Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
During the past few years, I have hesitated to write about the national coverage of Baylor University’s academic civil war — either in my Scripps Howard columns or on this blog.
Last February GetReligion mentioned the story of Matthew Bass, who was expelled from Baylor’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary who was expelled after administrators heard that he was gay and asked him about it.
A decade ago, a sharp Harvard-educated think tank wonk named Stephen Bates wrote an important book — praised by everyone from E.J. Dionne Jr. to Father Richard John Neuhaus — that I still hear quoted in Beltway discussions from time to time.
Rather than a series of separate blog items, here are three quick updates on recent items of interest (not including my finale — maybe — in the Incredibles paranoia trilogy).
The red-and-blue maps of how each county voted in the 2000 presidential election have acquired an iconic power that may last for decades. You’ll see frequent references on GetReligion to red or blue states (or counties). Kedron Bardwell, who left an irenic comment on our recent Democrats & the God thing thread, makes good use of such a map on his blog, Flyover Nation.
One of the things I love the most about being back in Washington, D.C., once a year is the joy of reading a great newspaper — on dead tree pulp. There is nothing like reading an old-fashioned analog newspaper to help you see the ghosts drifting through the lines of inky type.
Let me be the first — chicken in cheek — to chide The Arizona Republic for going with an Associated Press report instead of assigning one of its own reporters to cover such a fascinating Godbeat story in its own backyard. I look forward to the photos and coverage of the actual event.
