AUTHOR
Michael Scandling
Fine-art photographer, writer, counselor-at-large, chef, dog lover, nature lover. Not particularly reverent.
COMBATING BIGOTRY & HATE
In its heyday, this paper was thick and heavy with hard news written and edited by prize-winning journalists.
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
There is a lot to deal with to set things right and bring about true religious freedom in the world.
TOLERANCE
Some might quibble about the differences in our faiths and beliefs. I choose not to. Instead, I choose to join in the prayer for ourselves, for our fellows, for our nation and for the world. I choose to pray for our essential goodness to flourish in all of us.
RELIGIOUS LITERACY
What I saw was a recognition of the best kind of inclusion: a collection of movies, TV shows, and press coverage where Muslims are not necessarily the story (although in two of the films, they are) but who, in their portions of the stories, are depicted as they are: human beings—not necessarily perfect human beings, but real ones.
COMBATING BIGOTRY & HATE
The vast majority of people in the world are good. They have their hopes and dreams. They have family and friends whom they love. They have jobs and projects and passions and art.
COMBATING BIGOTRY & HATE
Here’s how it shakes out: Really nice, friendly, intelligent, helpful, communicative people: 34. The people I was afraid of: 0.
TOLERANCE
There isn’t some mass solution to this. It takes individual action. Or inaction: the simplest thing to do when some bit of hate comes your way is to kill it by not passing it on. Not even a little bit.
RELIGIOUS LITERACY
Truth be told, the intolerance and hate that come from otherness are as old as the human race, and without diminishing the devastating effects of the pandemic, constitute a far more deadly and lasting virus for all humanity.
TOLERANCE
Strange as it may seem, this came to mind while pondering the subject of religious tolerance. Religious tolerance is broadly defined as recognition and respect of others’ beliefs and practices without sharing them. That sounds good, but I have sometimes wondered if in practical terms it’s often closer to my bare tolerance of artichokes.
RELIGIOUS LITERACY
As I dug deeper into his website I discovered a 28-minute video clip of a talk he gave several years ago at the Messiah Lutheran Church in Weldon Spring, MO. The talk was on Christian-Muslim relations. He was speaking passionately about increasing understanding between these two religious traditions. Turns out this is what he does. He says his calling is to increase the level of religious literacy in the world. Greater understanding paves the way to greater tolerance. He goes on to say that for him it’s more than work—it’s a divine inspiration.
