Category Image Its the Values


I often have pictures of Terry Mattingly and is colleagues at GetReligion banging their collective heads against a wall. One of the latest challenges has been to try and cajole the media into covering the faith of the two Superbowl coaches. Tony Dungy has gone on record that he and Lovie Smith would like to better be known as two Christian coaches who won the Superbowl (or words to that effect). While not denying the civic and historical significance of their race, they seem to perceive their faith and their actions (both are known for not being prone to the foul-mouthed histrionics of many other coaches in both the NFL and elsewhere - Bobby Knight being one of the most egregious examples) as transcending their race. In other words, it is the character that makes the man, not the color of his skin. You know, a mere few weeks after Martin Luther King day, Coach Dungy's statements are much more reminiscent of the message I think the Rev. King was trying to get across. I know its silly to pretend to be color blind, but didn't the Rev. King once say , "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."?

I think there are two factors at work. The first is that the media, which tend to lean to the left on most issues, suffers from the modern form of racism that says that the only thing that matters is a person's race, in contradiction to the civil rights movement who said that a person's race should be just about the last thing that matters. Yes, the race of these coaches is important in that it indicates how far we have come as a nation. But what is most important here is that these two men, espousing Christian values, are examples of the kind of men we'd like our children to be. They are examples of the kind of coaches we'd like our children to have. However, to go down that road, the press would have to talk about faith - and specifically the Christian faith. And we know we can't have that. The media has to be embarrassed about Christianity, or so it appears. If these two coaches were Muslim, you could expect that this would be splashed all over the press. And this is a sad statement.

I have to say that we see this now in public education. Today, my oldest will be turning in the illuminated manuscript he had to do about the life of Muhammed. He didn't have to do a project like this about the emperor Constantine, or about Jesus Christ. What is interesting is that underlying this attitude we see among the left, is not some sort of acknowledgment that Islam is the correct religion, but rather that any religion is better than that evil Christianity. Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Atheism, are all better.

Well, its frustrating, but on the other hand Christianity does better when it is the religion of the catacombs. The message of God as the lover of mankind will more easily be heard when the day comes that only those willing to suffer for being Christian call themselves Christian. I occasionally make time, not nearly enough time, mind you, to read the lives of the Saints in the Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church. Many of these Saints suffered and/or died greatly for their faith, and in the example of their lives I hear the message of the great Philanthropist much more clearly than I do coming from people like me, who get to enjoy their faith in luxury. So maybe it is better for Christianity that the press attempts to ignore it. I can't say that its better for the race relations.

Posted: Tuesday - February 06, 2007 at 08:36 AM          

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