CREEDE HINSHAW: Getting off to a fresh start

I have a folder bulging with ideas for religion columns. In the spirit of January’s fresh start, I’m tossing the entire pile of yellowing clippings that yielded no columns. Here are a few of them:

Persecuted Middle East Christians: I could have written on this topic weekly. Christians in the Middle East are being decimated in almost every nation. One hardly knows how to respond or to frame this story because Muslim atrocities against fellow Muslims are equally heinous.

An Obscure Pilgrimage: The urge for pilgrimage runs strong. Last summer, for the first time since 1962, devout Buddhist pilgrims were allowed to enter Tibet from India to worship at sacred Mount Kailash. A report described the event as the trip of a lifetime for the devotees, who were cautioned against mentioning the Dalai Lama out loud because it would offend the Chinese government.

Presidential Piety: I have added to my book list (also needs winnowing) Gary Scott Smith’s “Religion in the Oval Office” (2015, Oxford Press, 647 pages). Probably good background reading in this presidential election year.

Germans Love Sunday: The German constitution protects Sundays and other state-approved holidays from commercial encroachment and labor. Churches and labor unions strive to protect this observance. The German word sonntagsruhe, (Sunday rest) is taken more seriously in Germany than in the Bible belt. Maybe Merkel could make it happen in Georgia.

Brazilian Surfing Angel: Recent unrest in Brazil overshadows last year’s story describing how the Catholic Church is considering elevating Guido Schaffer to sainthood. This Brazilian priest witnessed on beaches and waves with his surfboard. His mentor said, “For Guido, surfing was a mystical experience, like prayer. He felt the presence of God in the sea.”

Muslims Condemn Radical Islam: I could have written on this weekly, too. In February 2015, the head of Sunni Islam’s most esteemed center of learning condemned “corrupt interpretations” of the Quran and Islam for leading to the atrocity and brutality of ISIS. The real story is that nobody pays attention to these announcements.

A Russian Orthodox Priest: A Wall Street Journal editorial (Jan. 2, 2015) called Russian Orthodox priest Gleb Yakunin (died Dec. 25, 2014) “one of the last of a generation of dissidents who helped bring about the downfall of Communism.” Sentenced to five years in a labor camp, he responded, “I rejoice that the Lord has sent me to this test; as a Christian I accept it gladly.” His own church later stripped him of ordination because he was elected to political office.

I also intended to reflect on why the Sisters of Charity filed a shareholder proposal at the Bank of America, how one defines a Jew, the strength of the emerging Chinese church, a Muslim’s frustrating effort to save a Syrian synagogue from destruction and whether it matters what presidential aspirant Ben Carson believes about the eternal fires of hell, but the subject of religion is inexhaustible.

Email columnist Creede Hinshaw at [email protected].