Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
It’s got to be hard being the Church of Scientology. Germany doesn’t want you; Wikipedia has banned your computers; protesters are trying to separate Beck from your fold; guys with samurai swords are challenging your guards; and all that Xenu talk just won’t go away.
Earlier in the week I linked to the Washington Post story headlined “‘God gap’ impedes U.S. foreign policy, task force says.” Some readers will be delighted to see that it’s bylined by Godbeat fave David Waters. Here’s the lede:
We’re certainly getting our fill of “The Star Spangled Banner” from the Winter Games, but a private college in Indiana will soon begin playing the National Anthem before sporting events for the first time.
As controversies about the d-word go, this one is actually pretty mild. In this case, the “devout Christian” is not a mother who stood by while the queen of her alternative religious groups allegedly starved her young son to death (or worse) and then watched his tiny body stuffed into a suitcase with mothballs and fabric softener.
Earlier this week in Haiti, a group of Christians ran a group of Vodou followers away from a pavilion where they were trying to conjure spirits as part of a memorial service to honor their deceased brethren. The Christians pelted the worshipers with rocks and accused the Vodou followers of being responsible for dangerous aftershocks that had hit Haiti since the devastating earthquake a month ago.
If you’ve heard about the exclusive story that will be in tomorrow’s Haaretz’s Weekend Magazine, the news that for more than a decade a Hamas founder’s son served as a spy to Israel’s security agency, then you’ve almost certainly heard a component of the story that’s two obvious for the media to miss. In fact, this element of the story was its own story — and a good story at that — in 2008.
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One of the hottest recent stories down in Texas has been a series of church burnings. Authorities have now accused two men of arson in these cases and there are details in the life of one of these former Baptists that are interesting, to say the least.
A group of 13 clergy in Ohio petitioned the IRS to investigate the organization that owns a red brick townhouse on Capitol Hill. The C Streeters claim a tax exemption as a church but the clergy group say it’s more an “exclusive club for elected officials” than a church. I wasn’t elated with the early reporting I saw on the claim but this NPR story is particularly notable. Here’s how it begins:
