World Religions

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Ghosts in those one-sided news reports about victims in Syria

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Rare is the day that I do not receive at least one or two emails from Eastern Orthodox Christians, or those sympathetic to the plight of Christians in the Middle East, containing URLs pointing toward new reports about alleged atrocities linked to the fighting or acts of terrorism in Syria, Egypt or elsewhere. The common question: Why are these events rarely if ever covered by mainstream news organizations in North America?


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UK's Telegraph finds atheists in Florida -- film at 11

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Here’s a shocker: America is becoming more secular, atheism is on the rise and — get this! — for now there are more observant Muslims than Jews in Florida. Of course, it depends on whether you define a Jew as one who practices the Jewish faith or simply identifies culturally.


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The Washington Post hints at religious ghosts in India's rape crisis

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Several years ago, during a tour to promote The Media Project book called “Blind Spot: When Journalists Don’t Get Religion,” I took part in an excellent forum about religion and the news at a media institute in Bangalore, India. Here’s how I described that scene in a 2010 post that ran with the headline, “Life and death (and faith) in India.”


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On Pope Francis: What matters most is, 'Who am I to judge?'

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Pope Francis has been warned. The powers that be at Time magazine have named him the Person of the Year, but they are watching him carefully to make sure he measures up to their expectations.


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Vote now! Time serves up correction of the year (updated)

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It may be the religion-beat question of the year. So all together now: Why is Pope Francis so popular with mainstream journalists?


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RNS: It's no rumor; Turks want Hagia Sophia as a mosque

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I just did a quick search in my email files and it appears that I started receiving alerts about the following story in 2007 — all linked to appeals for Eastern Orthodox Christians to sign petitions opposing Turkish efforts to turn the iconic Hagia Sophia back into a mosque.


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Missing nuns, missing details, in Maaloula (updated)

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Trust me on this. I know that it must be impossible for journalists to cover events in the war-torn land of Syria right now without getting their heads blown off. This is especially true for correspondents linked to Western news organizations that are trying to cover the actions of Islamist radicals.


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Blessed corpses — and holy ghosts — after typhoon

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Here’s my nominee for “Most Bland Headline of the Weekend.” It appeared atop an Associated Press report:


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