The other day I mentioned that reader Jerry submitted a story about Harold Camping repenting of his false predictions of the rapture and end of the world. We wondered how much coverage of the repentance we’d see relative to last year’s significant coverage. While the repentance won’t make it onto a list of top ten news stories for 2012, it actually has received some coverage.
Santeria, Catholicism and Cuba
What is a Catholic Cuban? Or, better yet, who can be a Catholic in Cuba? An Associated Press story that looks at the forthcoming visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Cuba through the prism of his refusal to meet with Santeria leaders makes some claims on these points. But are they valid?
Got news? Communion for a Buddhist?
While the late Pope John Paul II — soon to be called St. John Paul the Great — was known as a strong supporter of interfaith dialogues that attempted to build trust, while declining to erase any true boundaries.
IVF after Death
Bottle of mine, it’s you I’ve always wanted!Bottle of mine, why was I ever decanted?  Skies are blue inside of you,  The weather’s always fine;For … There ain’t no Bottle in all the worldLike that dear little Bottle of mine.
The sins of Harold Camping
Young spirits dying in Russia
Here we go again. It’s time to chase another ghost. In this case there is a slim possibility that the following tragic story from Russia contains no real religion angle whatsoever.
Vague spiritual connection aids drug recovery
It’s no surprise people seek some sort of higher power when overcoming an addiction, whether it looks like meditation, prayer or other rituals that help the process.
No such thing as free contraception
At a meeting of a few dozen female writers and editors yesterday, we got talking about civil society and the corrosive nature of politics. An editor I respect a great deal tried to calm things down by reminding us that the political climate isn’t necessarily more hostile than it was in the late 1960s (she told us that she saw targets for sale then wixth President Johnson’s face on them). But, she added, she was appalled by what she called the “deliberate misrepresentation” by the media. She was referring, of course, to the coverage of the HHS mandate requiring religious employers to provide insurance plans that cover abortifacients, sterilization and contraception, even if it violates the doctrines of their church.
The voiceless disappearing flock
Just last week, I praised a Washington Post story that â in a fair, respectful way â managed to personalize black ministers who (a) fought for racial equality and (b) oppose same-sex marriage.
