive by replacing accusatory thoughts with God word, we are in a weakened position.

God's truth is a powerful weapon, and in Revelation 12:10 and 11, we read: 

Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God,

and the authority of his Christ.

For the accuser of our brothers,

who accuses them before our God day and night,

has been hurled down.

They overcame him

by the blood of the Lamb

and by the word of their testimony;

We have an accuser who is intent on destroying us, but we have an Advocate, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is making intercession for us before the throne of God.   As we appropriate the blood of the Lamb, that covers our sins, and forcefully speak His truth, what His word says about us, we can deflect the accusations that the enemy would hurl at us.    The Lord has given us powerful tools, and wisdom to answer the charges of our earthly accusers and our spiritual accuser.