
By: Don Martin
Re: HolySmoke on the local level

    Here in Columbia, the local hospital does an annual
"Symphony of Lights" as a fund-raiser in Symphony Woods, a
municipal park. Our local newspaper, the Columbia Flier
carried a letter from a local Baptist minister bemoaning the
lack of any religious content in the affair--God knows, he's
been trying to get some in, but the hospital administration
has been declining his offer.

    So in my own letter to the editor, I said:

    As newcomers to Columbia, we had never heard of Howard
    County General Hospital's "Symphony of Lights," much
    less seen it before taking our visiting kids and
    grandson through in late November. We were surprised and
    delighted at the show: it is charming, witty, and
    well-executed. Son and daughter-in-law from Chicago had
    never seen anything like it, nor had we, and we all
    agreed that it was an excellent value at $12 per car.
    Long may it prosper, and long may it raise money for the
    Hospital. We plan on going next year.

    I see that our delight was not shared by Dr. Edward E.
    Simpson, Pastor of the Harvester Baptist Church, whose
    letter in the Flier of December 12 expresses his dismay
    that the Symphony lacked any promotion of his faith. He
    is confused that the Hospital should show such
    sensitivity "to the perhaps 1-2% of the population that
    would be offended by a religious display," whose
    sensitivities he is apparently quite willing to ignore.

    Whence the confusion? The Hospital would appear to be a
    County one, judging by its name. There to serve all the
    people, it is not showing particular sensitivity to some
    1-2% by refusing to favor the beliefs of any particular
    faith, but rather showing its general sensitivity to all
    faiths (and lacks thereof) within the secular society we
    all share. Were it a Catholic hospital or a Jewish one,
    the show would doubtless contain some religious display
    of the faiths involved (and probably experience a
    reduced number of non-Catholics or non-Jews paying
    admissions), but it is not: it quite properly composes
    its Symphony as Victor Herbert would, and not as Antonio
    Vivaldi or Ernest Bloch might.

    Personally, I would not feel my $12 to be as well spent
    if the show had included religious messages of faiths
    not my own, and I would be less likely to return the
    next year. Yet I can understand the need on the part of
    the various religions to get themselves noticed by the
    general public: theirs is, after all, a public relations
    activity dependent upon attracting both converts and
    favorable notice. A compromise is certainly possible for
    churches to get their messages into a secular setting.

    Let them subsidize admissions. While I might fret at
    spending $12 to endure some proselytization, getting a
    spot of it at $11.50 per car would be fine. Two spots,
    Catholic and Jewish, at $11 would remain a good value.
    As with advertising in all secular media, it must remain
    open to all, and can have the effect (as with the Flier
    itself) of paying for the whole show as all the faiths
    compete for attention. Imagine how the Hospital would
    benefit if everyone could get in for free! The Symphony
    would be bumper-to-bumper from dusk to dawn.

    Columbia appears to have a considerable Indian
    population: with their numerous deities and sumptuous
    artistic tradition, I should expect many visual delights
    from that segment alone. Should any classical pagans
    have found their way here, the activities of Zeus,
    Aphrodite, Dionysus, et al. would lend themselves to
    arresting animated displays, and The Green Man of the
    Wiccans can be as impressive in its way as a Great
    Buddha in its.

    The County Hospital would naturally retain artistic
    control over the show, but I would recommend that, for
    fairness, the County Department of Public Works be
    responsible for billing the respective churches: that
    Department possesses the accurate traffic-counting
    devices.


... Through a Jaundiced Eye Darkly--Rheum With a View
               (don.martin@mbbs.com)

 * Origin: Nerve Center - Source of the SPINAL_INJURY echo! (1:261/1000)

