Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
It is hard to read the recent Washington Post story about the rising power of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egyptian political life without concluding that the most important word in it is “Islamist.” After all, this term shows up 11 times in the text — including in the lede.
When the experts start talking about elite private universities — non-Atlantic Coast division — Vanderbilt is always near the top of the list. The school is so prominent, especially as a member of a major sports conference, that people often forget that it is, in fact, a private school.
If you are going to read the latest New York Times piece on candidate Rick Santorum and the “Catholic vote,” your first task is to keep reading — past the headline, the one that simply says: “Santorum Fails to Capture Catholic Vote.”
It didn’t take me very long, after I arrived in Charlotte, N.C., to get a bit frustrated with the leaders of that city’s powerful African-American churches.
Anyone who has followed American politics since, oh, roughly 1973, knows that one of most consistent patterns, election after election, is this: The more people attend worship services, the more likely they are to vote for candidates who are moral and cultural conservatives. This is a clear pattern among white voters and if you are looking for conservative voters among African-American and Latino voters, you are most likely to find them — as a vocal minority — in their churches.
It is impossible to cover sports without, somehow, studying sports. It’s impossible to cover business without — formally or informally — studying business. Ditto for politics, the arts, science, etc., etc.
As I mentioned the other day, the historic Catholic throne in Baltimore has a new archbishop and he also happens to be an emerging leader in America’s increasingly tense debates about religious liberty. Just wait until some of these issues hit the U.S. Supreme Court (and you know that they will).
Gentle readers, when it comes to evaluating that recent Washington Post story about Rick Santorum and Opus Dei, I have some good news and some bad news.
There are days when the age of specialty websites and reporters are especially cruel to the old guard in the mainstream press.
