wfn.org | Spiritual response to terror: will it last?

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ecunet.org>]

Note #6874 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

02-October-2001
01358

Spiritual response to terror: will it last?

Religion has played a major role in the healing ... so far

by David Briggs
Religion News Service
    
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Choristers in red and black robes stand erect as they
sing hymns that resonate across the elaborate wood-carved pews with the
Harvard coat of arms embedded in the sides.

	The daily prayer service has been a fixture at the Ivy League school since
its founding in 1636. What is unusual on this Tuesday morning is that the
pews of Appleton Chapel are full of people singing the centuries-old song
"Put Thou Thy Trust in God."

	If there are places where America's departure from its religious heritage
is especially striking, it is at schools such as Harvard and Yale,
institutions that started as training ground for clergy and are now among
the most secular universities in the nation.

	But in the last three weeks, in settings across the country, religion has
played a major role in the healing from terrorist attacks that slaughtered
thousands on U.S. soil. Churches, mosques and synagogues have seen crowds
normally associated only with major holy days.

	"Physically, mentally, spiritually, we all feel battered," Harvey Cox,
author of Religion in the Secular City, said in remarks at a conference on
religion and healing at Harvard.

	But what will be the long-term impact of this sudden flowering of public
religious expression?

	Some see a lot of good coming out of the spiritual response: a new
sensitivity toward Islam, a national sense of togetherness that transcends
racial and ethnic boundaries, perhaps even the dawn of a major religious
event in America.

	Sociologist and pollster George Gallup Jr. said a number of religious
indicators, including church attendance and Bible study, were already on the
rise. The response to the attacks will build that momentum and "may lead to
a spiritual transformation in this country, maybe even a spiritual revival,"
he said.

	Others express concern - particularly after Jerry Falwell's remarks
indicating organizations from gay?rights groups to the American Civil
Liberties Union may have influenced God to allow the attacks on America -
that quick religious answers may scapegoat groups with differing
philosophies.

	There is also concern that the combination of patriotism and religion may
give a faith-based imprimatur to an intemperate military response.

	"We have an obligation as clergy to be careful ... of vengeance," Boston
Cardinal Bernard Law told the annual meeting of the Religion Newswriters
Association. "That's beneath us."

	What is not in dispute is that the nation has turned in much greater
numbers to houses of worship and organized religion.

	"I need to recognize the fact faith has been awakened in an unprecedented
way in my experience," Law said.

	Cox, a Harvard professor of religious studies, said churches and synagogues
have never been so full. In an age when commercial interests often seem
paramount, "there's still a very, very vital spiritual core," he said.

	Gallup said already some people are referring to events as "BT," before
Tuesday, and "AT," after Tuesday.

	"We need each other. We need to share our stories," he said. "It's the
spiritual response in the long run that's really important."

	Unlike the aftermath of Oklahoma City, when some were quick to blame
Arab-Americans and slow to express repentance for acts of harassment, many
have been careful in the last two weeks to distinguish between the
terrorists and the majority of followers of Islam.

	Robert Orsi, a professor of American religious history at Harvard, said if
there is one thing to feel good about in recent days it is the sensitivity
paid to Muslims and Arab-Americans. Even as a nation prepares for war, the
president takes time to visit a mosque and make clear his belief in the
loyalty of Arab-Americans.

	"It's remarkable," he said.

	Sociologist David Roozen of Hartford Seminary said if the Carter presidency
marked the official acceptance of the evangelical, the Bush presidency may
be "marking the official acknowledgment of the Islamic presence in American
society."

	Shared sorrow has caused the nation to transcend other barriers, as well.

	In its public expression of grief, it is also significant that the recent
service at Yankee Stadium was led by Oprah Winfrey, with actor James Earl
Jones playing a prominent role, said Stephanie Mitchum, a professor of
religious studies at the University of Detroit, Mercy.

	"In a very sad way, the events of Sept. 11 have brought African-Americans
and white Americans closer," she said.

	Anthropologist Edith Turner, a senior fellow at the Center for the Study of
World Religions at Harvard, said it is a good thing people are seeking
healing in community services.

	They need that, and the country will benefit, she said.

	"I think all this getting together is absolutely vital, even with the
flag-waving," she said. "If they get together, they see each other as human
beings, and eventually they have to see people overseas as human beings."
------------------------------------------
Send your response to this article to pcusa.news@pcusa.org

------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send an 'unsubscribe' request to

pcusanews-request@halak.pcusa.org