Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
I would like to extend warm congratulations to guardian.co.uk, which responded to a tedious bus-slogan campaign in the most appropriate way: Launching a Web-based challenge for readers to write new counter-slogans.
I love a good story, don’t you? One that you can sink your teeth into by a fireplace or on your porch, with a cup of tea or a nice craft brew at your side.
When the California Secretary of State released the latest report on donors to Proposition 8 related campaigns, I was a bit surprised at the lack of coverage. But then stories started rolling in. The latest filing shows that gay marriage supporters raised $43.3 million while Prop. 8 supporters raised $39.9 million. It was already known to be an expensive campaign, but those numbers are pretty impressive. People care about this issue, it seems.
Remember when President Bill Clinton said he wanted abortion to be safe, legal and rare? Remember how he was pro-lifers’ favorite president? Oh wait, that’s right, the “safe, legal and rare” formulation isn’t a pro-life mantra but a pro-choice mantra. And Bill Clinton fit perfectly in the pro-choice camp.
There’s a one-room schoolhouse down the road from where we live. When I drive by, as I do almost every day, I think about the girls and boys who sat near the coal stove, studied at the old wooden desks, played outside in the shade of the huge old trees.
As strange as it sounds, the coverage of President Barack Obama’s new White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships has me yearning for the clarity of the Bill Clinton years.
I am impressed with Laurie Goodstein’s story in the New York Times about reports that the founder of the Legionaries of Christ, an influential Catholic order, had an affair with a woman and fathered a daughter. The Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado was deeply revered by many, even after Pope Benedict XVI had forced him to leave public ministry over a completely different set of accusations dealing with sexual abuse of students. Many followers had felt that those accusations were unproved.
But when you cruise through an entire year of GetReligion posts, it really is amazing how much can happen in a year. There’s just so much stuff in this here weblog (and most of it still “works,” even though flaws in the cyberspace concept of a “permalink” creates some holes).
A fire caused extensive damage to the Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago this morning. There’s a really long, interesting and thorough article about the blaze and its repercussions over at Chicago Breaking News, which is a composite site for WGN, the Chicago Tribune and other media outlets:
