Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
Sometimes religion stories are about what happens at the sweeping level of doctrine, traditional and denominational controversy. And sometimes journalists have the chance to inspire readers to ponder the question –could I do that?
I’ve been following the news about the disruption of an alleged terror plot with some interest. Two of the accused — Najibullah Zazi and his father Mohammed Wali Zazi — hail from my native state of Colorado. The news of the plot broke shortly after the eighth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. I had a hunch that there was a religion angle to the story but it was left completely unexplored by many of the reports I was reading.
Sunday’s New York Times profile of filmmaker Michael Moore, whose “Capitalism: A Love Story” opens nationwide Oct. 2, asked readers to view Moore as a modern-day embodiment of Charlie Chaplin:
About eight years ago I went with a group of congregants in a previous church to partner in work for a week with a West Virginia congregation down near Kentucky in the “hollers”. I don’t eat meat, so I was eager to get to a grocery store and buy some lettuce and other vegetables to supplement the carb-heavy fare at the church.
It died down a bit in recent years but remember the so-called War on Christmas? That’s where various elements in the culture try to secularize or otherwise diminish the sacredness of the season leading up to Christmas. I myself like to talk of the War on Advent (the actual season that precedes Christmas Day) as well as the wars on various other liturgical seasons and festivals. And what about the Jewish liturgical calendar? How much do we read in the mainstream media about the meaning and significance of Jewish holy days?
Here is another look into the church-state future, another case of a classic liberal value from the past clashing with a powerful liberal value from the modern world.
I still remember my wife’s remark when I told her I was going to the Reagan Library for the annual banquet hosted by the Republican Jewish Coalition:
A couple of days ago I wrote about Darryl Fears’ snarky Washington Post story about the independent journalists who have targeted community organizing group ACORN. Their videos show employees of ACORN advising how to set up a brothel with underage girls (who are sex-trafficked!) in the most tax-friendly way. It’s not much of a religion story but Fears has been trying to make it one. And with the reticence that much of the mainstream media has had in covering the story, perhaps it’s good that the Post is covering it at all.
