CNN has a new blog on religion, called Belief. So far it looks like a decent religion news/opinion aggregator.
Simon Owens has an interview with the co-editor of Belief about how the blog views religion:
I spoke on the phone to Dan Gilgoff, the co-editor of Belief who previously wrote columns for both U.S. News & World Report and beliefnet and the book The Jesus Machine: How James Dobson, Focus on the Family, and Evangelical America are Winning the Culture War. “We’re not being pro religion, we’re not being anti religion,” he said. “We’re acknowledging that faith plays a huge part of the news and a lot of news organizations don’t have the will power or the man power to do this.”
Gilgoff pointed to posts by Greg Epstein, described in his bio as an “ordained Humanist rabbi,” as early evidence that the blog will lend exposure to atheists. [...]
I asked Gilgoff if he agreed with the thesis put forth by Richard Dawkins and others that religion is protected in a special shield not afforded to other belief systems, from Capitalism to Marxism to everything in between. “I do think that we have to be respectful, and I think when you see writings in certain parts of the world that are perceived offensive, we have to be responsible in how we cover religion for that reason,” he replied. [...]
“I used to live in Atlanta, and the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s entire religion section has just disappeared,” he said. “I think CNN is in a different situation where we have an international news gathering team, and that allows us to cover world religions in a way that other news organizations can’t. So this week we have posts coming in from our Jerusalem bureau. We have a handful of posts on the Muslim world … So I think some of these unusual perspectives, these perspectives from non Christians, are something we’re going to be able to do very well. Because frankly we’re going to have a lot of people in the Muslim world and the Buddhist world, and various people in the Christian world stationed all over the planet, and we’re not going to stick to just one religion and we’re not going to just be examining Christianity.”
Good luck to the editors at Belief — I can guarantee one thing, and that’s they’ll always offend someone.
I asked Gilgoff if he agreed with the thesis put forth by Richard Dawkins and others that religion is protected in a special shield not afforded to other belief systems, from Capitalism to Marxism to everything in between. “I do think that we have to be respectful, and I think when you see writings in certain parts of the world that are perceived offensive, we have to be responsible in how we cover religion for that reason,” he replied.
Well, that’s an epic non-answer. Still, it would be nice to have a news aggregator for all this stuff.
I don’t know… I thought it came off more as “Yes, but I’m reluctant to admit it”.
It is an interesting idea, and I’ll certainly check it out. Of course, I do disagree completely that we must be respectful of something just because it is religious in nature.
They will always offend someone. Can’t agree more.
I hope this stays neutral, and is unseen by Beck, long enough to prompt some actual world perspective within America. I doubt it will happen, but it would be nice.
Re: “I asked Gilgoff if he agreed with the thesis put forth by Richard Dawkins and others that religion is protected in a special shield not afforded to other belief systems…. “I do think that we have to be respectful …”
That reads like a “Yes, and it was meant to be that way,” to me.
CNN finds religion more fiscally palatable than science
Science is dull. Science is hard for Americans. Science cannot be dumbed down enough. Science has numbers in it. Science is anti-god.
Science doesn’t push product. Science is not marketable. Science cannot be “re-branded.”
Xianity? Been selling garbage for 2,000 years — great track record. Lots of brand recognition. “Jesus Christ” solid name recognition throughout Ameristan. Jeezzzzus! He can push product.
Really? Cheer CNN for creating a unit on religion? It’s just another retrograde move. CNN fired everyone on its science staff at the end of 2008. Science journalists weren’t too thrilled about it: http://www.cjr.org/the_observatory/cnn_cuts_entire_science_tech_t.php
Just what I need from CNN — more slavish following of pseudo-holy cretins, now planet wide.
the anti_supernaturalist
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