I just reviewed my favorite newspaper page for news, important and/or human only, favorite because of its excellent book reviews appearing daily. The editorial page and daily book review usually offer evidence for the point addressed, or evaluate human experience for the reader to consider. Other media sources to which I subscribe tend to this improved approach to instruction/persuasion. Today, August 6, 2016, the day of the National Football Hall of Fame honors on National Television, the first story on the Sports page concentrates on the path of faith taken by Tony Dungy the Afro-American receiving the induction honor this evening after a life of some poverty, facing some racial prejudice, enduring neglect and effort to change his goals and ideals. He pressed on, entered the University of Minnesota and achieved both as a student and quarterback for the Minnesota Gophers. He set out for his goals, and paid his dues along the way until at forty years of age he was engaged as Head Coach for a football team. He became the first black coach to win the Super Bowl. He is openly reported as a deeply committed person to Jesus Christ, to the benefit of his family, to helping others and has become a valued commentator every week on analyses of major games. In standard, but gracious secular fashion, the newspaper did not accent that Dungy is a Christian, but used the neutral term faith to note a common dimension in Dungy’s life and influence. With some assistance, Dungy start[ed] and develop[ed] a faith-based NFL Coaches Fellowship. We know its focus is Jesus Christ. Dungy’s coaching fellowship one of many faith-based projects he tends to . . . [and] is still going strong. The article is a tribute to Dungy – and to faith orientation.
Today is also the day for the funeral of five persons, mother, father, and three small children not yet in their moral majority. They were killed in an accident when a careless truck driver, barreling through a repair section of highway in Nebraska, struck their car. At this writing he is held in jail for vehicular homicide. The newspapers and television have repeatedly covered the event this week and circumstances to date. In these instances the referral to Christ is quite open in that the family was on its way to final preparations for missionary service in Japan. The context required more than neutral language to flesh out the story. On TV interview with the family, the public was informed that the parents were forgiving of the truck driver. Their Christian faith held no revenge. Justice will have to be left to the government in the treatment of a careless man who disregarded human laws for safety. (For the family, the judge did show mercy.)
Today on my favorite page of the WSJ there appear two reports that relate to Christian meaning for life and society. Both are clear about the affirmations of Christian counsel/influence. Both suggest that the newspaper is somewhat objective, reporting that which is newsworthy in the view and experience of some – even if it is believed to be an area to be omitted because of religious/secular controversy. I was attracted to the book report which discussed a societal problem, as in the matter of laws related to world economics. The solution suggested by the author of the book reviewed proposed Christian considerations, but acknowledged that the insights may not be taken seriously enough to address the problems reviewed. The reviewer did not address fault or virtue in the conclusion. Public interest in faith deserves faith reporting. Today, there is much more that might be addressed here, but space limitations check us. It appears that the media may be emerging from its neglect of religious/spiritual themes so meaningful to world life for human beings. The matter, taken so seriously by TIME Magazine before World War II, may be reviving. When Whittaker Chambers was offered his choice of editorial direction before that war, he chose the religious section of the magazine. His book, Witness, has an ongoing force relative to life meaning in world belief and action – decades later. (Several years after composition above, and I was preparing to meet with my former student, and current editor, Sara Robertson, our Minneapolis paper was bought by a respected man in the state. Almost immediately the paper improved coverages, including faith articles.) *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020