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Pink Sisters: AP offers a sensitive profile on the life of cloistered nuns

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Pink Sisters: AP offers a sensitive profile on the life of cloistered nuns

This has been a big year for stories about nuns, probably at least partly because their numbers in America have fallen by more than two-thirds in 50 years. A story by the Associated Press this week on the Holy Spirit Adoration sisters is a late entry, but a searching, incisive one.

The story stands out because the order, often simply called the Pink Sisters for their rose-colored habits, locks itself inside cloisters, talking to the public only through grilles. As their ranks have dwindled, the sisters have decided to open a little to the outside world in hopes of interesting young women to join. In response, AP gives us an inside look at the 20 sisters in the Philadelphia convent, one of four in the U.S.

We learn of the order's birth in the Netherlands, and of its purpose: "perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, the consecrated bread they uphold as the body and blood of Christ." The article adds the reason for the pink habits: "to symbolize the joy the sisters feel honoring the Holy Spirit." No religious "ghosts," no cynicism. Just telling it as the sisters see it.

I was a bit put off by this paragraph:

It may come as a surprise to some that a group of 20 nuns live a contemplative, secluded life not far from Philadelphia’s famed museums, historic landmarks, and government. The sisters leave the cloister only for emergencies, such as medical appointments.

That veers close to a condescending anthropological approach, examining the quaint practices of backward communities.  If AP wanted to raise the issue of why people choose religious life over tourism hotspots or centers of power, it should have asked the sisters. They no doubt have their reasons.

But the article redeems itself and better in the following section, describing the sisters' humble lifestyle:

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So is the fallen Mark Salling of 'Glee' a 'Christian' songster or an ex-Christian songster?

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So is the fallen Mark Salling of 'Glee' a 'Christian' songster or an ex-Christian songster?

Once again, it's time to venture into the sad world of mainstream media cranking out click-bait pop news in search of social-media action.

On top of all that, this "Morning Mix" mini-feature at The Washington Post -- which appears to involve zero original reporting -- is topped by a headline that doesn't even match the contents of its quickie, URL-driven text.

We will get to the headline. But first, the "news."

It should be said right away: Mark Salling, the former “Glee” cast member arrested on child pornography charges in Los Angeles on Tuesday, has not been convicted of a crime. That, however, did not prevent legions on social media from dissecting the 33-year-old’s career as though it were little more than a fresh corpse just arrived at the morgue. ...
Crime Watch Daily, which broke the story of his arrest, said police used a battering ram to break down Salling’s door and found hundreds of images. Salling has yet to comment on the arrest.

Then a key early hint of what is to come:

... The list of celebrities who recover from child porn scandals is not long. And it’s worth remembering that Salling, a Christian musician who once rocked in the name of the lord, wasn’t even supposed to be here.

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GQ presents nuanced view of Hillsong, Justin Bieber and the cool cult of celebrity

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GQ presents nuanced view of Hillsong, Justin Bieber and the cool cult of celebrity

Does Justin Bieber actually have a church?

Several readers dropped the GetReligion team notes that GQ just came out with a l-o-n-g feature on the Australian-based Hillsong Church and its Manhattan branches. As the prelude says:

“It’s where the cool kids spend Sunday morning after Saturday night at the club. For ye of little faith, it’s hard to make sense out of Hillsong. Is it legit? Is it a hipster cult? And why’s everyone wearing Saint Laurent? GQ’s Taffy Brodesser-Akner joins the flock to find out if Christianity can really be this cool and still be Christian.”

Who would not read this story after such an intro? Turns out that Brodesser-Akner is Jewish and visiting Hillsong, to her, is like covering life on Jupiter. But she does so nonetheless in a breathless, first person, words-piled-on-words style that somehow works in this quasi-novel of a piece. And atop it she asks the pertinent question: "What would cool Jesus do?"

We’re not sure how to answer that after finishing the piece, but we do know this:

About five years ago, Pastor Carl got a phone call. Carl is one of the lead pastors at Hillsong NYC, a mega-church so reputedly, mystifyingly cool that cable-news outlets cover its services like they’re Kardashian birthday bashes at 1 Oak. On the other end of the line was one of Carl’s best friends, Judah Smith, another mega-pastor who also happens to be the chaplain for the Seattle Seahawks. “I need you to help me with a young man,” Pastor Judah said, and Pastor Carl rushed to agree, because helping is Carl’s thing, and the young man was, yes, Justin Bieber …

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Houston, we have a problem: What's wrong with all those 'Muslim backlash' stories in the media

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Houston, we have a problem: What's wrong with all those 'Muslim backlash' stories in the media

The backlash is back.

Back on the front page, that is.

Before dissecting today's Houston Chronicle story, a little background: After the San Bernardino massacre, the New York Post splashed the inflammatory headline "Muslim Killers" across its tabloid cover. At that time, we noted that — ever since 9/11 — the phrase "Muslim backlash" has entered America's lexicon. 

In follow-up posts, we questioned media reporting a "surge" in anti-Muslim crime without providing hard data to back up that factual claim. Moreover, we pointed out bias by media using the term "Islamophobia" without bothering to define it.

That leads to Houston, where firefighters battled a Christmas Day blaze at a storefront mosque. Investigators called the fire "suspicious," citing multiple points of origin. 

The fire serves as the news peg for the Chronicle's Page A1 report today on anxiety in the area's Muslim community:

Even before investigators determined that a Christmas Day fire at a southwest Houston mosque was set deliberately, Muslims in the Houston area were on edge.
Recent terrorist attacks by Islamic extremists in Paris and San Bernardino, Calif., were followed by threats to area Muslims on social media and elsewhere. Now, in the aftermath of the arson at the mosque, local Muslim leaders and public officials are organizing a meeting to try to calm fears and ease tensions. 
M.J. Khan, the president of the Islamic Society of Greater Houston, said he understands the community’s growing anxiety. 
“Families and children come, and we do take precautions to make sure people are protected and feel safe,” said Khan, whose organization operates the mosque. Still, he added, “These are places of worship, and we cannot make them fortresses.”
The fire broke out at around 2:45 p.m. on Christmas Day at the small mosque inside the Savoy Plaza strip center, near Wilcrest Drive and Bellfort Avenue. About 80 firefighters helped extinguish the blaze, which significantly damaged the worship hall.

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Win for religious right alone? Kentucky governor backs same-sex marriage compromise

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Win for religious right alone? Kentucky governor backs same-sex marriage compromise

As often happens during the rush of the holidays, a few interesting stories get pushed to the side when it comes to national coverage.

So let's flash back to a few days before Christmas day, when the new Republican governor of Kentucky did something that was interesting and controversial. He issued an executive order that would immediately clear the way for same-sex couples to get married -- with no hassles -- in any county in the Bluegrass State.

You didn't hear about this?

The action was controversial, because under normal circumstances the state legislature needs to act in order to make this kind of change in state laws. That could happen in the very near future, but Gov. Matt Bevin decided not to wait. Still, as The Louisville Courier-Journal noted, this move had some bipartisan support:

... Democratic House Speaker Greg Stumbo praised the move, saying he was an early proponent of a similar approach. "It's a simple fix, and I applaud the governor for finding a way to balance the law and the concerns that county clerks, like mine in Floyd County, had."

Oh, wait, right. This action by the governor did make it possible for various state officials to willingly sign marriage licenses for same-sex couples. That's good for gay couples. However, it also made it possible for county clerks to retain their jobs without, by having to sign their approval of same-sex unions, violating centuries of Christian doctrine. That's good, for those seeking a liberal interpretation of the First Amendment's guarantee of the free exercise of religion.

Thus, Bevin's action was not really a win for gay couples, as well as traditional Christians, Jews, Mormons, Muslims and others. It was something else, as stated in the coverage by The Lexington Herald-Leader:

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Who gave Meadowlark Lemon juice, obits ask? Oh, yeah -- God

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Who gave Meadowlark Lemon juice, obits ask? Oh, yeah -- God

Meadowlark Lemon was renowned for his hook shot and his sense of humor. But for himself, his later years as a born-again Christian and ordained minister took center court in his life.

But you wouldn't know it from the Washington Post's obituary on the famed member of the Harlem Globetrotters. The newspaper relegates Lemon's spiritual life nearly to the status of a footnote.

The Post starts with his inspiration after seeing a newsreel on the Globetrotters, skilled sportsmen who were "all black men. The same color as me."  It notes drily that Abe Saperstein, the owner of the Globetrotters, "embraced the novel idea, missed by many of his contemporaries, that some black people could actually play basketball."

Like other mainstream media reports, WaPo recalls an amazing endorsement from the late Wilt Chamberlain, himself a former Globetrotter, that Lemon "was the most sensational, awesome, incredible basketball player I’ve ever seen" -- even more than Dr. J or Michael Jordan. And it has other fun parts, like how the future sports star practiced as a boy: with "a basketball hoop fashioned out of an onion sack and a wire coat hanger nailed to a tree behind a neighbor’s house. His ball was an empty Carnation evaporated milk can salvaged from the garbage."

The obit includes a frank accounting of the cost of basketball stardom: neglecting his 10 children while playing basketball and divorcing his first wife, who was arrested after stabbing him in 1978. He even apologized this family when he was inducted into the basketball hall of fame in 2003, the Post says.

Finally, the story gets around to something that, by its own admission, loomed large in his life:

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Livin' on a prayer: The good, the bad and the ugly in the world of religion writers, circa 2015

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Livin' on a prayer: The good, the bad and the ugly in the world of religion writers, circa 2015

I won't bury the lede. The ugly is me.

I ate too many sausage biscuits and cheeseburgers this year as I feverishly cranked out four GetReligion posts a week. (Note to self: Must exercise more and eat less in 2016.)

But oh, I do love this part-time gig and count it a blessing to work with the likes of Terry Mattingly, Jim Davis, Julia Duin, Richard Ostling and Ira Rifkin.

While we at GetReligion mostly critique media coverage of religion news, we like to keep readers updated on happenings on the Godbeat itself.

Here are seven developments — some good, others bad — from 2015:

1. Jennifer Berry Hawes rocked — totally rocked — coverage of the mass shooting at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C.

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'Twas the church that faded first, the flock inside the crumbling Christmas church

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'Twas the church that faded first, the flock inside the crumbling Christmas church

If you know anything at all about Christian theology and vocabulary, you know that the word "church" has multiple meanings.

For reporters working at the local level, the there are two definitions that matter the most. You can hear them when church people talk and they sound something like this, when encountered in the wild.

You may hear someone say, "My family has been part of First Baptist Church for three generations." The word, in this context, refers to the actual body of believers in this congregation. If the building was damaged and these folks had to meet in a local school gymnasium, they'd still be First Baptist Church.

But you also hear people refer to the building as the church, as in, "Go two traffic lights and turn left at St. Stephen's Church. It's the church with the really tall steeple."

This brings me to that nice "Building Blocks" feature that ran in The New York Times the other day under this headline: "Church With Ties to Famed Christmas Poem Is in Need of Repair." Which poem? That was clear in the lede:

What was stirring were not creatures.
It was worse. Much worse. The soft patting sounds that the Rev. Stephen Harding and I heard inside St. Peter’s Church Chelsea -- the “Christmas Church” that owes its existence to Clement Clarke Moore -- came from rainwater. It percolated through the tin-and-timber roof and the lath-and-plaster Gothic ceiling vaults, dripping down to the balcony floor.

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A Christmas season think piece: Why pass on the beloved lie that is Santa Claus?

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A Christmas season think piece: Why pass on the beloved lie that is Santa Claus?

It happens almost every year during the week before Christmas.

Someone sends an email to a list of friends (usually veteran parents and grandparents), or posts an item on Facebook that raises this old question: Is anyone else getting uncomfortable with the whole Santa drama?

There is always a second question that flows naturally out of that: What is the purpose of this elaborate and dramatic lie? What are we trying to teach our children by doing this and what do we say to them once the charade is up? After all, in families with many children the old ones have to help sustain the lie for the little folks.

A confession from me: My wife and I, even before converting to Eastern Orthodoxy, decided -- primarily based on my work in mass-media studies, with a lot of reading about advertising -- to skip Santa Claus and tell our children that St. Nicholas of Myra -- as in the 4th-century bishop -- was a real person. The also noted that people have long honored him on his feast day (Dec. 6th on the Gregorian calendar) with gift-giving traditions that eventually, in culture after culture, morphed into something else. We told them not to play that game with other kids, but not to mock them or, well, tell them the truth, either. The key: In our faith, saints are real.

Journalists, if this subject interests you -- especially the secular, materialistic side of this equation -- then you should read and file an essay at The Atlantic by Megan Garber that ran with the loaded headline:

Spoiler: Santa Claus and the Invention of Childhood
How St. Nick went from “beloved icon” to “beloved lie”

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