So former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich was received into the Roman Catholic Church this past weekend. He had been Baptist. For most people, conversion isn’t exactly a political event. But when you’re a prominent Republican whose name is being mentioned as a possible future candidate for President, well, everything is political.
Quinn Bradlee's archangel
We’ve been tough on Sally Quinn here at GetReligion, and there’s no need to revisit those disputes today. Instead, I want to enjoy a tribute to Quinn by her only son as he describes what it’s like to live with Velo-Cardio-Facial Syndrome.
Faith and flooding in Fargo
Journalistically speaking, this might not be the best story you read today. It’s a bit choppy and seems to weld two different stories together. But they’re both important stories and one is about how churches are responding to the flooding in Fargo.
Dumbing down devout
2384 Divorce is a grave offense against the natural law. It claims to break the contract, to which the spouses freely consented, to live with each other till death. Divorce does injury to the covenant of salvation, of which sacramental marriage is the sign. Contracting a new union, even if it is recognized by civil law, adds to the gravity of the rupture: the remarried spouse is then in a situation of public and permanent adultery …
Got news? State Department edition
I thought I’d wait to write this post until I saw mainstream media coverage of one particular aspect of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico. And then, thousands of stories about the visit to Mexico later, I realized that the press wasn’t going to be covering it.
Cartoon double standards?
I’m wondering if syndicated cartoonist Pat Oliphant shouldn’t resist the urge to use his acid brush to depict religious angles. Last time we discussed his work, he was demonstrating his ignorance and hatred of Pentecostalism on the pixelated pages of the Washington Post.
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:
Why not 14-year-olds?
A federal judge ordered the Food and Drug Administration this week to make the Plan B “morning-after” birth control pill available over the counter to girls aged 17. It was already available over the counter to women aged 18 and older.
Letting the story go free
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch featured an interesting package yesterday about prison inmates who are exonerated years after their convictions.
