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Building an image

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Dubai, the largest city in the United Arab Emirates, has long been known as an influential port city. But it’s a huge tourist destination as well. The city is constantly building, allegedly claiming 15-25 percent of the world’s cranes. It has the tallest man-made structure, the only 7-star hotel, massive man-made islands in the shape of a palm tree. Half the time I see pictures of Dubai, I’m unsure if what I’m seeing is real or computer generated.


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Abortion in a strangely faithless Russia

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From time to time, readers on the left side of the cultural aisle get upset with the GetReligionistas because of the amount of space we dedicate to abortion and other “Culture of Life” issues.


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Misrepresenting Christians and torture

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Last month, Catholic writer and blogger Eve Tushnet urged us to write more about coverage of the religious debate over the Bush administration’s policies regarding torture. For weeks, I looked in vain for the press’ treatment of the issue, which has fallen into eclipse. But then evangelicals inaugurated an annual conference about torture and the neo-conservative publication The Weekly Standard wrote about it. Now I had something to write about.


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Looking for religion at the debate

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Few things excite me more than a good presidential debate. Tonight I’ll be live blogging certain aspects of the first debate between the Democratic Candidate Barack Obama and the Republican Candidate John McCain. While it is supposed to focus on foreign policy (and no doubt the economy will be something of a topic), my focus will be on any religious aspects that may come up. Other items are fair game for comment of course.


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Going to the dogs, revisited

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About three months ago, Stephanie Strom of The New York Times broke the news that hotel heiress Leona Helmsley had given $5 billion to $8 billion in her bequest to her dog Trouble. As I wrote, the otherwise fascinating story failed to account for the origins of Helmsley’s misanthropy.


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Policing prayer

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Six of 17 chaplains Virginia State Police chaplains have resigned because of new restrictions on prayer. The state police superintendent ordered them to offer only non-denominational prayers at public events. All stories about movement on First Amendment protections are big and the Washington-area papers made sure to cover it.


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Missing religion in academia

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The New York Times earlier this week had a very interesting story on the latest strategy from conservatives to gain influence on American institutions of higher learning. The article takes the perspective that a lot of what these conservatives are doing is a sly new strategy to turn the clock back in American education:


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Apples, oranges in political pulpits

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Clearly, we are going to see a wave of coverage this weekend — perhaps peaking on Monday — focusing on the Alliance Defense Fund and the protests being planned under its “Pulpit Initiative.” As a guy with a degree in church-state studies, I am both fascinated and stunned by what is about to happen. It’s like preparing for a giant — yet scheduled — train wreck, and a strategic one, to boot.


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