CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – I know two people who work for religious broadcasters. Sometimes I envy them. Being able to openly talk about faith and being able to change listeners’ lives seems very rewarding.
Granted, they are broadcasting to a much smaller audience than I am. Christian broadcasting listenership is small but growing. I’m sure their success is not measured in ratings points but in souls saved.
Yet most religious broadcasters have strict codes of conduct for their onair staff, often going beyond the teachings of the Bible. I know of one Christian broadcasting group that prohibits staff from drinking or gambling. I understand that having your morning host drunk in a bar or at the blackjack table at the casino is incompatible with the broadcasters’ message. But is taking communion with wine a violation? Is helping out at bingo night at your diocese forbidden?
The jewish faith allows any male who reaches 13 and is proficient in Hebrew to read and interpret the holy scrolls in synagogue. The rabbi may moderate the discussion, but the faith is shaped by the Talmud – the consensus that jews have reached over centuries of discussions about their faith.
Christianity is different. Our new testament is full of specific commands from Christ, many of which are so direct and so simple that they leave little room for interpretation. But I like the Jewish approach. People of the same religious traditions discuss the social expectations of their faith. If that seems chaotic, consider these two points. It is the various Christian denominations that have splintered and have very different religious practices, and Jewish congregations that barely know of one another’s existence have come to very similar conclusions about their faith.
Chris Conley
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