Group Publishing: Group Magazine: Article Library

From: March1992 GROUP Magazine
Keywords: TV Career Immigrants Vision
THE WORLD TIMES
CHRISTIAN TV EXEC'S CAREER CANCELLED
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.-Linda Rios Brook, manager of a Minneapolis-St. Paul TV station, left her job after being criticized for her outspoken Christian faith. Brook was the station manager of NBC-affiliate station KARE until she was told to decide whether she wanted to be a minister or the leader of a commercial TV station.
A brief statement by Ron Townsend, president of the Gannett Co., which owns the station, said Brook resigned "to pursue a different career challenge and other goals." However, a column in the St. Paul Pioneer Press stated, "The dispute [between Brook and Gannett] is over Brook's high-profile religious evangelism."
Although the news department at KARE had enjoyed a resurgence in ratings under Brook's leadership, fellow employees had openly criticized Brook's influence on the news department.
About a week before leaving KARE, Brook told delegates at a church conference, "I know something about secular bias that suggests that someone who admits publicly to being a Christian must be a fanatic."
Who is at fault-Brook or KARE station management? Do you agree or disagree with Brook's decision to resign? Explain. What other options did Brook have? What might have been the consequences if Brook hadn't resigned?
Read Ecclesiastes 3:7, Matthew 5:11-16 and Ephesians 6:18-20. Do you agree with Brook's display of "outspoken faith" on the job? Why or why not? Could Brook have demonstrated her faith in ways that weren't quite so outspoken? If so, how? If Brook had not been so outspoken, would she have been compromising her faith? Why or why not? Is it ever wrong to talk about your faith on the job? If so, when?
Read Matthew 10:24-28 and John 15:18-21. What is the one guarantee for Christians in these scriptures? Have you ever experienced persecution? Explain. How did the persecution affect your ability to "speak out"? What does it mean for a Christian to "speak boldly" about his or her faith?
Read Ephesians 6:5-9 and 1 Peter 3:13-17. What does God say about a Christian employee's responsibility to his or her employer? Did Brook fulfill her responsibility to her employer as God would want her to? Why or why not? Was Brook persecuted for doing right or for doing wrong? Explain.
Read Acts 18:9-10 and James 1:12. What does it mean to "persevere under trial"? Did Brook persevere under trial? When you experience a difficult time, is your reaction more one of "fight" or "flight"? When is it most appropriate to flee a difficult situation? to fight a difficult situation? What would you have done if you had been in Brook's situation?

BUCHANAN VOWS TO FENCE OUT MEXICAN ILLEGALS
USA TODAY-Republican presidential candidate Pat Buchanan says he would build a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border to deter illegal immigration if he were elected president. Buchanan criticized what he called lax enforcement of immigration laws and said a fence on the Mexican border "could stop 90 percent of it."
Buchanan would also beef up border patrols and assign National Guard units to summer duty along the border.
"If a country can't secure its borders, it's not even a country anymore," Buchanan says.
According to the news program 48 Hours, 3 million immigrants tried to enter the United States in 1991; two out of three succeeded. The amount of U.S. money that goes to immigrants, legal and illegal, is increasing. So this issue is shaping up as a potent political issue.
Buchanan is a conservative commentator who's challenging President Bush for the 1992 GOP presidential nomination.

Do you agree or disagree with Buchanan's plan for dealing with illegal Mexican immigrants? Explain. Do you agree that illegal Mexican immigrants should be kept out of the United States? Why or why not? Why do Mexican immigrants want to come to the United States? How are Mexican immigrants different from or similar to political refugees?
Read Nehemiah 2:11-20. Do you agree or disagree with Buchanan's statement: "If a country can't even secure its borders, it's not even a country anymore"? Explain. Why do you think it was a "reproach" for Jerusalem's walls to be broken down? What are the advantages of having "walls" around our country? the disadvantages?
Read Lamentations 5 and Isaiah 61:4-5. How is the situation in this passage from Lamentations similar to or different from the way you feel about the U.S. immigration situation? What scares the people who want to keep immigrants out of the United States? Do you think their fears are well-founded? Why or why not? What motivates people to allow immigrants to come to the United States? Do you approve or disapprove of their motives? Explain.
Read Exodus 22:21; Zechariah 7:9-14; and Matthew 25:35-44. How does God want us to treat "strangers"? Is the most compassionate treatment of immigrants to allow them to come to the United States? Why or why not? How can we help immigrants?
Read 1 Timothy 5:8. If our government's household is its citizens, how is the government to provide for its household? How could an influx of immigrants affect U.S. citizens' employment opportunities? housing? health care? education? tax-funded programs?
If you had the choice of being a border patrol officer or a guide for bringing immigrants into the country, which would you choose? Explain.

PRAYERFUL MOM FINDS IMPAIRED VISION
DENVER, Colo.-A Denver woman's vision was impaired when she took her 2-year-old son to the Mother Cabrini Shrine in Denver to pray for him. Earlier, a woman had claimed that the Virgin Mary would appear. Kathy (who asked that her last name be withheld) gathered with 6,000 people at the shrine to stare intently at the sun, hoping for a sign of Mary's presence.
At least two dozen people have since gone to their doctors with eye damage. In some cases the injuries are severe.
"I've never seen a full image of the sun burned into the retina. It was mind-boggling when I saw it," said Dr. Larry Winograd, the attending opthalmologist.
Kathy said she is angry at herself and God for allowing her and others to suffer the damage. "Did you ever hear of people going to Jesus for a miracle and coming away crippled?" Kathy asked.
The 36-year-old wife of a physician took her son, who has physical and mental disabilities, to the shrine to pray for his upcoming surgery. Throughout the day, Kathy and hundreds of others stared upward, hoping to see the sun "dance," a phenomenon believers say signals Mary's presence.
Almost immediately, Kathy saw a dark spot in the center of her field of vision. When she visited her eye doctor the next day, she discovered she may have permanently burned the center of her retina.
The injury has tested Kathy's faith and she plans to talk to a priest for "some answers. I feel very confused. If this is the answer to my prayers, my praying days are over."
úÊúÊú
Who do you think is at fault for Kathy's impaired vision-God or Kathy? Explain. Should Kathy stop praying to God? Why or why not? Have you ever felt like not praying to God anymore? If so, why?
Read Daniel 3:19-30 and Acts 28:1-6. Why did God protect Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego and Paul from harmful consequences when he didn't protect Kathy? Was Kathy's impairment due to a lack of faith or a lack of wisdom? Explain. Does God protect us from the natural consequences of unwise choices? Why or why not?
Read Ecclesiastes 11:7 and Matthew 4:5-7. Is the author of Ecclesiastes saying in this verse that staring at the sun is good? Why or why not? Did Kathy "put God to the test" by staring at the sun? Why or why not?
Read Psalm 55:16-18 and Micah 4:6. Did God cause Kathy's impaired vision? Explain. Does God afflict people? Why or why not?
Read Joel 2:28-29 and John 4:46-48. Do Christians still see visions today? Explain. Why does Jesus criticize the people of his day for wanting to see signs?
Read 1 Peter 3:12. Is a vision required for God to perform a miracle? Why or why not? Did Kathy need to take her son to the Mother Cabrini Shrine for God to hear her prayer? Why or why not? Do you ever think you need to perform certain duties or rituals to get God to hear your prayers? Explain. What is required for God to hear your prayers?
Copyright© 1992 Group Publishing, Inc. / GROUP Magazine