Two articles for which to be grateful

In my opinion, thanks should go to Naomi Schaefer Riley, a vital writer whose work is frequently published in the Wall Street Journal.

During the 2007-2008 presidential campaign of Mitt Romney, she wrote one of the most favorable articles about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that appeared in the nation's press.

What struck me then is how she observed Latter-day Saints at their best.

She had been researching a book on religious colleges in 2001 and was visiting BYU when the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 happened. (No one is writing with more passion and more insight about the problems in higher education.)

She attended a deeply patriotic and moving devotional on campus that day and wrote of the humble, decent and fun-loving students at BYU that she met there.

I read hundreds of articles over that campaign and deemed her piece one of the two most favorable articles in the mainstream press produced about Latter-day Saints during that long campaign.

Now she has written another terrific article, for which I am also grateful.

And that's not the only one.

In a week where there were a large number of less-than-favorable articles about the church including some harsh writing about baptisms for the dead, a second article — this one a blog post at the Washington Post — provided useful context and generousity of spirit.

Rabbi Brad Hirschfeld wrote a post about understanding and dialogue relative to this issue. His thoughtful, honest approach is very worth reading. I thank him for his spirit of dialogue and good will.

Here is one of the quotes I liked most about his piece:

"We all have things to work out regarding how we use ritual and liturgy in ways that build a sense of group cohesion, mission and pride, without simultaneously teaching disrespect or disregard of other traditions and those who follow them."

Naomi Schaefer Riley's piece on Saturday (the link may require a subscription) in the Wall Street Journal's opinion section again talked of the strengthes of the Latter-day Saints. She wrote about the church's welfare program this time: