Religion

According to a news report this week on National Public Radio, many inhabitants of the world's second most populous country, India, who are afflicted with depression, psychosis and other mental health problems rely on faith healers and doctors at their local temples, instead of traditional medicine, to treat their problems. NPR reported that only 37 mental health institutions operate in that country of 1.2 billion people, where there is only one psychiatrist per 400,000 people. In your view, can religion be a substitute for medicine in the treatment of mental health problems, or would you advocate medicine over religion, or a combination of the two?

The American public's questions and doubts about President Barack Obama's religion continue to dog him nearly two years after his election. For example, a new poll by the Pew Research Center shows that nearly 1 in 5 Americans believe that Obama is a Muslim, although in fact he is a Christian. According to the Pew survey, the percentage of Americans thinking that he is a Muslim increased from 12% to 18% between March 2008 and August 2010, while the percentage of those thinking that he is a Christian dropped from 47% to 34% during that period.

How could the Daily Pilot do a better job of covering religion and spirituality in the Newport-Mesa area? What are some of the local issues or stories about your church, synagogue, mosque or temple that need to be told? Faith communities contribute mightily to life in our area. The Daily Pilot might ask what we do with: hunger and homelessness, hospitals, prisons, schools (public and private), and governmental agencies; welcoming children and families as well as oldsters like me; music in worship; evangelism and proselytizing; education in our faith and heritage and that of others unlike ourselves; communicating and advertising; and balancing budgets with programs in these financially challenging times.

o7An appeals court recently ruled on a case involving a prison inmate attempting to hold a study group on atheism and humanism. The court ruled that the Waupun Correctional Institution in Wisconsin violated James Kaufman's 1st Amendment rights when it refused to allow the group to meet. In the opinion, a judge cited the U.S. Supreme Court's recognition of atheism as being equivalent to a "religion," even though the dictionary defines it as "disbelief or denial in the existence of God or gods."

A teacher at OCC for 39 years, Theodore “Ted” Wall gave students the gift of perspective when it came to religion as the world religions teacher and religious studies department chairman. He died Saturday, June 14 of cancer of the bone marrow. He was 86. Formerly a minister in the Methodist church for about 20 years, Wall came to OCC in 1969 to teach religion. Over the years, he developed a style that pushed students to learn about various religions from different angles.

In touting John Roberts as a Supreme Court Justice -- and ultimately Chief Justice -- President Bush said Roberts' religious views should not be used as an issue in his confirmation. However, when Bush promoted Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers last week, he said Miers' evangelical background was a factor in his decision to nominate her. Is it incongruous for Bush to promote the religious views of Miers, while asking the Senate not to consider Roberts' views? Or are they two separate issues?

Filmmaker Andy Deemer is working on a documentary about a New York man starting his own religion. Deemer advertised for people willing to start their own religion and decided to focus on Joshua Boden, a musician whose religion declares that divinity can be found in common moments such as the laughter of a child or fall colors. In his religion no one tells anyone else what to believe and the congregation searches for answers together. Do you think this religion sounds promising or does the whole exercise of documenting a fledgling religion make a mockery of religious faith?

Apparently, some readers used last week’s discussion of the benefits to children of a religious upbringing to tee off on the overall concept of religion, the sex education program in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District and the South. All of these topics can be followed online at the end of the column. There aren’t many topics that can create such a wide variety of opinions. Mention the war in Iraq these days and you’d chat about it for a couple of minutes.

I think Jean Nicholson may have missed the point of my letter of Jan. 1 (Mailbag, Jan. 8). She paints me as "one-sided" and accuses me of giving a negative slant on Christianity and causing confusion with some students. That is certainly not my frame of mind, nor my reputation. Of course, I give both sides in my history class. I personally think Jesus and his teachings are marvelous examples of how we should treat each other, and point this out regularly in class, although I am careful not to impose my religious beliefs on my students.

Boston University professor Steve Prothero has written a book, "Religious Literacy," due out soon that contends that although more than 90% of Americans say they believe in God, just a smattering of them know basic facts about religion. For instance, he said, most people could not name the first five books of the Old Testament. Prothero argues that in today's world it's important that people know more about religion, and he proposes that religion be taught in public schools. Prothero says the classes should aim to educate, not proselytize.

In my work in the interfaith community over nearly 30 years, whenever the subject of religion has come up, I've often heard this comment: "Well, I am not religious, but I am spiritual. " My immediate reaction was to wonder what the speaker meant by that. Was he or she raised in a religious environment but still considered themselves a "good person" after having rejected the teachings of their family's faith? Was that person rejecting "organized religion" generally? Did he or she see some who claimed to be religious as being hypocritical?

As members of the Newport-Mesa-Irvine Interfaith Council Board of Directors, we are appalled at the implied violence found in the graffiti attack on St. Thomas More Roman Catholic Church in Irvine on Jan. 11. A graffiti attack and the implied violence on one religion is an attack on all religions. The freedom of religion, the right to worship or not worship, is a right of all Americans, guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. We affirm our continued support of our Catholic brothers and sisters in Orange County in the Newport-Mesa-Irvine congregations and are especially sorry that such an event took place right here within our three-city community.

Hearing the word "respect," one might be reminded of the late comedian Rodney Dangerfield, who never got any. But, in the real world, callous lack of respect contributes powerfully to inter-ethnic and inter-religious violence and death. I recently received two e-mails that demonstrated how disrespect poisons relations between religions. An extremist Israeli rabbi described non-Jews as "donkeys" whose purpose is to serve Jews. A radical Islamic cleric in Syria characterized Jews as "pigs and monkeys.

Sometimes I wonder what the world would be like if man had never invented religion nor needed a god to believe in. Some think that societies would simply fall apart with no religion to guide them. As it looks from my point of view, religion divides much more that it unites. It might unite small communities in times of trouble or despair, but taking a look at the larger picture, it divides entire cultures — which is much more dangerous than dividing small communities. By examining countries where religion has little consequence to individuals, we can compare societies as if religion nearly does not exist.

Why is Islamophobia sweeping our nation? Cite any poll today about Islam and Muslims in America, and the results are alarming. A recent poll by TIME magazine found that 46% of Americans believe Islam is more likely than other faiths to encourage violence against nonbelievers. And a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll found that 49% of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of the Islamic faith. Every day the level of anti-Islamic and anti-Muslim rhetoric in America is rising proportionally.

Editor's note: This is the first installment of The Daily Pilot's new "On Faith" column, which will appear frequently on the Sunday Forum page. The column, written by a rotating panel of local religious and spiritual leaders or commentators, supplements the In Theory column published on Saturdays. A Dear Abby column asked: "What do you think is society's greatest problem?" A respondent identified "organized religion," saying, "Although most religions espouse kindness, generosity and good works, religion is used more often to divide 'them' from 'us,' and to give people yet another way to discriminate against one another.

COSTA MESA — Separating thin layers of filo dough, buttering each one and stacking them neatly in a tray, with at least three kinds of cheeses in the middle, is by no means an easy job. It takes time. It takes patience. It takes attention to details. But it's how the women of the St. Mary Armenian Apostolic Church in Costa Mesa spent their Wednesday morning. "It's difficult, but we're so happy when we're done," said Sylva Tashjian, one of the members of the St. Mary Ladies Society.

How could the Daily Pilot do a better job of covering religion and spirituality in the Newport-Mesa area? What are some of the local issues or stories about your church, synagogue, mosque or temple that need to be told? Faith communities contribute mightily to life in our area. The Daily Pilot might ask what we do with: hunger and homelessness, hospitals, prisons, schools (public and private), and governmental agencies; welcoming children and families as well as oldsters like me; music in worship; evangelism and proselytizing; education in our faith and heritage and that of others unlike ourselves; communicating and advertising; and balancing budgets with programs in these financially challenging times.

The American public's questions and doubts about President Barack Obama's religion continue to dog him nearly two years after his election. For example, a new poll by the Pew Research Center shows that nearly 1 in 5 Americans believe that Obama is a Muslim, although in fact he is a Christian. According to the Pew survey, the percentage of Americans thinking that he is a Muslim increased from 12% to 18% between March 2008 and August 2010, while the percentage of those thinking that he is a Christian dropped from 47% to 34% during that period.

A female Muslim worker at Disneyland, Imane Boudlal, made headlines by becoming embroiled in a dispute with her employer about whether she could wear her hijab, an Islamic head scarf, to her job as a hostess at the amusement park. Boudlal, who has filed a discrimination complaint against Disneyland, was sent home Tuesday for the eighth time after she rejected a third alternative head covering provided by her employer, according to press reports. Disneyland, which has a strict dress code for its employees, had also reportedly offered Boudlal four other assignments that would have allowed her to wear her hijab.