Rev. Danny Fisher

Here are two important news items from the U.S. Campaign for Burma:

Native American scholar N. Bruce Duthu has an editorial in today’s New York Times about the “complex jurisdictional rules that operate on Indian lands,” resulting in a system that is “unfair to Indian victims of all crimes.” Give it a read.

As you might have heard, PBS has removed reruns of the venerable children’s program Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood from their weekday program service. Affiliate stations now get one show per week, instead of one daily. The program celebrated forty years of national broadcasts in February, and was previously seen in an estimated 79% of American households.

I’ve long been an admirer of Fred Rogers. (Some might remember a long post at my old blog connecting Rogers, Henri Nouwen, and the desert mystics of the Christian tradition.) I’ve always found a lot of sophistication in his approach to working with children and parents. His many years of study clearly informed the ways he talked about communication, relating to emotions, and benefiting others: in addition to his extensive record of working behind-the-scenes in television, Mister Rogers studied under the likes of Erik Erikson and Benjamin Spock, earned a masters degree in child development, and was ordained as a Presbyterian minister.

I’m very pleased and honored to join a chorus of voices calling for the show to be kept on PBS five days a week at the website Save Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. Along with Joanne Rogers (Mister Rogers’ widow), website founder Brian Linder, the Fred Rogers Center’s Maxwell King, MTV News’ Benjamin Wagner, author Tim Madigan, and my friend Amy Hollingsworth, I share my thoughts about and express my support for the work of an extraordinary teacher. Take a look at what I said here. And join the campaign to keep an important television program on regular rotation!

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