WHAT'S THE BIGGEST THREAT?

"We Close With A Reminder that anthrax is not the biggest threat to America now; panic is. We're at war. Evil forces, dedicated to our destruction, are conducting psychological warfare against us, whether the new anthrax cases are part of it or not. Against this, we know we must fight hard and smart. We can begin by refusing to give in to fear and rumors and by making tomorrow's watchwords, 'Steady, don't panic.'"

Dan Rather
48 Hours
October 12, 2001

New Yorkers pray together

In A Sentinel Interview, Bob Abernethy, host of Public Television's Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, talked about a Sunday service he'd attended at St. Bartholomew's Church on Park Avenue, New York City, shortly after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

"I've never seen anything like it.... This gathering, at which there was standing room only, told a lot about what is going on in this country right now. At one level there is an enormous searching for comfort, for meaning. At another level, a really heartfelt concern about how people of goodwill [among many faith traditions] can speak out effectively against the radical, dangerous extremes.... You see in the response of so many people at the ordinary level, the depth and importance of religious belief and practice in this country."

'Teaching Tolerance'

"I Am Trying to change the world one classroom at a time," says social studies teacher Bob Behnke, whose school has adopted the Teaching Tolerance curriculum developed by the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Alabama. Adapting the curriculum to their needs, teachers at White Lake Middle School in Michigan report a drop in classroom tension and suspensions. Peer mediation and classroom sessions, they say, are enabling them to support diversity, justice, and tolerance.

The school's principal, Paul Gmelin, observes, "The more things you can do to bring peace and harmony to the kids, the more they will pick it up."

Reported by Lilly A. Evans
"School works to cut violence"
The Detroit News March 26, 2001

An urgent need

"Sadly, We Americans, in the midst of our plenty and abundance, have now experienced what much of the world too frequently experiences on a routine basis. But right now, it is not sensitive to talk about the reasons or the causes. When people are wounded, they don't need prophecy. They need healing. Let's pray for those who have been wounded. Let's pray, grieve, and mourn with those who have lost loved ones. Let's engage in a season of pastoral healing."

Rev. Eugene Rivers, pastor of the Azusa Christian Community Center in Boston, in conversation with the Sentinel during the Religion Newswriters Association's annual conference. He is founder of the "Ten-Point Coalition," which helps to care for young people in tough neighborhoods.

Protests for peace

"We Are Beginning to see a coming together of people and organizations in the United States for a new nonviolence campaign," reports Jim Wallis in Sojourners magazine. "Jews United for a Just Peace, or 'Junity,' had its first conference in May. A new effort, Olive Tree Summer, sent North American Jews and others to the Middle East this summer for a series of highprofile protest activities."

The magazine also mentioned two other groups working for peace there: Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), a program of the Mennonite and Church of the Brethren Congregations and Friends Meetings. It trains small groups of Christians to work "on the ground" using nonviolent methods.

Rabbis for Human Rights includes over 90 Reform, Orthodox, Conservative, and Reconstructionist rabbis and students. They track and protest human rights abuses by the Israeli military, and reject violence on all sides.

"Against Impossible Odds"
September–October 2001

NO LONGER BANNED IN BOSTON?

HEALED BY WHAT HE PREACHES

Well-known Gospel Music Star Donnie McClurkin had successfully overcome a childhood that included sexual abuse, and his career was flourishing. Then he was diagnosed with leukemia. Instead of following the medical regimen outlined by his doctor, he chose another route.

"I tell people to believe that God will save you," he says, "[and] I had to turn around and practice the very thing that I preached."

He admits that he wanted a miracle, and so he prayed with a minister, as well as on his own. At his next monthly visit to the doctor who was monitoring his condition, he was better. The symptoms were present for about another month, and then they disappeared.

"God healed me without any chemotherapy," McClurkin says. "Whenever something like that happens, it's amazing."

"How Donnie McClurkin Overcame Rape, Sexual Abuse,
and Leukemia Scare to Become a Gospel Music star"

Reported by Ebony
August 2001