A global community event

Like millions of people around the world, I stayed up much too late last night, mesmerized by the live coverage of the miners being rescued in Chile. The pictures of the narrow capsule emerging from the ground, the door opening, and men who had been 2,300 feet underground for 69 days stepping out were extraordinary. And the joyous, tearful reunions with their families that followed were moving beyond words.

By far the most moving was a young boy waiting with tears in his eyes as the capsule came up. As the door was opened and his father stepped out, the boy ran forward and leaped into his arms. They hugged each other as both wept. And I, as I suspect many others, also wept.

The ongoing drama made me reflect on the true contribution worldwide cable news could make. Rather than the sensationalism of the latest scandals, the blathering of talk show hosts, and the attacks of political ads; the world was united in watching events unfolding on a remote mountaintop in the Andes. The world was one in praying for the safe rescue of all 33 miners, and rejoicing as each one came to the top. There were stories of workers in Shanghai, Pope Benedict XVI in Rome, and a silver miner at home in Mexico City.  Crowds gathered at an outdoor “watch party” hosted by the Chilean Ambassador in Washington, D.C.

It is a powerful example of how a commitment to truth and civility could use the power of television to bring us the truth, and to bring us together as people for the common good, “This is more than a story, it’s a global community event,” said Yuen Ying Chan, professor of journalism at the University of Hong Kong.

As I write this, 20 miners have been rescued; there are 13 remaining. We join the rest of the world in praying and hoping the rescue operation will be successfully completed.

Blogging Religion

As newspapers continue to shrink and reduce staff, too often the first to go are religion reporters. Religion stories are now covered by general news reporters, many of whom don’t know much about the nuances of religion reporting.

But the good news is that there are an increasing number of blogs by current or former religion reporters that are a good source of news and perspective. Here is a list of some I’ve come across. If you know of others I should be aware of, please post them in the comments section, I’d love to check them out.

Top on my list is GetReligion which reports on how the media covers religion news, when it gets the story right and, frequently when it gets it wrong. It’s edited by Terry Mattingly of the Scripps Howard News Service, with frequent posts by a group of able journalists.

Religion News Blog, published by Religion News Service, has a daily roundup of religion stories in the news that’s good for a quick overview.

CNN’s Belief Blog has reporting by Dan Gilgoff and Eric Marrapodi, with frequent posts from religion scholar and author Stephen Prothero.

USA Today hosts Cathy Lynn Grossman’s Faith and Reason.

The Washington Post’s Under God features religion reporters Michelle Boorstein and William Wan focusing on religion’s impact on politics, policy, and government; along with Elizabeth Tenety, who writes about religion’s impact on popular culture.

Manya Brachear writes The Seeker for the Chicago Tribune.

Texas Faith at The Dallas Morning News focuses on Texas stories, many of which are of larger national interest.

At the Austin American-Statesman, Joshunda Sanders writes Of Sacred and Secular.

Arkansas Online, associated with the Arkansas Democrat Gazette has Bible Belt Blogger by religion editor Frank Lockwood.

Brad Greenberg writes The God Blog at the Jewish Journal in Los Angeles.

Bill Tammeus, former faith columnist for The Kansas City Star, writes Faith Matters.

Religion & Ethics Newsweekly’s religion blog features a variety of authors and content.

Peter Smith at the Louisville Courier-Journal is a long-time religion reporter.

Finally, for a Canadian perspective, Charles Lewis at The National Post edits Holy Post.

Americans ignorant about religion

“The person whose writings and actions inspired the Protestant Reformation was Martin Luther, Thomas Aquinas or John Wesley?” Less than half (46 percent) of Americans know the answer is Luther, and only 53 percent of protestants.

Or, try this one. “Do you happen to know what religion most people in Indonesia consider themselves  – Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Christian?” Only 27 percent knew the answer is Muslim.

One more. “Maimonides was Catholic, Jewish, Buddhist, Mormon, Hindu?” If you know he was Jewish, congratulations –only 8 percent of Americans knew that, and less than half (43 percent) of Jews.

These are just three of the findings of a recent Pew Forum “Religious Knowledge Survey.” The survey results showed that Americans are woefully illiterate in religious knowledge — both of their own tradition and of others. The survey included 32 questions testing knowledge of the Bible, major religions and their sacred writings, and famous religious people. The average was 16 correct answers, with only 2 percent getting 29 out of 32. Interestingly, the group with the highest number of correct answers was self-identified atheists/agnostics.

The conclusion? “Americans are by all measures a deeply religious people, but they are also deeply ignorant about religion,” wrote Laurie Goodstein of the New York Times.

She’s right. It also strikes me that ignorance may have something to do with the apparently growing religious intolerance in the United States. Knowing about a religion leads to a greater understanding of its beliefs and practices, rather than seeing it as threatening.

Here is the full wording of all questions and survey results. Try it yourself — here’s a 15 question sample from the survey.

Greater love

Greater love has no man than this.

Burn one, give two

Among the responses to the planned burning of the Quran on Saturday by a church on Florida, the Massachusetts Bible Society has the best idea I've seen.  Rather than just protesting, they will give away two copies of the Quran for every one burned, distributing them to prisons, hospitals, shelters, or any other place where there are Muslims without access to their sacred text.

Seems to me this follows in the steps of Jesus, showing love and respect where others are showing hatred. It's a strong witness for Christian love of neighbor.

Football and Ramadan

All around the United States, high school and college football teams are beginning to practice for the fall season. This year, it coincides with the Muslim observance of Ramadan, when believers fast from food and water from sun-up to sundown. So what is a Muslim football player to do?

It’s a real question for Fordson High School in Dearborn, Michigan, where Muslim students are a majority of the team. The solution? Football coach Fouad Zaban, also Muslim, is holding practices which begin at 11 p.m. and end at 4 a.m. He explained that this enables players to break their fast at sundown and attend services at the mosque before practice, and end in time for a meal and morning prayer before sunrise.
Players loved the change:

“I was really excited, I love it — all the guys do,” said running back/cornerback Rabeah Beydoun. “For one thing, it’s under the lights. It’s like game time. Second, we can actually eat and come out here. Third, we’ve got fans who come out and support us at night.”

Non-Muslim players have bought into the change as well.

Defensive tackle William Powell, one of the team’s few non-Muslims, initially thought the coach was “out of his mind,” but he’s come around. In fact, he’s even fasted.

In this time when anti-Islam feelings seem to be rapidly growing in this country, it warms this football fan’s heart to see another example of how sports can bring out the best in us — even in interfaith understanding.

Candidate to President

Roger Simon opines about the President

The problem for Obama is that he appears to have taken seriously all the “change” stuff he promised during his campaign. And he has been unable to make the transition from candidate to president.

A candidate says, as Bobby Kennedy did, “Some men look at things the way they are and ask why? I dream of things that are not and ask why not?”

A president says: “What do the polls say?”

Why have I become so cynical about Washington?