Sunday, September 09, 2007

Jesus

..for his name sake we will suffer, we DO suffer. Maybe suffering is a dramatic word for here in Canada but yet we do suffer in small ways.
I was recently interviewed (via e-mail) in regards to some volunteering I do and when asked why I started volunteering, my answer included the name of Jesus...it went like this, "
There are so many reasons I volunteer but I know that the root of them all is in my relationship with Jesus. Because I want to spread His love around so others will know it too."
Since I was e-mailing my responses I had time to think and review, I liked that. Though when the reporter got my reply I was called and asked to reconsider that answer because she suspected that it(the part where I mention Jesus) would not pass the editor. -Maybe I should substitute faith or religion instead of the whole sentence about Jesus.- ... I declined on the reconsideration, I wrote Jesus, not Faith, religion or Christianity for a very specific reason and thus that was the answer i gave. The reporter accepted that and passed it on to the editor but what do you know, last week I got the article and the editor edited out that part of my response. Now sure Media is media, they have the liberty to select what they put in the article, but you see this entire article was typed up word for word... reporter question, my answer, reporter question, my answer, and those two sentences had to go because of the name of Jesus.
so many questions roam in my brain.
Does our country really have freedom of religion?
Can the media not even report simple sentences that are authentic and true to me?
What can i do?
Should I do something?
Is this really a big deal?
What are your thoughts?

3 comments:

Cam said...

My opinion.

You made your stand, and you clearly and consciously decided that it was Jesus that was the reason, not faith. You were challenged, and you stood your ground for Jesus. In my mind, that makes the outcome (what was actually published) irrelevant. God was in control, and in my world view, as long as we stand our ground, and have our answer ready, God handles the outcomes.

Having said that, often a short, well thought out letter to the editor is given more lattitude. They are willing to print more "radical" thoughts there. If it is truely on your heart to complete the story, this might be an avenue to use. Perhaps you could mention you were given the option to rephrase your answer, but you felt it important to be truthful and accurate. I dunno.

Anonymous said...

Cindy, I think you did the right thing. You took your stand! When we were interviewed during Abby's leukemia by CBC TV. They did sorta the same thing. They wanted us to give credit to these puppets (Abby was allowed to play with them & do needles on them & shown with them what was going to happen to her regarding lumbar punctures etc.) That they were the reason Abby was getting through her treatments. We kept saying it was through prayer & God that she was being helped. They could not except that. We hope we have reached these reporters & doctors, nurses, etc. through our strong belief. I mean we sang Jesus Loves Me through alot of procedures!

Sister C said...

Thanks for your comments.

I would like to write a letter but likely I will just let it go.