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The New York Times follows up on The Stranger‘s story about the Rev. Ken Hutcherson, the pastor who believes his pressure made Microsoft back away from its support of a gay-rights bill before Washington’s legislature.
OK, OK, this story is a few days old, but I just had to pass it along because of the oh so sweet headline: “Christian Diets: Fewer Loaves, Lots of Fishes.”
Given that newsstand copies of the May Harper’s have an ad flap that reads “The Christian Right’s War on America,” it was only a matter of time before one of us GetReligion sleuths broke down and bought a copy to investigate.
Diane Knippers was a friend of this blog, in that I worked with her (and other conservative Episcopalians) during the Lambeth Conference of 1998 and the Episcopal Church’s General Conventions of 1994, 1997 and 2003. I was not so close to Diane as to be overwhelmed by grief as she is buried today, but I feel keen sorrow for her husband, Ed.
It’s time for a last glance at some memorable pre-conclave stories as we watch the press try to handle the hours (or perhaps days) of waiting before the white smoke starts another blitz.
Later this month, the Newport Beach Film Festival will include a documentary on Lonnie Frisbee, a charismatic figure who helped shape the early Jesus Movement.
I meant to put this up earlier, but decided not to double up on the Rt. Rev. LeBlanc’s latest Ashley Smith post. Veteran USA Today religion scribe Cathy Lynn Grossman landed the interview that everyone knew was coming sooner or later — with Purpose-Driven Pastor Rick Warren. As it turns out, he has been counseling Smith via telephone and email, although that took some doing since he was in Africa. Africa is also the beneficiary of many, many of the dollars he has earned with his best-selling books. There are other crisp details in the story, which can be found in the Christianity Today weblog guide to the Smith story. Here is a choice quote from Grossman’s short but newsy story: “Warren steered any credit back to God and the Bible. “There’s not a single new thought in Purpose-Driven Life that hasn’t been said in historic Christianity or Judaism. I’m just a communicator for the 21st century.”
The story of Ashley Smith’s heroism was bound to annoy some journalists as being too pat, too unbelievable, too much of a redemptive ending in a story of carnage and mayhem. Lee Siegel, television critic of The New Republic, raises some fair questions about whether Smith’s story should be accepted uncritically, although reporters will have a difficult time gaining access to her captor, Brian Nichols, for some time to come.
