Celibacy and the clergy abuse scandal

Last updated on: December 11, 2012 at 11:42 pm By geoconger

Last Friday the Deutsche Bischofskonferenz, the German Episcopal Conference of the Roman Catholic Church, released the results of a study on the psychological make-up of clergy who had sexually abused children. I was surprised by the weak coverage of this story, especially in light of the 2010 German media frenzy when the clergy abuse scandal broke. I am also wondering: How many reporters actually attended the press conference in Trier given by Bishop Stephan Ackermann? The Reuters story had a... Read more

Savita’s tragic death and media ethics

Last updated on: December 11, 2012 at 2:40 pm By mollie

The tragic death of Savita Halappananvar continues to produce headlines, particularly in Europe and India. We looked at some of the initial coverage three weeks ago, where I noted that the US media had adopted the pro-choice movement’s certainty about the circumstances surrounding Savita Halappanavar’s death. I wondered whether about the journalistic rigor being applied to the story, both in terms of the medical statements being made prior to a review as well as the blame being assigned the Catholic... Read more

A young, dying heart and the prayers of JPII

Last updated on: December 11, 2012 at 11:38 am By tmatt

News reports that involve claims of the miraculous can get a bit messy (as we saw the other day in a story about India), since reporters often hesitate to quote the views of believers without a touch of snark. At the same time, it’s possible to veer the other direction and fail to report the practical, physical details that can be verified about what did or what didn’t happen in any particular case. When in doubt, quote the believers accurately,... Read more

The Southern Baptists’ scarlet ‘A’

Last updated on: December 10, 2012 at 4:36 pm By Bobby Ross Jr.

Let’s say your church’s pastor is accused of molesting at least four teenage girls. Let’s say your local congregation decides to keep the pastor in the pulpit while depending on the court system to sort out the accusations. Let’s assume that the newspaper story about your church will not be pretty. Neither should it be, in my humble opinion. But in the case of an autonomous Southern Baptist church, should the outrage extend to the national denomination? That’s the key... Read more

Yahoo! asks Robert Griffin III a rather obvious question

Last updated on: December 10, 2012 at 10:34 pm By tmatt

The big news here in Washington, D.C., (other than the mysteries of the U.S. Supreme Court) is that (a) the knee of quarterback Robert Griffin III is strained, not broken, and (b) that The Washington Post team survived another weekend covering a superstar who keeps talking about the fact that he apparently believes in a God who hears prayers and plays some meaningful role in the lives of real people. So blame Twitter, of course, along with press conferences in... Read more

Should Fox News be telling you to lie and steal?

Last updated on: December 10, 2012 at 11:54 am By mollie

I realize I’m the fuddy duddy around here who is always telling kids to get off my lawn, but there have to be other people who were saddened by this FoxNews.com story headlined “Hotel confidential: Secrets to scoring hotel freebies.” It’s just a silly, cheesy story about someone’s new “memoir of hotels, hustles and so-called hospitality,” published by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Late in the story, we’re told about how to tip the concierge: The Concierge: For something like directions... Read more

Pod people: Same-sex marriage on the march

Last updated on: December 9, 2012 at 6:50 pm By mollie

On this week’s “Crossroads” podcast, host Todd Wilken and I discussed Dave Brubeck’s sacred music and religious life — and how substantive discussion of same were missing from many obituaries about the jazz great. We also discussed the general cheerleading of coverage dealing with same-sex marriage. The hook for that was the stories leading up to the Supreme Court’s decision about whether to hear the rulings related to California’s Proposition 8 decision. On Friday, as tmatt noted, the court announced... Read more

On same-sex marriage: What is the chief justice thinking?

Last updated on: December 9, 2012 at 10:13 am By tmatt

People who study the dynamics of this U.S. Supreme Court have, from the get-go, assumed two or three things about Chief Justice John Roberts. First of all, he is a very cautious man, one who is very worried about the prestige of the court and the perception that it is above politics. This is not a man who wants to decide bitter, divisive, hot-button, explosive issues with 5-4 votes. Roberts does not want to create judicial earthquakes. This is not... Read more

Missing the grasshopper in the stem-cell debate

Last updated on: December 8, 2012 at 9:25 pm By geoconger

Master Po: Ha, ha, never assume because a man has no eyes he cannot see. Close your eyes. What do you hear? Young Caine: I hear the water, I hear the birds. Master Po: Do you hear your own heartbeat? Young Caine: No. Master Po: Do you hear the grasshopper that is at your feet? Young Caine: Old man, how is it that you hear these things? Master Po: Young man, how is it that you do not? Do you... Read more

Should churches, left or right, serve as polling places?

Last updated on: December 7, 2012 at 1:32 pm By tmatt

Anyone who knows anything about the at times dangerous dance between politics and religion in modern America knows that: * Religious groups and their leaders are allowed to make public stands on political, moral and cultural issues, but are not supposed to endorse, by name, specific candidates. * A small number of very conservative pastors have, in recent years, attempted to fight church-state laws on that front and have created quite a few headlines while doing so. * Following long-standing... Read more