I still have my dried, rotting wedding bouquet in my house that I’m almost ready to part with, but after watching Kate Gosselin, South Carolina First Lady Jenny Sanford, and other marriages unravel last summer, I feel the need to cling to anything that symbolizes my recent marriage.
Clearing one missionary's name
It’s time for a flashback to an earlier stage in the story of the Idaho Baptists and the Haitian orphans. You may recall that, while tracing the trail of Laura Silsby and her short-term mission team from Idaho, the New York Times heard people discussing this name — Philippe Murphy.
Voo dat?
We cover stories about the intersection of sports and religion a lot here, but I had to point out this New Orleans Times-Picayune piece about the strong ties the religious community has to the New Orleans Saints. I’m a huge fan of sports but not a huge fan of the way that some clergy elevate sports to the level of the divine. Still, this story did a good job of explaining how this interplay works in the unique alternative universe that is New Orleans.
Question: Who set all this up?
If you want to be truly depressed, read this New York Times report that ran under the headline: “Bleak Portrait of Haiti Orphanages Raises Fears.” Here’s the start of Ginger Thompson’s report from Port-au-Prince:
Superbowl morality tales
Even though officially I was rooting for the Indianapolis Colts, that was a very enjoyable Superbowl game. Both teams really deserved to be at the game and it was, overall, very well played.
Shameless super plug for a friend
Well, this is Super Sunday and all of that, so it’s fitting that young master Brad started us off with a God and the gridiron post.
Southern Baptists should slow down?
When I broke into mainstream religion writing about 1980, one of the leaders of Religion Newswriters Association was Louis Moore of the Houston Chronicle, which during that era had one of America’s dominant religion sections.
Praying away Uganda's anti-gay bill
I attended my seventh National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday, so it’s been fun to read journalists’ interpretation of the snake handling going on there.
On Haiti: Yo, Washington Post copy desk!
I know it’s a really busy day, with the blizzard blowing in and all, but I wanted to make sure that your received a copy of the following letter from a strategic leader of the American Baptist Churches/USA. I think I received at least three copies of it by email yesterday and it seems that it was sent to news organizations across the nation.
