Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
From the BBC (via Religion News Blog) comes feel-good news about Nigerian 419 scams: a coalition called 419 Eater is fighting back and, in one case, using an elaborate parody of church talk to achieve its goal. (An audio report by BBC Radio 4 is available here.)
Cathleen Falsani of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote a playful article last week about the Christian Comic Creators Summit at Judson College. It was a humble summit, attracting only 14 writers and artists.
The Parliament of the World’s Religions, which concluded yesterday in Barcelona, marked one happy development on the God Beat: seeing the latest on-site journalism by Gustav Niebuhr, former religion correspondent for The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, who now teaches at Syracuse University.
Scott Goldstein of the Richmond Times-Dispatch wrote a concise and energetic story on Monday about the 10th anniversary of a devastating fire at St. James’s Episcopal Church in Richmond (which I attend).
In my experience, the warmest gestures of inclusion usually come from people who spend little time talking about how inclusive they are. When a person flashes inclusivity like a badge, especially in comparison to those noninclusive extremists over there, it’s a safe bet an ideological mugging is imminent.
In a video game called Waco Resurrection, a player steps into the mind of the would-be messiah David Koresh and gains energy from — well, of course, from Bibles that rain from the sky and spray bullets. The same Bibles can transform federal agents into Branch Davidians.
The Washington Times’ Julia Duin (a friend of this blog) reported Wednesday on Vatican official Joseph Ratzinger’s tough six-point memo regarding Catholic politicians who defy church teaching on abortion and euthanasia. Drawing from a story in the Italian newspaper L’Espresso, Duin reports that Ratzinger called for a stronger discipline than indicated by Washington Cardinal Theodore McCarrick:
Picture this: an altar; an earth-shattering sound system; people of all ages “jamming to the groove”; and an Episcopal bishop rapping and feeling the beat.
As first reported in the Dubuque Tribune Herald and given greater exposure by The Washington Post, John Kerry has elaborated on his long-stated personal opposition to abortion in contrast with his perfectly prochoice voting record.
