Fighting for faith

My mother, Jeanne Marie Froetschel, was my role model for approaching other religions and respecting others' beliefs.

I remembered her wisdom this morning and wrote about her for On Faith blog of The Washington Post, after reading about about ads suggesting that the beliefs of 1 billion Muslims might not be civilized:

"Early in first grade, one of the nuns advised our class not to associate with children who attended other schools and believed other religions. My teacher, a younger nun, looked uncomfortable and quickly changed the topic.

"Later that day, I asked my mother about playing with friends who worshipped at other churches.

"'Playing with other friends won’t change your beliefs,' my mother said. She was beautiful, devout and confident that her children knew right from wrong at an early age."

The ads are immature. The competition is unseemly. Great religions, great thoughts, do not have to advertise or insult the beliefs of others. Religious leaders shouldn't limit what adherents read or whom they associate with. Committing violence against nonbelievers does not convince others that a set of religious beliefs is worthy. 

The guest blog concludes, "Ruthless, mean competition for adherents and power, insults and violence, give reason to Americans to distance themselves from religion and explore spirituality alone or among a diverse and comfortable group of friends."

Photo of Jeanne Marie Froetschel
 

Exclusion

Exclusion goes hand in hand with religions and fraternities.

Excellent analysis from Sophie Gould of Yale Daily News: "Though Yale’s newest fraternity Beta Upsilon Chi (BYX) has announced a policy of admitting only Christians, it will have to change its membership rules if it intends to comply with Yale’s anti-discrimination policies."

But rush week isn't first-come, first-serve. It's about discrimination. 

Photo of Harkness Tower on High Street, nestled between Saybrook and Branford residential colleges, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. 

Stories

Publicity doesn’t have to be a chore. Instead, authors need to turn to what they do best – tell a story, shedding light on the motivations and purpose behind their work. Every stage of publishing the book – from telling the story to attracting an agent and publisher, hiring a publicist, posing for  photos, answering questions from journalists or fans, running workshops, sending out messages on social media – should include storytelling devices. 

Stories of characters in a book probably connect with stories from the author’s life – and authors can’t help but remember moments that triggered the tale.  So, more work has probably been accomplished than the author realizes.

Every communication from an author can unleash back story:

• Books typically have several themes, and authors should have strong opinions on those themes.  If those themes connect with current events, then draft 500 words – opinion essays, book reviews, feature articles and blog entries for newspapers or television – presenting a perspective drawing on anecdotes from real life or the novel itself. Such expertise leads to speaking engagements and opportunity to tell more stories.   
•   For profiles or interviews, be prepared to answer the question, “How did you get the idea of this book?” Nicholas Sparks tells that story on his website. And there’s the story behind ideas and their process: Greg Breeding describes the story behind Bono’s song, “One,” in an article for Story Matters, an online magazine from design and publishing firm Journey.  “Great ideas do seem to come out of nowhere, but then again, the intentional push against mediocrity is the rich soil where excellence takes root,” he writes. “Hard work doesn’t necessarily produce greatness, but it’s hard to imagine that the really great ideas come without it.”
• Linking articles connected to book themes on an author’s website can attract invitations to write or speak.
• Images can relay stories and increase curiosity. Categories, captions and photos in Pinterest can reveal how an author selects details. Even a quick brief clip of a workshop, posted on YouTube, can introduce an author’s attitude.  
• Communications – enchanting, intriguing, instructive or funny – should be concise, focused on one of the book’s theme.  Twitter posts, long conversations or stand-alones, can relay a story and raise suspense. Tweets that read like poetry or moments of weakness, blasting a critic’s review, do attract notice.
• Take advantage of read-made social media for storytelling and control the story on LibraryThing, Goodreads or Facebook Timeline.  
•  No author is going to be an expert at every facet of publicity. Don’t panic. Jacket Copy from The Los Angeles Times gives the best advice – make it fun.

      One huge difference between drafting story for novels versus publicity is timing. Deadlines loom for publicity. Copy must be submitted quickly. There’s less time or tolerance for a bad first draft. Writers must be spontaneous, coherent and insightful for social media and any type of interview. Practice helps.

Photo of Afghan students participate in online discussion about traditional stories, courtesy of US State Department and Wikimedia Commons. 

Harvest

Some see work. Others see sweeping waves of golden beauty ....

Moisson en Provence, or Harvest in Provence, by Vincent Van Gogh, currently housed in the Israel Museum

Photo, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Women who murder

"Forced marriages are at the root of many of the murders committed by women in Afghanistan," reports Sohaila Weda Khamosh for Inter Press Service News Agency. "The number of Afghan women being jailed for murder has been increasing every year, officials say. More than a quarter of the 700 women in prison are serving murder sentences."

Poverty, forced marriages, inequality and narcotics abuse contribute to the violence.

The women in Fear of Beauty, though, are comfortable with arranged marriages: "Our village, like others, had a tradition of sending women to other communities for marriage. The groom provided gifts, based on a daughter’s beauty and skill, in exchange for a bride, and paid for the wedding. The system worked and kept families stable. Sending us off alone, to adjust in far-off villages, increased a young woman’s dependence on her husband. The system reduced gossip about the prices paid for women, and men understood from the start that the women of their own village were out of reach."

Perhaps the mothers of sons are more comfortable with arranged marriages than the mothers of daughters.

Troop Scoop reports on US efforts to improve prisons in Afghanistan, including Zabul Prison, and establish a consistent and fair system for the rule of law: 

“'The Rule of Law project is central to a safe and secure Zabul,' said 2SCR trial prosecutor, Capt. Harrison Kennedy, about a delivery of basic supplies to Zabul Prison to equip guards and improve living conditions for prisoners. Whether it's providing blankets for inmates or forensic training for judicial prosecutors, the Rule of Law program is making great strides in helping the GoA establish a justice system that ensures the rights for the people of Afghanistan."

Photo of a security assignment outside Zabul Prison, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and US Staff Sargent Brian Ferguson. 

Publicity machine

There's no such thing as bad publicity. And extremists in the Arab world were driving the publicity train for The Innocence of Muslims.

"Publicists could not have generated more curiosity for The Innocence of Muslims, ensuring universal viewing." - From YaleGlobal about the powerful essay in The Wall Street Journal from Husain Haqqani, professor of international relations and former Pakistani ambassador to the United States.

Connected

Protests in Cairo over a film trailer, The Innocence of Muslims, originally called Desert Warriors, represent but a fraction of Egyptians, the vast majority who continue to go about their daily lives. Journalist Ethar El-Katatney provided perspective this morning on UP with Chris Hayes. Protests were reported in 23 nations, each fueled by varying sources of anger, the foolish anti-Muslim film serving as an excuse in many cases.

The protests are scattered and fragmented.

On the other hand, the vast majority of people in the United States, the third most populous country in the world, are puzzled, not prepared to fear and resent 1 billion Muslims.

Likewise, most Americans are not ready to dispense with freedom of expression. It may be difficult for other cultures to reconcile, but  most Americans both support peaceful protests that blast the US in Egypt and Libya and Yemen and beyond, as well as a mean, self-centered, biased filmmaker's right to make a film and, as writer Oscar Wilde once said, make an ass out of himself. Violence is wrong, freedom of expression is open to all. The nation's first president, George Washington, said in a speech to officers in 1783, “If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.”

Protesters can walk on the US flag, and this makes Americans stronger.


Photo courtesy of Mohamed CJ and Wikimedia Commons.