Religion and Ethics Newsweekly

Television Review

WTTW-TV (Channel 11), Chicago’s primary PBS station, has a weekly TV show that you may find interesting. Entitled Religion and Ethics Newsweekly this half- hour show focuses on news and in-depth reporting of issues related to religion and ethics around the world. It airs at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday morning.

The thing that this reviewer finds so interesting is the show’s balanced reporting of stories concerning both Judeo-Christian and non-Judeo-Christian news and developments. One recent program included a story about Muslims in Pakistan during the nuclear arms controversy, non-Jews living in Israel during Israel’s 50th anniversary, and coverage of a recent trip to the US by the Dalai Lama.

The story about the Dalai Lama raised some interesting issues relative to Buddhism’s adherence to non-violence and compassion, compared to the fact that many younger Tibetans feel that non-violence is not having any influence on the Chinese Communist government.

In an interesting sound-bite, the Dalai Lama discussed the dilemma he’s facing as both a spiritual and a political leader—two agendas with seemingly very different paths. Neither he nor the show presented any easy answers to this difficult problem.

Several weeks ago, another edition of Religion and Ethics Newsweekly aired an in-depth exploration of a phenomenon, which has been covered in the Heartland Sangha’s newsletter, Sangha Notes: American Jews being drawn to Buddhism. In this TV report, American Buddhists of both Jewish and non-Jewish backgrounds were interviewed, and they discussed how and why Buddhism fits into their lives.

During the course of the report, the show made clear that practicing Buddhism does not require his or her “original” religion. The story ended with a surprising interview with an academic scholar who pointed out something so obvious, I forgot it myself. Although most of the report spoke of the natural harmony between the Jewish and Buddhist religions, this scholar wondered how practitioners could reconcile a most fundamental point of difference: Judaism is a monotheistic religion, and Buddhism is a non-theistic religion. Again, the show offered no quick, resolution to this apparent paradox, leaving it up to the viewer to ponder on his or her own.

In a world which seems to have little time for the spiritual aspects of life, it’s refreshing to see a polished, professional half-hour national TV show on this exact subject. I recommend it. And if you don’t happen to be sitting at home watching TV on Sunday mornings...that’s what VCRs are for!