Good Valentines Article … that doesn’t qualify

I found this Valentine’s Day article/blog through my Google Reader, written by Joe Rodriguez, titled, “Hearts, flowers and faith,” published in on the Wichita Eagle website (www.Kansas.com). It takes a different bead on the relationship of love and faith by interviewing a series of couples, whose video interviews are intermingled with the story’s text.

Rodriguez writes:

Valentine's Day conjures up familiar images for most of us. Cards, cupids, flowers and candy. But today is also a day when many couples celebrate their long-lasting commitments to each other.

For them, love means marriage, and marriage means a lifetime together, often rooted in a common faith.

Five longtime married couples share the importance of faith in their relationship.

Each talked about the difficulties and challenges they have faced.

But their faith, they say, has been a foundation for their love, and a key to the success of their marriages.
Read more>>

Rodriguez goes on to summarize the testimonies of the five couples he interviewed. His approach provides an excellent telling of personal faith stories independent of himself as the writer, and this tends to have a greater impact on readers. It also gives the writer an opportunity to reinforce his central point with scripture by quoting one of the interviewees sharing a biblical quote.

Unfortunately, I didn’t see where one of Rodriguez’s interviewees provided him with that opportunity, so this well written article does not qualify for the Amy Writing Awards.

I am going to email Joe and see if he does have other articles that meet the Amy Writing Award entry requirements. In the meantime, Joe, keep up the good work!

Fighting words …

Andy Coghlan’s blog post, “Vatican backs Darwin, dumps creationism” (2/11/09) on the Short Sharp Science blog from NewScientist, doesn’t qualify for the Amy Writing Awards, but I am sure the subject of the provocative post will generate more than a few qualifying entries.

Coghlan writes:

"What we mean by evolution is the world as created by God."

Did I say this? No. It was reportedly said on Tuesday by none other than Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, head of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Culture. In effect, the Roman Catholic Church, the dominant Christian faith, is saying that Darwin's theory of evolution is compatible with Christian faith.

After all these years, even the Pope and his pals are on-message, Darwin-wise. At least the admission came a bit sooner than for poor old Galileo, but better late than never.
Read more>>

The pivotal point of Coghlan’s post is his indication that the Vatican is throwing an Origin of the Species anniversary party and letting creationists and “intelligent design” advocates know they aren’t invited.

I’m not sure where Coghlan comes down on questions of personal faith, but it’s clear he’s happy to see the Vatican side with evolution. I can only imagine the interest and opinion writing this will generate. My hope is, like Coghlan’s blog post, the conversation remains passionate, yet civil without name-calling or condemnation.

This presents thoughtful writers with plenty of opportunity to eloquently share their thoughts, their faith, and smartly reinforce their arguments with scripture, and the Amy Writing Awards will be better for it.

Get writing.