There are times when I really feel the pain of the brilliant folks who work with the polling and research division of the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.
Ch-ch-ch-changes in pews (saith Pew)
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The $600,000 sermon
There was something about the story in Monday’s New York Daily News that just didn’t have the ring of truth. The headline was “New Riverside Church Pastor Says His Raise Was Lord-Approved” and it began like this:
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Truth is mighty, and it shall prevail (updated)
Though we’ve looked at a bit of the coverage related to Notre Dame University’s conferral of an honorary degree and speaking slot for President Barack Obama, there’s a lot that we haven’t highlighted. Mostly that’s because the stories are fairly straightforward or just local repetitions of previous stories. The Washington Times reported that, as of Friday, 46 bishops had publicly castigated Notre Dame:
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Style over substance at Indy Star
As the battle of Notre Dame rages on, I have seen few, if any news reports that actually offer any hard information about what is happening on the campus.
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Speak softly and carry a big recording device
Back in December, Daniel Pulliam looked at the rather curious lack of coverage pertaining to undercover videos of Planned Parenthood employees providing advice that could violate Indiana criminal statutes. A University of California – Los Angeles student, posing as a 13-year-old impregnated by a 31-year-old boyfriend, had taped Planned Parenthood counselors at two Indiana clinics telling her how to avoid state laws about parental-consent on abortion and the reporting of child sex-abuse.
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Generational generalities
What is a religion story when it surfaces in the Style section of the New York Times? Let’s add another layer of complexity: what if that story is told as part of an ongoing series that aims to chronicle a generation through story-telling and personal reflection?
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Ghosts in the Armenian genocide
On Friday, President Barack Obama broke a campaign promise to Armenian voters to declare the 1915 massacre of Armenians an act of “genocide.” As Glenn Kessler noted in a March Washington Post story anticipating that this might happen, Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Vice President Joseph Biden for years have not minced words about labeling as “genocide” the deaths of Armenians. They regularly lambasted President George W. Bush for not using the word “genocide.” And Obama’s promise that he would use the word — compared with Sen. John McCain’s position — got him enthusiastic support among the Armenian community.
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Parade's invincible ignorance
From Walter Scott’s Personality Parade, addressing a question on whether Serena Williams’ choices in clothing are appropriate for a Jehovah’s Witness:
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A beheading; not an "honor killing"
The first time I read this Los Angeles Times feature story, I had some questions. However, since my questions were linked to THE major theme of the story, I kept trying to forget about them.
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