Journalism

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Unholy mess in the Holy Land

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On the day I arrived in Israel, where I was on an Act for Israel media fellowship, terrorists killed five members of the Fogel family. The day after I left, Hamas fired rockets from Gaza into Ashkelon. Israel responded with air strikes in Gaza. More rockets from Gaza … and then a bomb. The Jerusalem bomb was serious, injuring dozens of Israeli commuters and killing one woman. It was detonated extremely close to where I was staying in Jerusalem, just a two-minute walk or so from my hotel.


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Go for hajj ... immediately

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The Washington Post has a provocative story about the Justice Department suing a Chicago school district for outright religious discrimination. The reporter does a great job of writing the piece in a thorough and impartial manner. The facts are stated, multiple viewpoints are offered, and the result is a very interesting piece. Here’s how it begins:


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This Westboro voice sounds strangely familiar

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The Westboro Baptist Church saga has always intrigued and appalled me, in large part because of my background in church-state studies and First Amendment rights. I am also intrigued with people who are so radical that they defy easy description. As the old saying goes, sometimes people go so far to the right that they end up on the left (and vice versa).


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Mean Girls take on Chuck Colson

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Ever since the movie Mean Girls came out, I can’t help but think of the Washington Post “Style” section as the “Mean Girls” section. I sort of imagine its copy editors in the same way Lindsay Lohan’s character describes the animal world (see the movie clip). Now, we live in an era where such snark is almost certainly popular, but it really doesn’t set well with me — especially when applied to serious news topics.


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To toast or not to toast during Lent?

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There’s an old joke that Jews don’t recognize Jesus as the Messiah, Protestants don’t recognize the pope as the leader of the Christian faith and Baptists don’t recognize each other at the liquor store.


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A palatable, comfortable Christianity?

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I don’t watch MSNBC much but quite a few readers and friends sent along this video of host Martin Bashir interviewing Pastor Rob Bell. This one interview has turned into a kind of media event in and of itself.


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