This fall series on 'The Search for Wisdom: Opportunities and Obstacles iin Today's Media Climate, Technologies'

Given that modern society is overwhelmed with information and opinion, through traditional mass media and the internet, but often lacks the framework for understanding how to sort it out, The Fig Tree is planning a community dialogue on “The Search for Wisdom” at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 21, at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. John, 127 E. 12th.

Steve Blewett helps organize dialogue on faith and media.

As part of its Faith in Action Dialogue, the program will invite congregations, community groups and media help recruit groups of eight and engage them in table discussions.

“In reporting on issues, modern mass media generally avoid seeking perspectives from faith communities in their coverage of issues,” said organizer and moderator Steve Blewett.

Steve is a member of The Fig Tree Board and former head of the journalism department at Eastern Washington University.

“Media rely on an accumulation of secular points of view from sources such as politicians, educators, special interest groups, interested and affected individuals and professional commentators, except when special-interest faith communities have politicized their agendas or entered into the political or social arena,” he said.

As the primary gatekeepers of the public discourse, newspapers, TV and radio have had the ability to manage those conversations, and they were the preferred source of information and opinion by most citizens despite their self-imposed limits on their approaches to reporting.  

“That environment has changed significantly with the advent of the internet,” Steve said.  “Now, virtually any individual or group can become a ‘media’ and promote its own perspectives or even set up as a primary source. 

“The fundamental problem is, if anything, worsened by this cacophony of voices,” he suggested.  “Whom among all those voices can the public trust and who is simply seeking their own advantage?”

The Fig Tree’s Faith In Action Dialogue in October will address these issues.  A panel of local leaders in traditional and emerging faith communities will lead discussion and seek dialogue among their constituents on a broad spectrum of questions:

•  How can faith communities break through the barriers that prevent sharing the wisdom accumulated in their teachings, traditions and communities with other groups and society in general without opening old wounds or creating new ones? 

• What barriers exist in the traditional and emerging media that prevent faith communities from sharing their wisdom more effectively with others? 

• What is that wisdom? 

• Whose responsibility is it to seek out the wisdom cached in our faith communities?

• Can we effectively be our own gatekeepers or do we need “expert” guides? 

• How do social networks-Facebook, YouTube, My Space, Twitter and others-either help or hinder the process? 

• How do traditional faith communities cope with the impacts of new media and the emerging points of view they both develop and communicate? 

• How can people of faith from all communities use the internet to acquire and share wisdom more effectively?

• How can these processes be used constructively to direct public discourse and governance?  

• Where do we find authentic voices?

The Fig Tree invites community groups to bring tables of participants who will consider the questions raised in the Faith in Action Dialogue, discuss those ideas and share perspective among attendees and beyond. 

“We hope to start an extended dialogue among communities of faith in the Spokane region to help interested parties better understand how media shape our understanding of wisdom and public issues and what can be done to more effectively shape that process in authentic ways,” Steve said.

For information, call 535-1813.

Copyright © June 2009 - The Fig Tree