My husband and I are expecting a baby this August. During the AFC Championship Game in January, we were having a conversation with a friend who decided that if the baby is a boy, we should force him to become a football kicker. Our friend’s reasoning was that even relatively bad professional kickers make $400,000 a year. I told him to stop any such discussion because I hate it when parents force their children to fulfill the parents’ desires. Besides, I added, I want him to become a pastor.
'GetReligion week' for Chuck Colson
It seems like it’s “Let’s try our hand at GetReligion work” week at the Chuck Colson research staff office.
Amen! More candor, please
Well, I really think I have to agree with veteran columnist and media critic John Leo. The following sentences are some of the strangest I have read in a major newspaper in a long time.
Bible Girl is still at work
For those who are interested, Julie “Bible Girl” Lyons of the Dallas Observer has written a follow-up column to her hellish piece last week on the accusations of sexual abuse against Pastor Sherman Allen, a superstar Pentecostal preacher at the Shiloh Institutional Church of God in Fort Worth.
A non-gimmicky religion story
In an interesting discussion on how religion reporters should handle self-identification when it’s contested, reader Chris Bolinger — a former stringer — made this comment:
Explaining the Episcopalians
I thought that I would, for obvious reasons, let the whole Anglican warfare thing rest for a few days. However, all good things must come to an end.
Why is she Catholic?
New York Times religion reporter Neela Banerjee profiled Frances Kissling who is stepping down as president of Catholics for a Free Choice. The group, which she has been with for almost 30 years, supports abortion and artificial contraception. The Roman Catholic Church has different doctrines.
GetReligion, or maybe not
I just received an email from the Rev. Dr. Arne H. Fjeldstad of Norway, the Lutheran pastor and veteran newspaper editor who is the director of the Oxford Centre for Religion and Public Life, which is the organization that brings you GetReligion (be patient, that website is just getting started).
Can we call Lost Tomb a hoax now?
Question: does anyone other than the good folks behind the Discovery Channel documentary The Lost Tomb of Jesus believe the claims that this crypt contained the bones of Jesus Christ? I have yet to see any independent confirmation anywhere, or anyone (other than the filmmakers) expressing a single bit of confidence that any of this could be true.
