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A move to create publicly funded schools that are secular in name, but offer education in Islamic, Jewish and Catholic culture raises complicated questions — ones that don’t seem to have gotten an overwhelming amount of attention in the mainstream media.
This has been a week like no other in Washington. Following the deluge of visitors for the inauguration of President Barack Obama, another deluge of visitors crashed the mall yesterday for the 36th annual March for Life. I was able to attend both events.
When I got to my office this morning here on Capitol Hill, I picked up the Washington Post and started looking for its story on the annual March for Life, which usually brings somewhere between 200,000 and 400,000 people to the city to mark the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade. There are times when the advance story makes the Metro front, but most of the time you look for something short inside the paper somewhere.
So many religion stories this week, so little time. I wish there were more stories parsing the prayers of Bishop Gene Robinson and the Rev. Joseph Lowery, but it seems that almost all of the interest is with the Rev. Rick Warren. The variance in scrutiny is odd, to say the least.
If anyone needs any evidence that inaugurations are for the most part all about pomp and circumstance, see The Chicago Tribune‘s home page the day after the big event. The top of the “most read list” was an article about who made Michelle Obama’s dresses. Just below the front page’s top news story (“Obama freezes top-pay, adds ethic rules”) were two columns of articles — the first titled “fashion” and the second titled “The reaction.”
I am posting this video here for discussion for a very specific journalistic reason, even though I know I am stretching the boundaries of what we do here.
Some prayers and sermons are given more news value than others. For example, the fact that HBO did not broadcast Bishop V. Gene Robinson’s prayer on Sunday made a rather significant news ripple. However, a CNN interview with Colin Powell received priority over the mealtime prayer of Rear Admiral Barry C. Black (Ret.), U.S. Senate Chaplain, before Tuesday’s rather significant congressional luncheon with President Obama.
One of the more interesting articles I’ve read on Obama’s religious views — and one that would have been welcome during the campaign — was Eli Saslow’s piece in the Washington Post on Sunday titled “Obama’s Path to Faith Was Eclectic.”
Sitting in my house a few blocks from the Capitol, I’ve heard sirens blaring for days. Parking is difficult to find. The bridges are closed. Many of my friends have fled to Miami for the week. The mainstream media, which gave fawning coverage to President-elect Barack Obama throughout his campaign for president, is continuing with the love fest. I became a reporter during the George W. Bush presidency so the difference is notable.
