Mainline

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High court: higher power?

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Bloggers everywhere cringed after Radar falsely claimed Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts was stepping down. “JGR would sooner die-literally-than give Obama the chance to appoint his successor,” said one expert. Supreme Court replacements are, as Ron Burgundy might say, kind of a big deal. That is why Justice John Paul Stevens, who turns 90 next month, is receiving some buzz treatment from media outlets like the Washington Post.


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Got news? Got news! PCUSA and Israel

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I was all set to make this a “Got news?” post. I had been reading rumblings about an upcoming Presbyterian Church (USA) report in the religious and conservative press, but nothing in the mainstream media. Here’s a sample religious media report and here’s a bit from the conservative Weekly Standard:


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Getting right with God and government

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It was only four years ago that Catholic Charities of Boston announced that it was getting out of the adoption business in order to comply with new state laws dealing with sexual orientation discrimination and same-sex marriage. Last month the District of Columbia, where I live, voted to legalize same-sex marriage.


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Give that reader a contract!

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A group of 13 clergy in Ohio petitioned the IRS to investigate the organization that owns a red brick townhouse on Capitol Hill. The C Streeters claim a tax exemption as a church but the clergy group say it’s more an “exclusive club for elected officials” than a church. I wasn’t elated with the early reporting I saw on the claim but this NPR story is particularly notable. Here’s how it begins:


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John Murtha, Catholic? Presbyterian?

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There is no question that Rep. John Murtha was a giant on the Democratic side of the aisle in the House of Representatives. Thus, it was no surprise that his funeral received significant coverage in the publications that specialize in covering life on the Hill.


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Voo dat?

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We cover stories about the intersection of sports and religion a lot here, but I had to point out this New Orleans Times-Picayune piece about the strong ties the religious community has to the New Orleans Saints. I’m a huge fan of sports but not a huge fan of the way that some clergy elevate sports to the level of the divine. Still, this story did a good job of explaining how this interplay works in the unique alternative universe that is New Orleans.


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Got news? Monogamy and gay unions

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A few months ago, when the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America voted to affirm gay clergy in “monogamous” relationships, tmatt noted that the word has different definitions among gay theologians.


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The rise of the Calvinists

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When Scott Brown, R-Mass., was elected to the U.S. Senate a couple of weeks ago, I noted the lack of media coverage of his religious views. I had just assumed he was Roman Catholic since no one had said anything. Turns out he’s Protestant and belongs to a type of church that normally doesn’t get much media coverage.


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Worship under the bright lights

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Among the stories looking back at President Barack Obama’s first year in office, we’ve seen a few revisiting his worship life. More than a few readers sent in this story from ABC News, headlined “Holy BlackBerry! Obama Finds Ways to Keep the Faith During First Year in Office: Has the First Family’s D.C. Church Search Come to a Close?” Here’s the lede:


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