CLAL Special Features
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Jewish Public Forum Seminar:
“What Is Religion For?”
November 19, 2001
Pre-Seminar
Response
“What Is Religion For?”
By Ari Goldman
I’ve
been grappling with two major issues, both of them educational. One is how to make sense
of what’s happened to my children and the other is for my profession. My three
children range in age from 6 to 17 and each needs his or her own response. While as a
family we’ve worked to keep life going as normally as possible, we’ve discussed
the WTC attack and the US response quite a bit. It finds its way into our homes through
the daily newspaper and through conversations at the dinner table. We’ve talked about
our fears and, frankly, about our plans if things should get worse. Religion has always
played a comforting and centering role in our home and now it seems more important than
ever, whether it’s the Friday night meal, keeping kosher or going to shul. The issues for my profession are different.
One fear I’ve always had about journalism is that it makes observers out of us. We
stand cold-hearted at a disaster and think about what a good story it will make. September 11 has hit American journalists like no
other story—right at home. How important is the journalist? What is the
reporter’s role? How best to tell the story? Do you describe the horror, the triumph,
the heroism, the evil? How do you keep all these in balance? What is the line between
reporting and patriotism? Are they “our troops” or “US troops”? In a
time when health and social service professionals—doctors, shrinks, nurses, social
workers and even construction workers—are the true heroes, what is the role of
journalists? Are we making things better or worse through our work? I wonder too about my
particular role as a religion writer. How do I describe Islam? What do I have to say about
fundamentalists in Christianity and Judaism? Again, in a time when I want to help (is that
a good instinct?), am I helping or hurting?
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