Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
The Rev. Brad Braxton’s trials at Manhattan’s famed Riverside Church have been much reported since a few members of the congregation unsuccessfully sued their new pastor in April for receiving a pay and compensation package that exceeded $600,000 annually.
Whatever Vanity Fair pays its national editor, Todd S. Purdum, he earns every dollar with expertly crafted hit pieces. His lengthy takedown of Bill Clinton last year was satisfying for readers long troubled by Clinton’s various indiscretions, political and otherwise.
Since Barack Obama became President, the country has experienced a documented rise in sales of firearms and ammunition, not to mention concealed-carry permits. Recently Congress passed a bill allowing those of us who have permits and where the state allows concealed weapons to carry guns in national parks. And a columnist for Hernando Today says that he’s found an attempt by the National Rifle Association to link health care reform to an assault on gun rights.
Regular readers of this weblog know that that your GetReligionistas are fans of verbatim question-and-answer interviews, especially when they focus on religious (and political) leaders whose views have previously been crunched down into soundbites and factoids.
On Monday President Nicolas Sarkozy told French lawmakers that he supports banning women’s Islamic full-body veils like burqas and niqabs in public. Tuesday the Parliament voted to establish a commission to study whether women in France would be allowed to wear these garments.
The American Civil Liberties Union recently released a report arguing that the fight against terrorism has unduly interfered with Muslims’ religious freedom and hampered the work of Muslim charities. The report argues that U.S. statutes against funding of terrorist organizations are too broad and unfairly enforced. This has made it hard for Muslims to fulfill zakat, one of their religious obligations. Zakat is the giving of a small percentage of wealth (roughly 2.5%) as charity.
As I read the story from the Citizen-Times.com website, I tried to remember a few basics about what it’s like to write for a paper in a smaller market. Local papers (as in Asheville, North Carolina) might not have a full-time religion reporter. They often don’t have space for longer articles, thus making it possible for details to get lost. And they may assume that their local readers know about churches and institutions that those of us surfing from “abroad” might not know.
