Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
At the end of the Time cover story about efforts to reopen the Pir Mohammed School in Senjaray, Afghanistan, the commander of the 120 U.S. soldiers located there gets caught up in an all-to-common tragedy.
Did you read this Sunday New York Times story about Swami Ramdev headlined “Indian Who Built Yoga Empire Works on Politics“? I don’t know if it was worse as a religion news story or as a political news story but it really failed to even begin to adequately explain either the religious or political situation in India.
I’ve long complained about the puff piece profiles that run in the Washington Post‘s Style section. The last few times we’ve discussed these profiles it’s been in relation to one done on a supporter of traditional marriage laws. These profiles tend to be favorable no matter which side of the aisle the subject sits on, but in the case of National Organization for Marriage executive director Brian Brown, that was not acceptable to many of the Post‘s more liberal readers.
Now, what happens when you combine the complexities of religious doctrine with the intricate, and at times agonizing, nature of the hair-splitting debates that take place in the U.S. Supreme Court? Only the brave enter that kind of maze.
The Northern Baptist Convention? As the Southern Baptist Convention faces declining membership and baptism numbers, a task force has drafted a resurgence plan.
Bruce Waltke’s resignation from Reformed Theological Seminary Orlando set off a mini debate in the blogging world after he made remarks in a BioLogos Foundation video related to a paper endorsing the acceptance of evolution. ABC (video on the right) has picked up the news and run with an embarrassingly simplistic story.
Back in 2004, a Christian student group was denied recognition at the University of California’s Hastings College of Law because it required its officers and voting members to uphold certain Christian teachings. The school said that the group couldn’t discriminate on the basis of religious belief.
For better or for worse, the Westboro Baptist church does make headlines and there is no end in sight. Thus, it’s incumbent upon folks in the press to ask some questions about how this congregation operates. (We’ve been doing that a lot more of than usual this week.)
Most great stories feature a compelling good guy and a nasty bad guy, the kind of villain that likes to tear down good people and places. It also helps if the story includes some giant, transcendent symbol that is in danger of being destroyed.
