Hang on, because this is going to be a strange post. It’s possible that this only makes sense to me, at the moment.
OK, do the Polish visions math
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The Dalai Lama on Osama, or CliffsNotes
We’ve seen a wave of reactions to Osama bin Laden’s death from various religious groups, with everything from jubilation to condemnation.
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Here's the church, here's the steeple
I grew up in the Central Valley of California, a few miles outside of a town of a thousand people. We lived across the street from the local church, though, and many of my childhood memories involve the church’s bell tower. For one thing, it rang shortly before services began each Sunday morning. That’s when the locals would know to head on over — on foot. And whenever a parishioner died, we’d toll the bell once for each year of their life. When we’d be out playing in the fields, we’d stop and count each clang.
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Bin Laden burial questions
Yesterday we discussed the media coverage of Osama bin Laden’s “Muslim burial.” At first the media ran with the story that he’d been buried at sea according to Muslim law and also to avoid the grave becoming a shrine. Then some reporters noted that some Muslim clerics disagreed that the burial had been done according to Islamic practice.
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Faith and hope amid the ruins
Down South, though, about 350 people are dead and thousands more hurt and homeless after a swath of tornadoes cut a deadly path across seven Southern states — hitting Alabama hardest — last Wednesday night. It’s the nation’s deadliest twister outbreak since the Great Depression and America’s worst natural disaster since Hurricane Katrina, according to the news reports I’ve read.
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The Duke of Vatican City?
All kinds of people have, during the past decade or two, voiced all kinds of complaints about the state of journalism as practiced in our mainstream media. Many of these complaints are even accurate.
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How Islamic was this burial?
Shortly after I wrote the previous post about the Obama administration’s desire to adhere to sharia when it comes to the handling of Osama bin Laden’s body, we learned that the burial at sea had already happened. And what that means is we’re getting some interesting stories about the role religion played in his burial.
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Osama bin Laden killed
We’ve had quite the active few days in religious news, eh? And we’ll have many things to look at in media coverage from the days to come. In President Barack Obama’s address to the nation about the killing of Osama bin Laden, he discussed bin Laden’s religion and the effect of his actions on other Muslims. There’s a lot to discuss there but not much to note with media coverage yet. Here’s the portion of the speech in question:
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The path to sainthood
If you have recovered from the royal wedding, the NFL draft, or whatever else captured your attention over the weekend, you can now direct your attention to an important ceremony that took place in Rome today. A few days ago, we talked about whether the royal wedding would overshadow Pope John Paul II’s beatification, but I was pleased to see many outlets devoting reporters and space to the ceremony. Media Bistro, for instance, reports that cable shows were up and running this morning on the story.
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