Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
The last time we tuned in the Southern Methodist University soap opera involving the George W. Bush presidential library, we were seeing lots of people claim that, for the faculty, this was an issue of academic freedom and, for a vocal chorus of Methodist clergy, it was a fight over W’s sins against “Methodist values” in foreign policy and a hot cultural issue or two.
In commenting on previous posts about the Super Bowl, GetReligion reader Evagrius has been quick and consistent in reminding us that football is just a “bloody, brutal and violent” game that has nothing to do with religion or Christianity. I respectfully disagree about the religion part (what sport in America has more religious people in it than football?), but that does not mean that the concerns Evagrius raises are not covered by the media, and many of them have a lot do with moral issues.
Fellow journalists, may I ask you a question? How would you feel if something that you wrote 25 years ago suddenly came swimming out of the digital mysts of the World Wide Web without warning?
Awesome. It’s kind of fun to find out that the culture warriors over at Slate have created a new feature that would be perfectly at home here at GetReligion.
The dominant theme in this year’s Super Bowl — one of the most media-intense events in the history of Earth — has been that this marks the first time two black coaches have led their teams to the big game. This is a compelling story line and deserves to be in the lede because of its historic significance, but there is a subtler story line that has been floating under the radar and is equally compelling.
Back when I was in graduate school at Baylor University in the late 1970s, I had a classmate who was considering doing graduate work at the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. This student was not a fundamentalist at all and, in fact, I believe that he soon converted to the Episcopal Church. As often happens, we lost touch after graduate school.
Anyone watching the aftermath of Sunday night’s amazing AFC Championship game between the Indianapolis Colts and the New England Patriots couldn’t help but be struck by the religious overtones in the language. Everyone, that is, except for the media, which seem to have so far ignored the religious elements of the story. I know that every other athlete credits God for their victories and accomplishments, but in this case, the story runs deeper and is genuinely more significant.
How delightful is it that both Hillary Clinton and Sam Brownback officially announced their plans to run for the presidency on the same sunny Saturday? Not that the announcements come as a surprise to anyone, but there is a slight irony that these two would share the spotlight.
I know that there are plenty of people out there who consider Fred Barnes of The Weekly Standard to be the ultimate scribe for the GOP and the Bush White House. I mean, check out the illustration I attached to this post.
