Religion ghosts float in and out of news stories, good stories as well as shallow, incomplete stories. Sometimes people see the ghosts and that’s a good thing.
Parade's invincible ignorance
From Walter Scott’s Personality Parade, addressing a question on whether Serena Williams’ choices in clothing are appropriate for a Jehovah’s Witness:
Searching for "Russian things" in DC
This is Holy Week in the ancient Orthodox churches of the East, which means that today is Good Friday and, just before midnight on Saturday, we will begin the lengthy and glorious rites of Pascha, which is called Easter in the West. This is our feast of feasts and follows and lengthy march through 40 or so unique services of preparation.
Why did Dungy say no?
National Public Radio had an interesting interview a few days ago regarding the announcement of former Indianapolis Colts coach and Super Bowl champion Tony Dungy’s invitation to President Obama’s White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Yes, the invitation was officially announced (nice work Dan Gilgoff), and yes, Dungy declined that invitation for the stated reason of the time constraints of a retired NFL coach.
Veggie menu eases sacred concerns?
My favorite quote coming out of the controversy over the Detroit Tigers’s decision to schedule their home opener during the time Jesus Christ is believed to have hung on the cross on Good Friday goes as quoted in The Detroit News:
God only thinks he's Mitch Barnhart
A story on ESPN.com, describing the uncertain future of basketball coach Billy Gillispie at the University of Kentucky, vividly illustrates the dangers of trying to fill in the blanks:
Faith in the backdrop
Amidst this country’s discussion on race, the subject of religion appears more often than not, but not always in the appropriate context. The importance of churches, religious groups and faith in the civil rights movement cannot be overstated. A striking area that should not be forgotten is the effect race has played, particularly in the south, in scholastic athletics.
Breaking news: sex sells
A few years ago, a “wardrobe malfunction” grabbed the country’s attention during the nation’s annual celebration of consumerism and marketing (and in-between, there were some violent expressions of athleticism). Amongst this year’s Super Bowl commercials, marketers for a certain Internet domain registrar and Web hosting company grabbed its fair share of attention by producing an ad that was deemed “the most watched commercial among TiVo users.”
Happy five years!
It seems like just a few months ago that I was compiling my list of top stories from the previous year. Regardless of how quickly I would like to see time fly by, what follows is my summary from the past year and a celebration of this blog’s five years in existence.
