Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
Four years ago, a battle over religion at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs seemed intractable. Now tempers are cooler, according to an Associated Press story by Dan Elliott. Interestingly, the story, “Air Force Academy says religious climate improving,” says one solution to the problem was more religion, not less:
Unless you have been on another planet for several decades, you have heard the phrase “War on Christmas” tossed about in the mainstream press and Fox News, too (cue: rim shot and cymbal).
When I became a parent, I was introduced to a world with a lot of fighting. Not between my husband and me — we get along great. But there can be some pretty serious fights in the Mommy Wars. These range from whether mothers should work outside the home to whether they should breastfeed exclusively. And one of the fiercest debates is over vaccination.
I haven’t been following Swiss politics, so the headline on top of page A6 of Monday’s New York Times, “Swiss Ban Building of Minarets on Mosques,” was surprising, as was the lengthy (800+ words) article:
I was having a private conversation the other day, soon after the Fort Hood massacre, with a specialist in issues of religious freedom and, in particular, Jihadist persecution of moderate Muslims and various religious minorities in predominately Muslim lands.
I know from personal experience that Terre Haute, Indiana, is not the most happening place. But is “Church sign raises objection” really one of the most newsworthy items of the day?
Every now and then, the avid news reader clicks on a link or opens up a newspaper and is faced with something so strange that it simply cannot be comprehended. As we have seen recently, this seems to happen quite often in MSM coverage of religion.
Can followers of one faith tradition benefit from learning about teachings and techniques that derive from other faith traditions? If so, how much time and energy should they devote to such ecumenical studies? And how much should they allow insights from other faiths to inform and even shape their spiritual lives?
