On Sunday, I looked a bit at a Newsweek article by religion editor Lisa Miller. Her piece took a position I largely agree with — that there’s no need to say that accused Ft. Hood gunman Hasan is either mentally unstable or an Islamic terrorist. Read More »
We’ve had quite a few readers submit stories dealing with Rep. Patrick Kennedy’s (D-R.I.) ongoing public battle with Bishop Thomas Tobin. The latest news arose from from this report of the Providence Journal headlined “Kennedy: Barred from Communion.” Here’s the beginning: Providence Bishop Thomas J. Tobin has forbidden Rep. Patrick J. Read More »
It’s a big, complex and confusing world out there. That’s why we need wise guides to help us make our way—guides like Benjamin Anastas, who clearly tells us where all the dumbass religious folks are so we can stay the heck away: There is Read More »
Anyone who has paid even the slightest attention to the “Twilight” explosion in pop culture knows that author Stephenie Meyer is a somewhat unorthodox Mormon believer who isn’t exactly shy about letting symbols and themes from her faith, uh, bleed over into her vampire kingdom. The Rev. Read More »
The Washington Post has a story alleging that Major Nidal Hasan had stepped up his communications with a radical, American-born Muslim cleric in Yemen in the months before he killed 13 people at Ft. Hood. An FBI-led task force had obtained the emails between late 2008 and June 2009 but they were not forwarded to the military, for some reason. Read More »
It’s time to head back into the tmatt GetReligion folder of guilt. To make matters worse, this is an example of a GetReligion theme that we keep trumpeting, like a call to battle. The fact that it’s something we say all the time, however, is evidence that it’s a journalistic sin that we keep seeing all of the time. Read More »
I know from personal experience that Terre Haute, Indiana, is not the most happening place. But is “Church sign raises objection” really one of the most newsworthy items of the day? Bear with me, and read the beginning of the story. Read More »
The Episcopal Church has less than half the membership of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. But the former gets much more media coverage than the ELCA. But both are experiencing division under similar circumstances. Read More »
If you were creating the Ten Commandments of daily Journalism, you would certainly find the statement, “All news is local,” somewhere near the top of the list (but after “Don’t bury the lede”). Read More »
Every now and then, the avid news reader clicks on a link or opens up a newspaper and is faced with something so strange that it simply cannot be comprehended. As we have seen recently, this seems to happen quite often in MSM coverage of religion. So here we go again. Read More »
Why must all religion stories be told through the prism of politics? It really gets tiring. For instance, there was this Washington Post piece last Sunday about how Pat Robertson had said something intemperate (I know! Stop the presses!) about Islam that reflected poorly on Virginia Governor-elect Bob McDonnell. Read More »
My family and friends are a little obsessed with a Monopoly/Risk/Axis & Allies-like game called Settlers of Catan—so obsessed that my husband won’t play with me because I become too competitive that we stop speaking to each other. Read More »
We’ve debated before whether Westboro Baptist Church is worthy of newsprint. Probably not. But the group likely won’t go away if we simply ignore it, which seems to be what The Washington Post had in mind when leaving any mention of Westboro out of this story about their protest at the school the Obama girls attend. Read More »
We survived the opening of the movie “2012,” which was last weekend’s top-grossing film. (See it now before the world actually ends, as is predicted on a faux- newsy movie related web site). Read More »
Politico ran a jaw-droppingly bad story on the role of the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops in battles over abortion. It reads like a histrionic op-ed but it’s actually a news story. And it’s written by David Rogers, no less — a reporter who should know better. Read More »
What would you do if you were the pastor of an ordinary evangelical church and a member of your flock suddenly became the most controversial person on this planet? That is what happened to the Rev. Larry Kroon of Wasilla Bible Church when Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska became the GOP nominee to be vice president. Read More »
I realize that it is a bit strange to discuss a news story from the New York Post on this here weblog. That urban tabloid isn’t exactly the kind of institution that one associates with nuanced writing about a complex news topic like religion, let alone the fine points of liturgy. Read More »
Who says there are no second acts in American religion? Ted Haggard, the former mega-pastor and evangelical leader who fell from grace in a 2006 gay sex scandal, launched his new church last week with a gathering of 100+ people at his home, located a stone’s throw from his former New Life Church. Read More »
Last Sunday, the Rev. Susan Slaughter was ordained to the priesthood in The Episcopal Church. This is newsworthy because her ordination took place in Ft. Worth. This is where things get a bit tricky. There are two groups purporting to be the Episcopal Diocese of Ft. Worth. Read More »
As a rule, GetReligion doesn’t deal with opinion columns. However, the headline on this fiercely opinionated effort by Petula Dvorak of the Washington Post really caught my eye the other day: Catholic officials shouldn’t forsake D.C. Read More »
Typically, we refer to people studying to be a rabbi, like the newly crowned WBA junior middleweight champ Yuri Foreman, as a rabbinical student, not a rabbi-to-be. The Los Angeles Times got it right; USA Today got it wrong. But the LAT failed to deliver even a light body blow to the broader tale of Talmud and the tape. Read More »
Science and faith can come at odds for some couples who consider the implications of in vitro fertilization. The Chicago Tribune recently tackled this struggle with a focus on the Potters, a suburban Chicago couple who must decide the fate of two embryos that were not implanted in the womb. Read More »
This has been such a busy time for religious news that we’ve missed a fairly interesting story coming out of Rhode Island. Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy got things going in a fiery Oct. 21 interview with Cybercast News Service. Here’s how The Providence Journal wrote up what happened: Kennedy told an interviewer on Oct. Read More »
What do you think, what do you feel, when you hear this name — John Allen Muhammad? If you live in the Washington, D.C., area, the name calls back a stunning array of emotions and images. Read More »
The Washington Post ran a really interesting article last Sunday about one of three women whose marriages fell apart because of the same-sex infidelity of their spouses. I have friends who were married prior to identifying as gay or lesbian and friends who married despite their same-sex attraction (it’s complicated). Read More »
Now here is a strange one. You can call me picky, but, hey, when it comes to messing with the fine points of Trinitarian theology, the Orthodox are known to be a bit picky. So please be patient with me for a moment. Read More »
We all know the celebrity book tour drill. Suddenly, a superstar is assaulting us from all imaginable media outlets with a gripping saga of failure and redemption that is, of course, told in much greater detail in a new book, which goes on sale Read More »
I always appreciate when I have the opportunity to point out a reporter getting religion. The New York Times recently gave us one such example. But first, a little background and a bit of self reference. Jews aren’t exactly in agreement on what a Jew makes. Read More »
What we have here is a story with two acts, but it’s a drama that James Davison Hunter would completely and totally understand. If you need help with that reference, please click here. This is also a drama with a prologue. GetReligion readers may recall that the late Dr. Read More »
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy Morning Joe is Joe Scarborough’s morning talk show on MSNBC. In the segment above, he discusses media treatment of the role religion played in the Ft. Hood shootings. Read More »
A Washington Post profile of Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) tries to put his various roles at odds with each other, including his role as a Southern Baptist deacon. Read More »
Once again, we are facing one of those “framing” issues. Read the top of this A1 Washington Post report about the collision between the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington and government officials here in the District of Columbia. Read More »
We’ve looked a bit at the coverage of Rep. Bart Stupak’s successful amendment to the House health care legislation that prohibits the use of tax dollars to fund abortions. Catholic representatives and the Catholic Conference of Bishops were key players in getting this amendment passed, certainly. Read More »
Can followers of one faith tradition benefit from learning about teachings and techniques that derive from other faith traditions? If so, how much time and energy should they devote to such ecumenical studies? And how much should they allow insights Read More »
I’m preparing to do a larger post looking at the two distinct ways that the mainstream media have been covering the story of the shooting at Fort Hood — either viewing religion as a major aspect of the shooter’s motivation or working overtime to avoid considering religion as a major aspect. Read More »
I was on a flight from Baltimore to the West Coast early this week and ended up sitting next to a young Muslim who was originally from Kenya. However, as soon as he came to the United States he joined the U.S. Army as a way to obtain funds to go to college. He spent most of his years in military service in Korea. Read More »
We’re still learning a lot about Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan, though I doubt his Muslim beliefs were, as reported by NPR’s Daniel Zwerdling this morning, “orthodox.” I know more than a few traditionally observant Muslims who would dispute that. News coverage now, though, has primarily shifted to questioning just what U.S. Read More »
The omnipresent Howard “Howie” Kurtz of the Washington Post offered this interesting tweet after the victory in the U.S. House by Rep. Bart Stupak and his coalition that opposes the use of tax dollars to fund abortions: If pro-lifers have a House majority, as Rep. Read More »
Amy Sullivan is a senior editor at Time. She’s remarkably partisan, even by journalistic standards, and sometimes her views can color her writing. But boy is she taking some flak for her recent piece “Priests Spar Over What It Means to Be Catholic.” Let’s just start with the headline. Read More »
If you visit Geneva, Switzerland’s official tourism web site, you can easily find this awkwardly translated introduction to the city’s commemoration of Protestant reformer John Calvin: Geneva, a town of culture and tradition, this year Read More »
With Bon Jovi, Angela Merkel and Mikhail Gorbachev likely to steal the spotlight at the Berlin wall 20th anniversary celebration, Reuters’ Tom Heneghan says Protestant leaders feel overlooked: “Any reporter in Berlin in the tense weeks before Nov. Read More »
When the House narrowly passed its health care reform bill on Saturday night, it received 219 votes from Democrats and one from a Republican. I mentioned already that I was at the hospital with my daughter when it passed so I was passing time following reporters and pundits on Twitter. Read More »
Before the explosion of news from Fort Hood, there was another comment I wanted to make about the election of Virginia’s new governor, Robert F. McDonnell. So please allow me to dip into tmatt’s GetReligion Guilt folder and pull this one back out. Read More »
Coverage of the tragedy at Fort Hood, which left at least 13 dead, has continued its evolution. I mentioned Friday that it began with shock and ended up with Muslims condemning the alleged actions of Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan. The focus now has turned to fallout for the thousands of other Muslim members of the active-duty military. Read More »
Several weeks ago, I received an email from one of the nation’s top political reporters. The bottom line: This reporter could not understand why editors and other reporters in the newsroom could not do the math and realize that the pro-life Democrats in the House of Representatives were serious. Read More »
Last night around midnight, the House of Representatives passed a health care bill by a narrow margin — 220 to 215. The Washington Post has the details. The story explains that the package is complex and “would affect virtually every American and fundamentally alter vast swaths of the health insurance industry. Read More »
Sometimes, it’s hard to believe what your ears are hearing — especially when you are listening to broadcast journalists having to work on deadline under tremendous amounts of pressure. Read More »
Long before Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan opened fire on Fort Hood, killing at least 13, there was a well-established formula for covering this story. Start with shock and awe. Then, as information starts to get out, report that the suspected shooter has an Arabic name. Confirm that he was, in fact, a Muslim. Read More »
I am always amazed (and I must confess, intimidated) by the quality of journalistic work that true professionals are able to do on deadline. Of course, the Washington Post had a totally unfair advantage on other national-market newspapers when the story broke at Ford Hood. Read More »
Yesterday a U.S. Army major opened fire on a military processing center at Fort Hood in Texas, killing 12 people and wounding 30, according to various media reports. Whenever major news breaks, information flies around fast and much of it turns out to be inaccurate. This case was no different. Read More »
Mark Barna has his hands full covering religion at the Colorado Springs Gazette. This morning’s two news stories on evangelical leaders varied from solid to so-so. Read More »
TMatt has been looking at some of the larger issues of framing in coverage of Maine’s vote to overturn a law legalizing same-sex marriage. But I’m also curious about some of the nitty gritty. I’ve been meaning to look at some of the coverage for days so let’s begin with this pre-election story by the Washington Post’s Karl Vick. Read More »
And now for something entirely different … Jack Teitel has attracted a lot of media attention since the Sabbath. Read More »
Second verse, same as the first. As I continue to read the New York Times coverage of the Maine vote, my mind drifted back to these lines from Daniel Okrent, the newspaper’s former ombudsman, in his infamous 2004 column entitled “Is The New York Read More »
Elections are like Super Bowls for political journalists. It’s usually the big game that everybody has been waiting for, and although it was quiet compared to last year, many outlets focused on the gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia. Read More »
Here’s the thought for the day, as you ponder the headlines out of Maine. This famous quote is taken from “The Press and Foreign Policy” by Bernard C. Cohen: ” … (The) press is significantly more than a purveyor of information and opinion. Read More »
Even though I’m not a big fan of either the New York Yankees or the Philadelphia Phillies, I’ve watched and enjoyed this year’s World Series. Read More »
USA Today put the following headline on Associated Press religion reporter Eric Gorski’s story about James Dobson stepping down from Focus on the Family’s main radio broadcast: Evangelist Dobson parts ways with radio show, Focus on the Family I know that the words sound similar, but the word USA Today is looking for is “evangelical. Read More »
Noor Faleh Almaleki has died in Phoenix. Thus, we have another development in the case of her father, 48-year-old Faleh Hassan Almaleki, who fled the United States after it is alleged that he hit the 20-year-old Noor and the mother of her boyfriend with his car. The details of this tragic story are quite common by now, everywhere except on CNN. Read More »
Mao had his little red book. Meanwhile, the influential Swiss psychiatrist and thinker Carl Jung had is own big red book. The only problem was that nobody outside a small circle of descendants and initiates had been able to see the century-old book since Jung’s death in 1961. Until now. Read More »
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