A flurry of e-mailed links to religion news stories flies back and forth each day among your friendly neighborhood GetReligionistas. If a contributor wants to take a crack at a particular story, that person calls “Dibs!” We review many more stories than we have time or space to critique, evidenced by the 3,798 items in my “GR story possibilities” folder. In the case of the story I’m about to highlight, the e-mailed link drew an immediate question from one member... Read more
Every now and then, The Washington Post focuses quite a bit of talent and effort on telling a long, detailed story that focuses on the darker, more tragic, side of life here in The District. The sad story of the life and death of Misty Lachelle Clanton certainly falls into that category. Her story is also, in a way, linked to the startling transformation that is going on in the area surrounding H Street here in the District’s Northeast quadrant,... Read more
Time magazine is doing its annual PR blitz for its “Person of the Year.” After I won the designation in 2006, I stopped paying attention to it. Since then the honor has gone to Vladimir Putin, Barack Obama, Ben Bernanke, Mark Zuckerberg and “the protester.” And yes, if you’re wondering, the tradition of selecting a Man of the Year began in 1927 with Time editors contemplating newsworthy stories possible during a slow news week. We’ve all been there. Among the... Read more
Der Spiegel‘s English-language bulletin reports that conservative deputies on the Agricultural Affairs committee of the Bundestag have introduced legislation banning sex with animals. I never knew the farm beat for German reporters was so, so … so edgy? Let’s pause for a moment to contemplate the work of government. Courage mon amie … be brave and join me for a look at the article “Germany to Ban Sex with Animals”: The German government plans to ban zoophilia — sex with... Read more
Back in the early 1990s, I had a chance to interview the late Father Ellwood “Bud” Kaiser about his unique career as a Catholic priest and as a producer in modern Hollywood, through Paulist Productions. Much of the interview focused on his film “Entertaining Angels: The Dorothy Day Story.” One of the keys to the movie, he said, was finding a way a visualize the transformation that drove Day into ministry, the moment when the guilt she felt about an... Read more
First things first. I sincerely hope that you’ve never had the displeasure of watching the abominable show “Two and a Half Men.” If I were to draft a list of the top 10 things that make me feel alienated from my fellow citizens, the fact that this was for many years the most watched show in America would be right up there at the top of the list. It’s so vile and unfunny. And I’ve never even come close to... Read more
Where to begin? So we have this very dedicated GetReligion reader who has been sending us URLs pointing to coverage of a skeptic’s battle to condemn Catholic leaders in India for having anything to do with legitimizing a statue of Jesus that may or may not be weeping. Before we get into a recent report in The Guardian about this controversy, let me stress two things right up front: (1) As a total First Amendment absolutist, I cannot imagine a... Read more
When his 37-year-old mother is diagnosed with terminal cancer, a college football star steps up to care for her and his younger sisters. But what motivates the young man to put his family’s interests over his own athletic pursuits? Could it be his faith? Kudos to The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn., for an emotional profile of Ole Miss walk-on Derrick “DJ” Wilson that lets the religion angle unfold naturally. Let’s start at the top: After his East Mississippi Community... Read more
Since I grew up in a solidly Baylor family, I have always understood why the university’s seal contains the following crucial words in Latin: Pro Ecclesia, Pro Texana. That is, of course, for the church, for Texas. A church historian friend of mine once laughed out loud when he saw those words on the front of an old Baylor sweatshirt that was wearing. He thought, of course, that this referred to some kind of over-the-top Baylor pride in the state... Read more
A variety of factors contributed to my decision to become a journalist: My love for writing. My love for news. My love for seeing my name in print. When I chose this career, however, I was too young and too naive to understand just how much death I was signing up to witness. As I quickly scan my mental archives, I still remember the heartbroken parents who lost their precious daughter to a drunk driver. I still remember the little boys... Read more
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