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Faith Journal and Bruxy Cavey
Read the article / show / issue that provoked me to write a letter and my response below that or go straight to my response
Date Posted on this Site
June 19, 2006
Publication
Faith Journal on CTS
Publication Date
April 8, 2006
Published Content
This letter was drafted after I watched an abysmal debate, between a rabbi and a pastor, on the divinity of Christ.
My Response Letter
Dear Mr. Landau:
Thank you for producing Faith Journal. I saw the program for the first time tonight, and I think it is an excellent forum to examine current thought related to faith.
That said, I was thoroughly disappointed with the choice of one of your guests. This show featured an exchange between a Rabbi and a pastor. The pastor was named Mr. Bruxy Cavey. I think he was a poor choice of guest. Although it would be hard to believe that all of the Rabbi's opinions represented all of Judaism and its beliefs, I am fairly certain that he was representative of the Jewish faith (at least I gathered as much from your responses to his comments). The same cannot be said for Mr. Cavey. He represents a tiny minority of Christians. In fact, his church, the Meeting House, is only loosely affiliated with the Brethren of Christ, itself a denomination representing just 80,000 Christians world-wide. With more than two billion Christians on the planet, you can see that his church is not representative numerically. But there is more. His church does not even share the theology of the Catholic Church or many, if not most, of the major Protestant denominations. He and his church espouse a Christianity that does not place much emphasis on the divinity of Christ or the Church/religion that Christ created. In fact, he even wrote a book entitled "the End of Religion", discussing the "subversive spirituality of Jesus".
Now, there may have been a number of mitigating factors allowing for your choice of this pastor. You may have attempted to contact others who were unavailable or who agreed but later cancelled. There may be other reasons. Nevertheless, Mr. Cavey was not a suitable choice as someone representative of Christianity.
I would caution you against having him return as a guest that represents Christians. And, in the event that this show is re-broadcast, I would hope that an attempt is made, through graphics or otherwise, to convey the acknowledgement that this person represents only a small faction of Christians and Christian theology.
Having said all of that, your questions and comments were lucid and penetrating, and I commend you on a great program.
Blessings on all you do,
Jason Gennaro
Did I get a response?
Yes
Dear Mr. Gennaro:
Many thanks for your thoughtful email. Your points are well made and we will take them into consideration in the future.
I should point out that we do not choose guests on the basis of how representative they are. Generally, we choose guests who can present their point of view well on camera. Usually, we receive many favourable responses whenever Pastor Cavey is on the program.
I will agree with you that the Christian argument for the divinity of Jesus was not as well stated or defended on the program as I would have liked.
Thank you again.
Sincerely,
Richard M. Landau
Host-Producer