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You may recall a recent post by Bobby Ross Jr., about a press release that the Associated Press published about the Claremont School of Theology’s plan to start providing theological education for Muslim imams and Jewish rabbis, as well as clergy for United Methodist and other liberal mainline Protestant congregations.
After taking in the fireworks last night, I spent some time sifting through Google Reader and surfing Google News for religion-related Fourth of July stories. Not a lot of interesting articles out there. Mainly, I saw a lot of old fare.
If you are a fan of professional football — especially if you live in Nashville or Baltimore — the July 4th weekend marked the anniversary of the murder of Steve McNair.
Happy Independence Day! On Friday, we looked at the 4,000-word New York Times attack against Pope Benedict XVI. Much of the story was a good exploration of the complexity of Vatican canon law that contributed to difficulties in quickly resolving some of the sex abuse crisis. But much of it — including the first breathless paragraphs — was blatant editorializing against Benedict without substantiation. I came out strong against it because it was a deeply unfair piece that argued against where its own reporting led. I thought it would be interesting to review how the piece was being received in other quarters.
I must confess that my first post about the Beliefnet.com sale, which included information on the conservative roots of the buyers, ended with a gentle note of snark.
Last week, we looked at coverage of a magazine article that exposed a pastor’s participation in a group for men “struggling with same-sex attraction.” At that point, I highlighted the good and bad sections of an Associated Press article that covered the fallout of the original article.
As you would expect, your GetReligionistas have been getting quite a bit of email asking what we think of the sale of Beliefnet.com by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation. Folks are especially interested in the semi-mysterious buyers.
The New York Times has published yet another massive (4,000 words this time) hit piece on Pope Benedict XVI.
Salt-and-pepper hair. Western-style mustache. Cowboy hat. Thomas Mitchell looks like my kind of editor.
