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You don’t have to read this blog very long to realize that your GetReligionistas are not fond of religious labels — especially inaccurate uses of words such as “fundamentalist” and the lazy use of vague, content-free words such as “moderate.”
I keep wondering why people who seem so interested in killing Jews also deny that they were killed in the Holocaust. The latest example is this 88-year-old white supremacist who killed a security guard at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. The Associated Press‘ Brett Zongker and Calvin Woodward had a thorough story with information about the crime:
Yesterday an elderly white supremacist shot and killed a private security guard at the Holocaust Museum in Washington. The horrible act comes on the heels of the murder of an American soldier at a military recruiting center, which itself came on the heels of the murder of late-term abortion doctor George Tiller.
As any reporter knows, it’s hard to write a story about the beliefs of an individual, let alone the motives of a killer, if you are not able to talk to the person.
This week’s edition of Time features a 2,400-word essay by Robert Wright, and it’s one of the most amusing exercises in eisegesis I’ve read in a very long time. The cover of Time promotes the essay, an excerpt from Wright’s new book The Evolution of God, as cracking a code embedded in the Scriptures of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The article’s subtitle suggests that, if the monotheistic Scriptures are read correctly (i.e., with Wright’s code in mind), this may even create the possibility of reconciliation and religious harmony.
President Obama’s Cairo speech seemed to have a very broad, some would say impossible agenda. First off, to make it evident how he sees the political realities on the ground — and give some hint of his priorities. Second, to reach the broadest possible spectrum of believers with his call for religious liberty and tolerance. Third, of course, and the one that got top billing, to reach out particularly to Muslims around the world. And I’m sure there are some others that I’ve forgotten to mention.
In his attempts to build bridges on abortion, President Barack Obama has been able to draw favorable coverage by changing the words he uses to talk about the issue, while only hinting at minor policy changes that do not address core issues linked to any restrictions on abortion. Now, many mainstream journalists are now drawing parallels between the president’s approach on abortion with his historic Cairo University speech on tensions between America, Israel and the Arab world.
A couple of days ago, President Barack Obama conducted a few interviews in anticipation of his upcoming speech to Muslims. In one of the interviews, he made a statement about the religious make-up of the United States of America. Here’s how the New York Times wrote it up:
Following on Doug’s questions about differences in media coverage of the murders of Dr. George Tiller and Army recruiter Pvt. William Long, it’s been interesting to see how different political groups are talking about the two murders.
