Mr. Rogers showed us all how to do religion right
For the children's TV host, his faith 'was as fundamental to him as DNA'
Mr. Rogers was a childhood hero of mine, and then I learned that he was a Presbyterian minister.[1] Now, I realize that he’s an adulthood hero, as well.
I have long opposed organized religion, but, even more than that, I’ve fought against those who would impose their religious beliefs on others. Fred Rogers was a lot of things, but a crazy religious fundamentalist trying to force faith on kids wasn’t one of them.
He never spoke about his faith on the air, instead choosing to teach by example, according to a CNN report.
“You don’t need to speak overtly about religion in order to get a message across,” Rogers once said, according to the outlet.
Yet religion was incredibly important to him. He graduated magna cum laude from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary with a bachelor's degree in divinity in 1962 and became a Presbyterian minister the next year. He also regularly met with church officials to keep his status active, and his faith is said to have inspired many of the messages at the core of his show.
When asked about the most important thing the church can offer children, Rogers once reportedly said, “a place where they know it’s OK to be a child.” He said that means stocking church schoolrooms with age-appropriate furniture and toys and appreciating “what children might have to give.”
Shea Tuttle, the author of Exactly as You Are: The Life and Faith of Mister Rogers, said that Mr. Rogers believed that "God loves us just the way we are."
On how important Rogers’ faith was to him, Tuttle said the following:
“He said it was as fundamental to him as DNA, and that’s a pretty apt metaphor as I understand him. Faith was so much a part of who he was, it’s almost like it wasn’t something of his choosing, it was part of his makeup. Faith affected him in every moment, and beyond this he had an awareness of being tapped into the deeper mysteries of the universe.”
Yet despite religion being fundamental to his DNA, Rogers himself didn’t push his doctrine on anyone, let alone the kids he was making shows for. In fact, my review of his show to research for this piece reveals he never mentioned God, Jesus, or religion on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood at any time.
His shows were of course based on his beliefs, just as any of us would be influenced by how we view the world, but he had a major platform and chose not to use it to push Jesus on kids. He actively made that decision despite the evangelistic nature of the religion itself.
Instead, Mr. Rogers chose to make all of us feel welcome and at home and, as a result, he was a formative part of the lives of so many of us, believes and non-believers alike.
This is in no way a suggestion that Rogers was a perfect human. Like every man, he had his flaws. But one of those flaws wasn’t a burning desire to indoctrinate kids with his particular brand of faith. He chose to do religion right.
Yours in Reason,
David G. McAfee
[1] "Fred Rogers." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. March 16, 2020.