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You can learn a lot about a family by observing how it handles fights. And Laurie Goodstein’s Sunday New York Times story shows that as the breach between James Dobson and Focus on the Family grows, all parties are keeping quiet and pretending everything is OK.
Trailers, like the one above, have left me a bit in the dark about the premise of “The Book of Eli.” Clearly, it’s the future. The apocalypse has passed. And, apparently, the Road Warrior has ditched his ride and is now black. Based on those details alone, I knew I wanted to see the film, which opened today. (As I’ve mentioned, I like apocalyptic films.) What I couldn’t determine was whether the film’s theme was as biblical as the title suggests.
After I broke my leg when I was seven, I remember how painful it was to hobble up and down the steps at church. Before my leg healed, I remember asking my peers to hold one of my crutches so I could get down to a class. It felt quite dramatic, and I can’t imagine the lengths people have to go through if they are in a wheelchair. This is the issue that the Associated Press tackles in a recent story on how disabled worshipers struggle to find their place in the pews. The story is a good idea; the execution of it? Not so much.
I do not know about you, but I have been overwhelmed by the coverage of the earthquake in Haiti. I feel like I have been stranding underneath a digital waterfall of pain, trying to make some sense out of all of the details, trying to see the larger picture.
If disaster strikes, you can pretty much count on religious broadcaster Pat Robertson to say something about it that offends much of the population. It’s not just Robertson, of course. You might recall Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., saying Katrina was about God wanting to smite Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour or something. Anyway, with the horrific news out of Haiti, that the earthquake there led to unbelievable loss of life and property, Robertson came in on cue. And news organizations spread the word immediately. Here’s how CNN reported it:
I was reading Pope Benedict XVI’s recent speech to the Vatican’s diplomatic corps when I came across this quote:
Of the many heavy-handed copy editing ticks employed over the years at the Washington Times, one of the most contentious was the use of scare quotes around the term “gay marriage.” Actually, I think they used the term “homosexual marriage.” One of the first acts former editor John Solomon performed when he took over two years ago was to tell the copy desk to knock off the quotation marks.
