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Prostitutes in the temple?

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An Arizona organization that went by the name Phoenix Goddess Temple was raided last week. The group claims it provides religious services while the Maricopa County attorney says those services were sexual and were traded for money. Readers were not pleased with how this was presented in various media reports.


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Mel Gibson, Joe Eszterhas and Maccabees, oh my

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If you are into film, alcohol, claims of anti-Semitism and manic mood swings, you may already know that Mel Gibson is developing a film about, well, the man who could justifiably be called the Jewish version of William “Braveheart” Wallace. That would be one Judah Maccabee, the warrior whose story is tightly linked with the celebration of the once low-key Jewish holiday called Hanukkah.


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Pod people: Finding God in Google searches

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In this week’s Crossroads podcast, host Todd Wilken and I discuss whether a congregation with 75 members is “tiny” or of median size. It’s funny how many people have talked to me about that post where we learned that the median size of congregations, in terms of weekly worship, is 75 participants. My feedback indicates that both popular perception and media treatment would have assumed the median worship attendance to be much higher.


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Santa Muerte redux

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You don’t need to turn to the majors for examples of fine religion reporting. There are talented folk among the editors and writers in America’s small town newspapers doing great work, and Jason Pitzl-Waters, who blogs at The Wild Hunt, has drawn my attention to one such story.


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