Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
A couple of years ago I reviewed a few books about the concept of the Sabbath as it’s understood by various groups. The piece generated a bit of feedback, most from parents and grandparents who were livid about the increasing practice of having competitive games on Sunday mornings.
I realize that, in the world of blogging, many folks — take your GetReligionistas — are pretty open when it comes to talking about where they are coming from on topics directly linked to their writing.
Last week, the Oklahoma City Thunder got exactly what they needed to make a serious run at an NBA title: Kendrick Perkins, a defensive enforcer who was a critical piece of the Celtics’ 2008 championship team and is one of the scariest dudes in professional sports.
It’s been 12 months since the District of Columbia legalized gay marriage, so it’s no surprise that the Washington Post marked the anniversary with some bonus coverage of the issue. When I say “bonus coverage,” I mean that the editors published even more stories on gay rights than normally appear in a daily edition of the newspaper.
David Brody over at Christian Broadcasting Network News interviewed Newt Gingrich and got him to open up a bit about his faith. It’s an interesting interview, as Brody interviews tend to be, and you can read the excerpts or watch the video here.
If you are interested in reading a really great news story about pancakes, The Newspaper That Lands In My Yard has just published a really fine one. It has lots of butter and syrup.
One of the GetReligion posts I’ve had in my guilt file for weeks is a look at the ethics of undercover journalism. Following the stings of various Planned Parenthood offices, where undercover journalists exposed employees willing to break rules and laws in order to help an underage sex ring, a lively debate broke out among pro-lifers. Some defended the morality of the undercover journalism while others said that lying can’t be defended, even if it does expose wrongdoing.
Mollie mentioned last week the human sexuality class at Northwestern University that watched a live sex act after class, and at the sanctioning of their professor. Now we get a report of that professor “apologizing” — for doing, as he sees it, absolutely nothing wrong at all.
As the May 1 date for the beatification of Pope John Paul II draws closer and closer, readers can expect more and more stories about that this rite means and what it does not mean. A key part of making that distinction will be explaining the steps that remain ahead for those who are trying to make the case that the man they call John Paul the Great should, in fact, be declared as a Catholic saint.
