I always find it curious how the media cover the Episcopal Church so differently than other denominations in America. Remember all of the stories in recent years about dioceses and parishes leaving, the property disputes and realignments? Well, another church group is facing something similar, and for related reasons. Last year the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America voted to roster gay clergy who are in committed sexual relationships. Not just the vote but the reasoning behind it — which more traditional Lutherans viewed as an unacceptable rejection of Scripture as the source and norm of doctrine — led a similar exodus of parishioners and congregations. At least I think it was similar, but the coverage is making me wonder if it was wildly different.
Preschool and the culture wars
A model Park 51 discussion
Earlier this week I wrote something for the Washington Post/Newsweek “On Faith” section about media missteps in coverage of the mosque proposed to be built near ground zero. One of the points I made was that the media make the opposing sides in this debate seem farther apart than they are:
Unorthodox wordings, to say the least
Trust me, I know that covering religion news is complicated, especially when you are dealing with ancient religious groups in which it seems that everything is encrusted with centuries worth of doctrine, tradition, rubrics and symbolism. However, facts and facts and words matter.
Islamophobia holiday
Talk about bad timing. Eid al-Fitr, the three-day celebration that concludes the month of Ramadan, ends on an unfortunate date this year: Sept. 11. And that is causing problems for some planned celebrations like the customary Eid festival that was canceled in Fresno.
5Q+1: Joshunda Sanders on sacred and secular
Today I remembered why I like Joshunda Sanders’ Of Secred and Secular blog so much. She often teases that local angle out of a national issue, or finds something fresh locally.
Ghosts in a breast milk fatwa
There were two stories out of Saudi Arabia last week that begged for more detail. The first told of a judge who asked hospitals if they could sever a man’s spinal cord in order to paralyze him as punishment for injuries he inflicted during a fight. In many cases the stories didn’t highlight the judicial principle that motivated the judge’s request — a strict adherence to “an eye for an eye” judicial code. Or even if they mentioned the principle, they didn’t include a healthy discussion of the theology underlying it or the various interpretations of it.
Discrimination v. adoption agencies
Back in 2007, Mollie mentioned that the British government had passed a law requiring all adoption agencies to provide services to gay couples. Now we’re seeing ramifications from that law in recent stories about a Catholic adoption agency’s loss in court.
All the single ladies
I frequently mention how much I appreciate interesting stories about day-to-day religious life. A few weeks ago we looked at that great New York Times piece about how different religious adherents live out their faith in their residential choices.
