Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
My colleague Jeremy Lott has observed that when you argue with puppets you are bound to lose. Andy Havens of Church Marketing Sucks has argued a broader point: Never argue with a fictional character.
One of the classes I teach at Palm Beach Atlantic University is called “Exegete the Culture” and it focuses on the religious content of popular culture and the influence of mass media on the church. The class is built on the concept of the “signal,” defined as a single piece of popular culture that addresses a topic of eternal interest to people of faith.
Some writers are worth reading because they are talented stylists. Regardless of whether I agree with the points these writers make, watching them make the case is its own reward. Several writers fill this role for me, including Christopher Hitchens, Andrew Ferguson, Paul Greenberg, James Lileks, Katha Pollitt, Anna Quindlen, Mark Steyn and Andrew Sullivan.
On Thursday I asked if anyone recognized the church featured in the ill-fated “lusty cleric” Super Bowl TV ad for the Lincoln Mark LT pickup. Thanks to Tim at Random Observations, here is the answer: It’s La Verne (Calif.) United Methodist Church.
The past few months have been strange at the intersection of faith and advertising, beginning with the big three networks’ rejection of the United Church of Christ’s TV spots and continuing with Rolling Stone‘s temporary rejection of an ad promoting a new gender-inclusive version of the Bible.
Much of the recent coverage and the commentary on James Dobson has been entirely predictable, focusing on the buffoonery of another evangelical seeing sinister forces behind another popular children’s show.
Some of you may have heard that we had a wedding down here in Palm Beach County. Yes, Donald Trump’s third trip to the altar did receive a little bit of media attention here and elsewhere.
In a story that must have been in the can for a while, Newsweek reports that 271 independent members of what used to be known as the Christian Booksellers Association closed down in 2003. No word on store closures for 2004, but Bill Anderson, president of the CBA, “estimates that 200 more are sputtering.”
ÃÆâÃâÃâ¬Ãââ The Guardian reports on a harmonic convergence of weirdness known as Jerry Springer: The Opera:
