{"id":275591,"date":"2018-01-31T09:27:23","date_gmt":"2018-01-31T14:27:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aleteia.org\/?post_type=post&p=275591"},"modified":"2018-01-31T09:27:23","modified_gmt":"2018-01-31T14:27:23","slug":"if-protestants-had-saints-mister-rogers-might-already-have-been-canonized","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2018\/01\/if-protestants-had-saints-mister-rogers-might-already-have-been-canonized\/","title":{"rendered":"‘If Protestants had saints, Mister Rogers might already have been canonized…’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

A great read about a great American icon, from The Washington Post:<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Americans seem to love sharing myths about Fred Rogers, the friendly neighbor known the world over as Mister Rogers. Consider the one about how he wore cardigans to cover up his tattoos (false<\/a>). Or the one about how he was an ordained Presbyterian minister. That one is true \u2014 he graduated from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in 1963 \u2014 and it\u2019s far more foundational to Rogers\u2019s legacy than you might think. Rogers was a man defined by his Christian faith, and the message that he taught every day on his beloved children\u2019s show was shaped by it. \u201cIf Protestants had saints,\u201d Jonathan Merritt wrote at the Atlantic<\/a>, \u201cMister Rogers might already have been canonized.\u201d<\/p>\n

The news that Tom Hanks will be portraying<\/a> Fred Rogers in a coming biopic was met with frenzied glee, as Hanks is one of the few contemporary celebrities who approaches Rogers\u2019s universally beloved status. But even Hanks, for all his charms, doesn\u2019t occupy the same stratosphere of Rogers\u2019s legacy of moral and spiritual importance.<\/p>\n

He was a pastor on television in the golden era of televangelism, but unlike televangelists, Rogers\u2019s focus wasn\u2019t on eternal life, but our own interior lives. Christian evangelists were making a name for themselves preaching about the wickedness of mankind, but Rogers was more interested in his viewers\u2019 inherent value and worth. Evangelists were finding ways the human race didn\u2019t measure up to God\u2019s moral standard. But Rogers said over and over again: \u201cYou\u2019ve made this day a special day by just your being you. There is no person in the whole world like you, and I like you just the way you are.\u201d<\/p>\n

If this sounds like the sort of easy, shallow talking point espoused by the likes of Joel Olsteen, consider these words: \u201cLove isn\u2019t a perfect state of caring,\u201d he wrote in \u201cThe World According to Mister Rogers.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s an active noun like \u2018struggle.\u2019 To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now.\u201d Rogers wasn\u2019t telling children that they were so perfect that there was no room for them ever to improve as people; just that he loved them as they were, regardless of who they were or what they had done.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think everybody longs to be loved, and longs to know that he or she is lovable,\u201d he said in the 2003 documentary \u201cAmerica\u2019s Favorite Neighbor<\/a>.\u201d \u201cAnd, consequently, the greatest thing that we can do is to help somebody know that they\u2019re loved and capable of loving.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read it all.\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A great read about a great American icon, from The Washington Post: Americans seem to love sharing myths about Fred Rogers, the friendly neighbor known the world over as Mister Rogers. Consider the one about how he wore cardigans to cover up his tattoos (false). Or the one about how he was an ordained Presbyterian […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":11076,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11252],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-275591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-open-mind"],"yoast_head":"\n'If Protestants had saints, Mister Rogers might already have been canonized...'<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A great read about a great American icon, from The Washington Post: Americans seem to love sharing myths about Fred Rogers, the friendly neighbor known\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2018\/01\/if-protestants-had-saints-mister-rogers-might-already-have-been-canonized\/\" 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