Seeing the big picture

The mass media’s representation of certain individuals or groups who

misrepresent a certain religion severely affects the way the public

views that religion. As hard as the media may try, some things are

always left out of the story. The mass media should set its goal on

producing real news, that is, unbiased facts on what is occurring

around the world. It is not only up to the media to give real facts,

but it is also the general public’s responsibility to find out the

truth about religions and cultures. People should not solely depend

on the media for information.

IMAM MOUSTAFA

AL-QAZWINI

Islamic Educational Center of

Orange County, Costa Mesa

With Jesus’ coming into this world, God pitched a huge tent for

human beings to find shelter from storms -- welcoming a great variety

of people at a time in this tent of God in Christ. Christians find

each other by affinity and wish that we could reach out to all

others; of course, we don’t quite know how. At our best we see

reality as existing in the tensions of paradox, ambiguity and

diversity; we agree to disagree. We come to church without leaving

our brain (or hearts and bodies) at the door and then have

opportunities to love all of those who have managed to come in with

their “wrong” ideas.

Christians admire and are appalled by preachers from John Paul II

to Desmond Tutu to Billy Graham to Jerry Fallwell, politicians from

either George Bush to Jimmy Carter, celebrities from Della Reese to

Charlton Heston, athletes from Mary Lou Retton to George Foreman,

authors from Danielle Steele to J.R.R. Tolkien. All are Christians by

God’s grace.

Because we believe that God gave all persons intellects as tools

for understanding and faith development, we trust that sooner or

later others will appreciate Christian unity in diversity. Christians

do our best to demonstrate our religion to others in loving actions,

before we have to use words.

THE VERY REV. CANON

PETER D. HAYNES

St. Michael & All Angels

Episcopal Church, Corona del Mar

Early in Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler writes of his transformation

into an anti-Semite. He cites the physical appearance and clothing of

several Jewish people he sees on the streets of Vienna and

extrapolates from these few onto the many. He soon charges that there

is at least one Jewish person involved in every immoral and illegal

activity in Germany, and justifies his emerging hostility to a people

based on his knowledge of an insignificant sample.

Stereotyping is the beginning of the descent into prejudice and

hatred. We project the sins (as we see them) of those with whom we

come into contact or of whom we read onto a larger group. Our

negative evaluation of a particular Christian, Muslim, or Jew, for

example, affords an opportunity to defame and marginalize a faith,

culture, nation, or people. If a few are “like that,” they must all

“be or act like that.”

The human impulse toward prejudice emerges out of the dislike of

difference. To be different is to be suspect. It is accentuated by a

feeling of superiority. Racial prejudice may be at its worst when

religion enters into it, for fanaticism can become sanctified. Let us

recall that the linguistic root of “prejudice” is “prejudged,”

judgment before the evidence is examined. People are always ready to

jump from fact to conjecture. Rumors grow from scraps of observed

fact to imposing fabrics of fiction. Charges begin with shreds of

evidence and grow until they are serious enough to condemn others for

life.

Those who demean themselves through harmful and hateful acts

should not be viewed as representative of a great religion or

culture. Their violations of the teachings and history of their faith

and people should not be magnified into metaphors for the larger

group. If a small number of adherents of a religion contravenes the

legacy of integrity, peace and virtue espoused by that faith, their

misdeeds should be placed in a larger perspective. As no individual

would want his entire life judged by one incident or experience, so

no religion or people deserves to be judged by one whose loyalty is

only lip-service.

RABBI MARK MILLER

Temple Bat Yahm,

Newport Beach