Scott and Jean Adam (pictured here) had their yacht Quest hijacked by Somali pirates last Friday. Also on board were Phyllis MacKay and Bob Riggle. (Recent reports say that all four were killed.) Piracy is a major problem in the unstable waters near Somalia and many people are following the story with interest. The U.S. Navy is even involved. Part of that may have to do with the recent sentencing of Somali pirate Abduwali Abukhadir Muse. When he received 34 years in prison last week, calls for retaliation were made.
First Timothy and the first baseman
As I may have mentioned once or twice here, I’m the world’s biggest St. Louis Cardinals fan. A high percentage of my free time in the last week has been spent thinking about the contract negotiations between the Cardinals and one of my very favorite players throughout history — Albert Pujols.
Got News? Persecuted Christian edition
Sometimes I think back to August and September when most mainstream media outlets were obsessed about the construction of an Islamic Center near Ground Zero and/or the planned (but never realized) burning of a Koran by a leader of a small church in Florida. Everywhere the media looked, they saw Islamophobia and it became the overarching narrative adopted by many figures in the media.
Hollywood's awkward God dance
A few weeks ago, I had what I call a “parenting failure.” I realized that my girls, ages 1 and 3, knew all the words to Justin Bieber’s “Baby” song.
The evangelical supercomputer Watson?
My family and I watch Jeopardy every night. This week we got to watch IBM computer Watson beat the pants off of two human competitors. It was great fun and a good way to learn more about advancements in computer science. One big limitation with computers is their inability to interact with human language. The engineers behind Watson aimed to improve just that.
Pod people: Snark vs. constructive criticism
On this week’s Crossroads podcast, we talk about Newsweek‘s “What the Bible really says about sex” and some of the journalistic weaknesses it contained. We also discuss the shallowness of celebrity coverage when it comes to talking religion.
Charlie Sheen, Hannah Montana and God
Of all the areas where media coverage of religion seems weak, celebrity news has to be up there. For a recent example, you can read this Associated Press account of Billy Ray Cyrus lamenting the effect of his daughter’s fame on his family. He apparently says, in a recent interview with GQ, that the Disney TV show “Hannah Montana” destroyed his family, caused his divorce and is sending daughter Miley Cyrus spinning out of control. At the end of this brief story, we learn:
Exegetical malpractice in -- of all places -- Newsweek
For a religion reporter editor of a major magazine, Lisa Miller of Newsweek can be woefully undereducated about some religion basics. Such as the Old and New Testaments.
I am an ad campaign
Have you seen those “I’m a Mormon” ads that are, well, everywhere I seem to go on the internet? They’re always the “recommended” YouTube video that pops up when I sign on to show my children pictures of cats or whatever.
