Do a Good Deed This Week by Donating to the Work of These Remarkable Students!

THE BIAS BUSTERS TEAM CONFRONTS BIGOTRY WITH TRUTH

AS A PUBLISHING HOUSE, the Michigan State University School of Journalism Bias Busters project is one of our proudest accomplishments. Working with our long-time colleague MSU Professor Joe Grimm, we have helped a long list of MSU Journalism students research, write and publish 18 Bias Busters guides to understanding ethnic, racial, religious and gender minorities. Please, make a donation. The MSU giving interface also allows you to give your gift in honor or memory of someone you love.

This is a rare request from our publishing house team. Every Monday for 14 years, a new issue of our online magazine always has been free of charge—and will continue to be so—but today we urge our readers to mark Giving Tuesday 2021 with a donation to this important cause, the ongoing work of the MSU Bias Busters. Please follow this link—where you will learn more about the project in text and video—and can make your donation. You also can help this effort by pasting this link into your own social media or emails this week: https://givingto.msu.edu/crowdpower/support-bias-buster-guides

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From Our Writers

Bill Tammeus

Remembering Two American Tragedies

JOURNALIST Bill Tammeus is one of the nation’s most thoughtful writers about faith and American values. He is the author of Love, Loss and Endurance. Plus, he regularly writes online columns—including two in recent days that offer fresh perspectives on American tragedies. The first looks ahead to January 6 and asks: How should we commemorate the anniversary of Jan. 6? The second recalls a tragedy from 40 years ago, one that still sends chills up the spines of anyone who recalls the headlines that day. He headlines this column: Forty years later, a hard lesson in ethical behavior. Please, consider supporting Bill’s work—and enrich your own spiritual reflections—by ordering and reading a copy of Bill’s Love, Loss and Endurance. Then, share some of Bill’s wisdom with friends.

And, from Mindy Corporon

One Answer to Questions Bill Tammeus Poses

OUR AUTHORS share with us the hope that our collective work in media can help make the world a better place. One of those very active authors and public speakers is Mindy Corporon, whose memoir is Healing a Shattered Soul. Mindy’s current Podcast episode seems to provide one response to the troubling questions Bill raises in his two columns (linked above). Mindy headlines this podcast: Change Your Narrative with Knowledge, and her special guest for this audio conversation is Jiao Jiao Shen.

Care to learn more about Mindy’s work across many forms of media? Visit her home online for her ongoing series of podcasts and, while you’re there, click on links to follow Mindy on social media, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Linked-in.

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Maj. Gen. James Dozier

40th Anniversary of His Kidnapping

THIS YEAR is the 40th anniversary of the kidnapping of Major General James Dozier, who survived that ordeal by Italian terrorists and wrote a memoir to highlight the spiritual and moral values that have sustained him throughout his long life. His memoir is called Finding My Pole Star. Then, as the anniversary of that international incident approaches, news reporters are looking back at Dozier’s life. Here is one news-profile of Dozier, headlined simply: Story of Service.

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Holidays & Festivals

Happy Hanukkah!

Hanukkah runs until December 6, this year. Rabbi Lenore Bohm writes about a challenge millions of families  share as we approach the year-end holidays: How do we rediscover the meaning of these festivals beneath the weight of the holiday industry? Please read her column and share it with friends.

And, Books to Guide Your Reflections

As you read Rabbi Bohm’s column, you will discover that the powerful themes she lifts up are challenges faced by millions of families all year ’round. In our Front Edge Publishing column, Susan Stitt recommends some inspiring books to help guide your reflections. Please, take a moment to check out Susan’s column as well—and share it with friends on social media.

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Christmas Is Coming

Are You Ready for St. Nicholas Day?

ON MONDAY, DECEMBER 6, the man behind our beloved Santa Claus stories—St. Nicholas or Sinterklas or San Nicola—will be celebrated by Christians around the world. Our Holidays & Festivals columnist Stephanie Fenton reports on this festival, which a growing number of American Christian families are celebrating as a religious antidote to the commercialization of the Christmas holiday.

STEPHANIE ALSO REPORTS ON the start of the Western Christian Advent season, this year, on November 28. She includes a link to making a DIY Advent wreath with candles for each Sunday of Advent.

AND, she reports as well on the start of the Eastern Orthodox Nativity Fast, the traditional period of preparing for Christmas, which began even before American Thanksgiving this year.

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WANT TO SEE ALL THE UPCOMING HOLIDAYS & FESTIVALS?—It’s easy to find our annual calendar of global observances. Just visit  InterfaithHolidays.com

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Faith & Film

ED McNULTY, for decades, has published reviews, magazine articles and books exploring connections between faith and film. Most of his work is freely published. Ed supports his work by selling the Visual Parables Journal, a monthly magazine packed with discussion guides to films. This resource is used coast-to-coast by individuals who love the movies and by educators, clergy and small-group leaders.

THIS WEEK, Ed McNulty also adapted his coverage of the thought-provoking film Sons and Daughters of Thunder for the audience at the Presbyterian Church-USA’s international website, focusing on how the film’s themes of racial justice are directly connected to Presbyterians.

Among Ed’s free reviews and columns:

1. TED LASSO—In this new column, Ed does what he does best: Draw parallels between pop culture and our spiritual traditions. In this case, Ed writes about how the popular TV series Ted Lasso could be enjoyed as a series of illustrations of Jesus’ Beatitudes.
2. TICK, TICK … BOOM—Lin-Manuel Miranda directs Steven Levenson’s adaptation of the autobiographical one-man stage show by Rent writer Jonathan Larson.
3. FINCH—Ed writes, “If Tom Hanks and a volley ball can hold our attention in Castaway, then how much more will this be so when you replace his buddy ‘Wilson’ with a cute dog named Goodyear and a sentient robot? Be prepared to laugh and cry while watching this dystopian film.”
4. MIDNIGHT MASS—Ed writes, “Director Mike Flanagan’s 7-part horror series is a bloody but fascinating tale of misplaced faith, heroism and sacrifice that provides plenty of food for thought and discussion, even if it fizzles out a bit with the director/writer’s pantheistic view over-riding the Christian faith of the story’s characters. I was intrigued that a Biblical book is used for the name of each episode.”
5. KING RICHARD—Ed gives 5 stars to this film that focuses on the father behind the Williams sisters’ careers in tennis.
6. CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG—Ed writes, “Based on beloved Scholastic book characters, this new adventure films will be enjoyed by families looking for nonviolent but exciting entertainment.”
7. BELFAST—”Director/writer Kenneth Branagh joins a long line of filmmakers who find rich treasure in mining their childhood experiences.
8. THE FRENCH DISPATCH—”The director of The Grand Budapest Hotel is back, and with another film even more quirky that serves as an homage to The New Yorker Magazine.”
9. THE HERO—Ed urges fans of the venerable Sam Elliott not to miss this film.
10. NO TIME TO DIE—While Ed is ambivalent about the violence and overall message of the latest Bond thriller, he does heartily recommend that viewers read Benjamin Pratt’s book about Ian Fleming and James Bond. Use this link to read Ed’s review of No Time to Die.

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