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Here’s a little secret known only to faithful religious believers and, perhaps, to journalists who are willing to pay close attention to their lives: People who pray a lot know more about doubt than people who dedicate little or no time to serious prayer.
Imagine how frustrating it must be for journalists when a leading presidential candidate â say Texas Gov. Rick Perry â holds a private retreat with 200 potential supporters sworn to secrecy. (As a believer in freedom of information and open government, I share their pain.)
We’re still recovering a little bit from Bill Keller’s startling column last week, where he framed religious belief next to alien belief.
I was wondering about a reporter friend I met in Jerusalem so I stopped by her Facebook page and was surprised to see a few links to stories about the abduction of the son of Salman Taseer. Punjab Gov. Salman Taseer was assassinated at the very beginning of this year by his own bodyguard. That bodyguard was upset about Taseer’s opposition to blasphemy laws carrying the death sentence for insulting Islam. Taseer was riddled by gunshots, shot in the back. The response to his assassination, the most high-profile one since former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was killed a few years prior, was perhaps even more shocking.
You know that whole asking-questions thing that journalists are supposed to do as part of their work?
Editor’s note: It’s been some time since the GetReligionista team included someone who wears a clerical collar, especially — as was the case with the Rev. Elizabeth Eisenstadt Evans– someone with experience in mainstream and religious-market journalism. Another key: The arrival of a scribe who is very, very familiar with the unique media scene in Europe and in the Middle East. So, here we go.
A few weeks ago, there was a bit of a brouhaha over Byron York’s question to Rep. Michele Bachmann at a Republican debate in Iowa. She’d previously made a comment about her interpretation of what it means to be a submissive wife. He asked her about it. The crowd booed. The media began writing up stories about submission. None of them terribly good.
