The two voices that matter the most right now in Iran are using words that will be very hard to take back. Here’s the latest from the New York Times:
Reading sacred tea leaves in Iran
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Reader's Digest lurches right!
Reader’s Digest announced in November 2008 that it will work with evangelical pastor Rick Warren to produce a new magazine and a “Facebook for Christians” platform. In a report heavy with ideology, Stephanie Clifford of The New York Times treats the Warren deal, and a staff meeting at the corporate headquarters, as evidence that the company is turning more conservative:
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What would the Mahdi do?
Every now and then, editors really need to bite the bullet and tell their troops, “OK, this is just getting too complicated. We are going to have to make room for a sidebar that lets our readers know what in the heckfire we are talking about.”
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More SSPX men in black?
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Lenny Kravitz's (celibate?) love revolution
When Lenny Kravitz says he has been celibate for a time, whether it’s four months or (now) four years, a measured skepticism may be in order. Reporter Chris Heath brings that skepticism, however briefly, to a 5,500-word profile of Kravitz for the Telegraph.
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Define religious programming
Washington Post reporter Paul Farhi had a solid story about a new PBS ban on religious programming. Basically the board decided to forbid member stations from airing new religious programs but permitted those that already carry “sectarian” shows to continue to do so. It was a compromise from a proposed ban on all religious programming such as local church services or religious lectures.
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Struggling to keep his promises
The world-weary folks at the Washington Post Style section have made it official — the Sen. John Ensign affair is just no fun at all.
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Red Pakistan, blue Pakistan
I don’t know about you, but I really miss reading a good, newsy, weekly magazine. Thus, while I was on the road (that long trek, literally, around the world last week to speak in Manila, Bangalore and New Delhi) I really enjoyed getting to dig into a small stack of international editions of Time.
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Explaining zakat
The American Civil Liberties Union recently released a report arguing that the fight against terrorism has unduly interfered with Muslims’ religious freedom and hampered the work of Muslim charities. The report argues that U.S. statutes against funding of terrorist organizations are too broad and unfairly enforced. This has made it hard for Muslims to fulfill zakat, one of their religious obligations. Zakat is the giving of a small percentage of wealth (roughly 2.5%) as charity.
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