Channel passion into charitable text messages

As I was watching news of the Moore, Okla., tornado unfold, emotions went from amazement of nature's power to empathy for those affected to eye rolls for people who turned tragedy into a way to forward their personal beliefs.

I couldn't help but notice a story a friend commented on. Curt Autry, an NBC reporter in Oklahoma, posted a photo of a teacher hugging a student. He started the post with, "GOD BLESS TEACHERS," and apparently that was a big deal to people.

This is the comment I would have made, had the comment window allowed this many characters.

Hi, Curt. I work at a media outlet too, one that many years ago covered a tornado. There's no real comparison to what we went through, and what you're covering.

A small percentage of our population suffered tragic losses, and two families lost loved ones. We had a few businesses leveled, and some homes took significant damage. But we didn't have empty fields where daycare centers and homes used to stand, and we didn't have to search through elementary school rubble for children.

Your coverage will run the gamut, from government response to the kindness of strangers to the resolve of people who rebuild to the realization that if you and your loved ones are still with you, everything else is just stuff. You'll also see things that will make you roll your eyes, like a person who says this is God's punishment for whatever suits their argument, or somebody who used the tragedy as an opportunity to scam money from people.

No matter what you cover, you do have one rule — that you do your best work for your audience when you present information without opinions. There are far worse things to do than let your personal faith get into a photo caption, but there are far worse punishments for breaking rules than angry Facebook comments. I'm sure many of your staunch defenders on this matter would quickly flip on you if you shared your opinions on other things.

Best wishes to you in whatever you cover.

And, to the people who are offended, you've got to pick your battles. This barely qualifies as a skirmish ... or a donnybrook, as it were.

Obviously, Curt isn't any type of agent of the government; separation of church and state isn't a guarantee outside of government. He's a reporter for a media outlet, one that depends on commercial advertising to survive. If he did say something amazingly offensive, there are measures to deal with him. If a little bit of religion seeps into its Facebook pages or its 24 hours of broadcast, that's probably OK ... and it won't nearly make up for the less than Godly behavior you'll see on the station's normal programming. Honestly, have you seen those daytime judge shows? You could make bingo cards with the 10 commandments as spaces.

If you're an atheist, I just don't see much reason to get mad. If you see somebody mention God anywhere, I don't get how your reaction would be anything beyond, "They believe in an invisible man. I don't. Let's figure out how to help people, despite this difference."

You can pray, you can not pray. You can post a picture on Facebook. But I'll venture that you'll help most if you inconvenience yourself slightly to help people who have been devastated. Skip dining out or a movie night, and channel your passion into a text message:

STORM to 80888 sends $10 to the Salvation Army.

REDCROSS to 90999 sends $10 to the Red Cross.

FOOD to 32333 sends $10 to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma.

Kevin Wilson is a columnist for Clovis Media Inc. He can be contacted at 763-3431, ext. 313, or by email: [email protected]