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I am a fool for love stories and for weddings — not enough to subscribe to Modern Bride, but enough to buy the People Extra devoted to weddings. (“Inspiring True Love Stories!” “Dogs in the Ceremony!” “Wild Theme Weddings!”) I came away from this issue of People about as saddened as I would be by a loud reception filled with people doing the White People’s Overbite.
On Pentecost Sunday, my mother’s youngest brother and his family joined a congregation of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. This marked the last of my mother’s siblings to leave the United Church of Christ. She also has a Roman Catholic brother, a brother who I believe is a New Age spiritualist, and a Lutheran sister.
My husband is a huge Judd Apatow fan, which means we saw the crassly-named film Knocked Up on the night it came out. The film is not religious, save a few mentions of the protagonist’s Judaism. But coverage of the film has touched quite a bit on religious themes. Knocked Up is a comedy about how a man grows up after he impregnates a beautiful woman during a one-night-stand. Without giving anything away, I think it’s okay for me to share with you that the female in question delivers the baby rather than have an abortion.
It is, sadly, the kind of story that you see in the newspaper regularly if you live in a big city, especially one in the urban Northeast.
A week ago I strongly criticized the tongue bath interview that 60 Minutes’ Mike Wallace had with Jack Kevorkian. Kevorkian was just released from prison for the murder of one of the 130 people whose lives he ended or helped to end.
I’m not terribly clear on why the federal government has a surgeon general, but it’s been one of the highest-ranked public health positions in the land since Ulysses S. Grant filled it with John Maynard Woodworth in 1871. President Bush’s nominee for the vacant seat is one Dr. James W. Holsinger, a University of Kentucky professor.
Every now and then, a topic covered here at GetReligion kind of hangs around in my mind and turns into one of my weekly “On Religion” columns for the Scripps Howard News Service. That’s what happened this week.
Jack Kevorkian, the former pathologist and convicted murderer, was released from prison last week. It’s been interesting to see how the mainstream media have treated him and the euthanasia issue he is associated with. They’ve largely touted him as a compassionate, passionate doctor who helped terminally ill people in need of being put out of their misery. Any voices, such as those in the disability advocate group Not Dead Yet, that note that most of those who were killed with Kevorkian’s help weren’t terminally ill so much as disabled or depressed — were silenced.
USA Today‘s “Lives of indelible impact” is one of the stranger lists I’ve seen for some time. The concept is not new, as Beliefnet has published its “Most Inspiring Person of the Year” feature for several years now. Within context, the list makes sense: To celebrate its 25th anniversary, the newspaper is publishing 25 lists of 25 items each.
