Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
Sometimes the most interesting religion stories are about some small angle in daily life. And the Washington Post‘s William Wan has found a great one. He looks at how folks have filled out the “religious views” box on Facebook. Mine says “Confessional Lutheran,” for instance.
This last Friday of August 2009 marks the final post of my third stint with GetReligion. I am grateful for each of my excursions with GetReligion since February 2003, and I thank my longtime friend Terry Mattingly for making each one possible.
I’ve wanted to look at some of the coverage of the death of Sen. Ted Kennedy but haven’t quite been sure what to say of the it. From my perspective as a Capitol Hill reporter, he was a blast to cover — a fascinating man to watch in action either at work or play. And not that I would “cover” him at worship but I even saw him once at St. Joseph’s — the Senate-side Catholic Church that I have visited with friends.
Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA Today’s longtime religion reporter, had an interesting story recently about the growing number of Americans who are opting out of clergy-led funeral services. It’s not clear what kind of growth in the secular death business we’re talking about — it appears cold, hard numbers aren’t available — but Grossman writes that times have really changed:
You might remember the unbelievable story of Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton. He’s the guy who had the unbelievable performance at last year’s Home Run Derby. It wasn’t just that he had a first-round record — crushing 28 home runs in the first round and at one point hitting 13 home runs in 13 swings. But what was particularly noteworthy about the whole thing is that he’s a recovering addict. And what puts this into GetReligion territory is his incessant discussion of his faith and how God saved him from a rather miserable life.
The Westboro Baptist Church must be the most objectionable Christian community in the United States. You know them from their “God Hates Fags” and “God Loves Dead Soldiers” posters and from their inability to find communion with pretty much any other Christians. They are a fringe organization, not simply “fundamentalists,” with less followers than countless minority religious groups spread across the country.
So last week, President Obama pitched his health care reform plan to religious leaders. Elizabeth looked at some of the coverage last Thursday of the “false witness” remarks. One angle that received surprisingly little mainstream coverage was Obama’s statement that “We are God’s partners in matters of life and death.”
