Strange that the Pope and the Dalai Lama were in the United States at the same time. It sure made life busy for religion journalists. I personally didn't leave Toledo to cover the Pope's first trip to the United States, but wrote a preview of the visit by talking to people from the area who were going to see him in New York or Washington.
There are 303,000 Roman Catholics in northwest Ohio and a papal visit is a big deal not only for them but for many non-Catholics as well. It's also a very positive story about a religious group that has gotten lots of negative coverage over the last few years.
To be honest, I don't particularly enjoy covering such media spectacles, because they are crazy scenes with lots of hassles, people pushing and shoving, bad views or being stuck in a "media room" watching things on TV, tyrannical p.r. people, no time to eat, etc., etc. It seems like every reporter in the world converges on the scene and a medium sized midwestern paper gets lost in the shuffle. I know, however, that readers enjoy a local presence on international events, from elections to golf tournaments to papal visits, and I would have been glad to do it.
It's not surprising, however, since I've taken four out-of-state trips in nearly 8 years as religion editor, and 3 of them were by car. (I'm not talking about Ann Arbor or Detroit, which are less than an hour away.)
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The most significant thing Pope Benedict XVI did during his visit was to meet with victims of clerical sexual abuse. I can say from personal experience that this kind of meeting can have a profound effect on someone. Victims need to be listened to.
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I did get the opportunity to drive to Ann Arbor to cover the Dalai Lama. With all the news lately about Tibet and China, his local visit was a bigger event than it would be normally. I'm glad I got to go and write about it for our readers. Andy Morrison took some fantastic photos and I was glad to see they got a good display in print.
The Dalai Lama's visit was, unfortunately, a bit of a snoozer, in my opinion. He is an amazing person and has a great attitude and incredible wisdom. But I was not interested in hearing him speak in Tibetan about esoteric Buddhist doctrine, and I can't believe too many people who were in Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor were interested in that either.
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I wrote an article for tomorrow's paper about the movie "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed." It turned out to be a fascinating story about a documentary film, starring Ben Stein, alleging that academics are persecuted if they express any doubts about evolution or show any support for intelligent design (aka "ID").
I believe the story will generate a lot of response because people feel so strongly about these issues, whether they are for or against evolution or ID.
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I played golf for the first time this season yesterday, a scrambles event at the South Toledo Golf Course benefiting the University of Toledo's Communications Department.
Our team score was pretty pathetic, but we had fun. I hit the ball well for the first time out, but found myself in the unusual position of having to make a lot of clutch hits. E.g., my three teammates would all miss the green and then it was my turn to hit. Usually I'm the 3rd or 4th best player on a scrambles team and nobody's counting on me to produce the big shot. I came through quite a few times but also failed miserably a couple of times. We ended up shooting a 78, 6 over par. Last time I played a scrambles my team was 12 or 13 under par. But I did win a few neat door prizes, including a 2 gb flash drive, something I'd been wanting to buy.
No matter what the score, it's always a wonderful thing to be out on a golf course with friends when the weather is nice. I just love the atmosphere, the conversation, and the relentless challenge of golf.
Toledo, Ohio
April 27, 2008