Only one will win on 'Net heroes list

[Guest guest]

*New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com*

*Only one will win on 'Net heroes list*

 

Friday, December 2nd, 2005

 

There is never a shortage of heroes and role models - they're

everywhere, hiding in plain sight - and every December, various

end-of-the-year surveys ask people to select just one to honor for

courage, compassion, selflessness and faith.

 

It is no easy task.

 

But the interfaith Beliefnet.com <http://Beliefnet.com>, a popular New

York-based Web site, has come up with a novel twist for its fifth annual

Most Inspiring Person of the Year poll.

 

It borrowed a page from the "Survivor" playbook, asking viewers to

remove the 12 nominated finalists one by one by, in effect, voting them

off the Web site.

 

The gimmick is almost as interesting as the nominees who made the cut.

Most of them are ordinary people who did extraordinary things in this

year of Katrina, the tsunami recovery, war, famine and terrorism.

 

Among candidates who failed to make it to the final round were Billy

Graham, the late Pope John Paul II, Oprah Winfrey, Lance Armstrong, Iraq

war protester Cindy Sheehan and megachurch pastor Joel Osteen.

 

To many, "inspirational" translates as "religious" or "spiritual," but

to the Beliefnet.com nominating committee, it applied to anyone whose

actions or words this year set examples of hope, comfort, encouragement

or sacrifice.

 

Last year the honor went to Pat Tillman, the professional football

player who quit the sport to join the Army and was killed in action in

Afghanistan.

 

"We chose Tillman because he stands not only for bravery but for much

more," said Steven Waldman, the Web site's co-founder and editor in

chief. "He put the nation's pervasive celebrity culture in its proper

context."

 

Unlike most end-of-the-year lists of the most-admired, no politicians -

and only one entertainer - made the Beliefnet.com roll. Surprisingly,

for a Web site devoted to faith in all its diversity, only two religious

figures were nominated. Yet it is unlikely that anyone will argue that

the nominees are genuinely inspirational.

 

Alphabetically, they are:

 

# Bono, the rock star and tireless campaigner on behalf of Third World

debt relief, AIDS awareness and prevention in Africa, and humanitarian

action in southern Sudan. He is the only major celebrity on the list.

 

# Mable Brown, a single mother in New Orleans who rescued 18 of her

relatives after Katrina devastated the city. Her nomination honors all

the selfless acts of heroism following the storm.

 

# Capt. Ian Fishback, a U.S. Army veteran who saw action in Iraq and

Afghanistan, and then upon his return home began a campaign against

prisoner torture in Abu Ghraib and elsewhere. He was nominated for his

courage in speaking up for human rights.

 

# Donyea Hoffman Goodwin, a housewife in Newark, N.J., who provided a

temporary home for 56 survivors of Hurricane Katrina. She was nominated

for her great-hearted generosity and service.

 

# Mata Amritanandamayi, universally known as Amma, "the hugging saint" of

India (and frequent New York visitor). She was nominated for her

extensive work on behalf of tsunami relief.

 

# Rosa Parks, the civil rights pioneer who died in October.

 

# Capt. David Rozelle, who lost his right foot in an explosion in Iraq,

but refused to retire from active duty. He has since returned to duty in

Iraq. He was nominated for setting an example to other people with

disabilities.

 

# Victoria Ruvolo, a Long Island housewife who publicly asked a court to

show leniency to the 19-year-old whose prank - throwing a frozen turkey

through her car windshield - severely injured her. She was nominated for

her compassion.

 

# Alex Scott, an 8-year-old Wynnewood, Pa., girl who died of cancer after

raising thousands of dollars by selling lemonade and launching a

national campaign that has resulted in millions of dollars to fight

childhood cancer. She was nominated for her courage and positive attitude.

 

# Rick Warren, pastor of a megachurch in Lake Forest, Calif., and author

of the best-selling "The Purpose-Driven Life." He has donated most of

the royalties to support AIDS orphans in Africa and combat illiteracy.

 

# Akbar Ahmed, a one-time high-ranking Pakistani politician, and Judea

Pearl, father of slain journalist Daniel Pearl, were nominated for their

joint campaign to break down barriers between Islam and Judaism.

 

# Iraqi voters were nominated as a group for their determination and

bravery in expressing their political opinion.

 

Waldman, a one-time editor of U.S. News & World Report, will announce

the winner around Christmas. The prize is a donation to the charity of

the winner's or winners' choice. In the meantime, voters already have

started playing their own version of "Survivor," and religious good

works is no guarantee of making Round 2 - the first departure was Amma.

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

>

> Last year the honor went to Pat Tillman, the

> professional football

> player who quit the sport to join the Army and was

> killed in action in

> Afghanistan.

 

"Killed in action", my hindquarters. He was killed by

friendly fire (shot by one of his own men, an accident

that happens all too often in wartime), but to make

him seem like a big all-American H-E-R-O the army

concocted a bull**** story that he died in a hail of

enemy machine gun fire, while leading his platoon into

battle.

 

If Beliefnet bought the bogus story that Tillman died

a hero's death on the battlefild, I wouldn't be too

dissappoined that Amma was voted off the spiritual

survivor island and didn't make it to round #2 of the

vote. This list isn't worth the bandwidth its printed

on!

 

Keval

 

 

 

 

________

DSL – Something to write home about.

Just $16.99/mo. or less.

dsl.

[Guest guest]

I agree with you Mike. Of course, the friendly fire description didn't

come out until later. From hero to victim in one fell swoop. Or maybe

it was from football star to blind patriot to "hero" to victim. At any

rate the war he died for has lost a lot of its heroic standing having

been planned way before 9/11 and been based on fake intelligence.

 

As one who became an adult during the Vietnam war and was a Peace

Activist, I have always seen those who stood up for non-violence and

peace as more heroic than the ones who fought the wars.

 

I get some good postings from the Hindu arm of Belief.net. Quite

inspiring. The Christian and Muslim lists are the opposite.

 

 

On Dec 4, 2005, at 10:24 AM, Mike Brooker wrote:

 

>

> >

> > Last year the honor went to Pat Tillman, the

> > professional football

> > player who quit the sport to join the Army and was

> > killed in action in

> > Afghanistan.

>

> "Killed in action", my hindquarters.  He was killed by

> friendly fire (shot by one of his own men, an accident

> that happens all too often in wartime), but to make

> him seem like a big all-American H-E-R-O the army

> concocted a bull**** story that he died in a hail of

> enemy machine gun fire, while leading his platoon into

> battle.

>

> If Beliefnet bought the bogus story that Tillman died

> a hero's death on the battlefild, I wouldn't be too

> dissappoined that Amma was voted off the spiritual

> survivor island and didn't make it to round #2 of the

> vote. This list isn't worth the bandwidth its printed

> on!

>

> Keval

>

>

>

>            

> ________

> DSL – Something to write home about.

> Just $16.99/mo. or less.

> dsl.

>

>

>

> Aum Amriteswarayai Namaha!

>

>

>

>

>

>

> ▪  Visit your group "Ammachi" on the web.

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