It’s been about five years since I was last in Zanzibar. I was part of the press gaggle accompanying the archbishops of the Anglican Communion on a day trip from the mainland to Christ Church Cathedral in Stone Town — the island’s principal town. Built over 125 years ago on the site of the old slave market (the altar was built atop the sight of the market’s whipping post) the picturesque coral stone cathedral is a monument to the British... Read more
The state of Maryland is bluer than blue, when it comes to politics, so it’s no surprise that supporters of same-sex marriage are expecting a rare victory at the ballot-box on Nov. 6. It will be a stunning upset if cultural conservatives carry the day on this hot-button issue in such a liberal state. However, there is one twist in this story that simply cannot be ignored and that is the power of culturally conservative African-American Christians in this state,... Read more
There is something about writing about marijuana that gets reporters a bit, well, dopey. You see, they think that marijuana, and its legalization, are just fodder for jokes. Perhaps it’s because I’m a libertarian who believes in a very limited government, but I take discussions about what the government should concern itself with quite seriously. I’m sure marijuana prohibitionists do as well. Editorial pages have not shown a lot of wisdom in how they weigh in on this topic, as... Read more
Brace yourselves, GetReligion readers. I am about to do something shocking. I would like to take this opportunity to offer careful praise for a Baltimore Sun story that focuses on the lives of two African-American believers who are have struggled with same-sex attractions. I say “have struggled” because the story focuses on two radically different people whose experiences and decisions have led them in two radically different directions, in terms of how they view the Bible and their own Christian... Read more
Yesterday we noted some of the micro-problems with the latest story that was to shake the very foundations of Christianity. Well, tmatt alerted me to this column by historian Philip Jenkins that criticizes these stories from a macro approach. While we can discuss all the many little ways that media outlets have been duped over the years on these types of stories, it’s important to do something to correct the larger problem of journalistic ignorance about the history of Christianity.... Read more
In the past week of so, I have received a number of requests for a GetReligion news critique of the Newsweek cover story that ran under the grabber headline: “Heaven Is Real: A Doctor’s Experience With the Afterlife.” The problem, of course, is that this cover story by Dr. Eben Alexander is a perfect example of a larger trend, which is the flight of America’s major news magazines away from actual news coverage and into the world of first-person, advocacy,... Read more
Remember that front page New York Times story about Jesus’ wife? Yeah, about that … Well, earlier this month we learned from WBRZ: The Smithsonian Channel says the premiere of its documentary on a papyrus fragment that purports to show Jesus referring to his wife is being delayed until further tests can be done. And another scholar has noted that the fragment that was the basis for the story somehow managed to replicate a typo from an internet site related... Read more
Every now and then, when I a traveling, I discover another layer of torn-out articles for GetReligion review buried deep inside some pocket of my shoulder bag. It’s sort of like the analog, portable version of the gigantic digital tmatt “folder of guilt” in my email program that I open up from time to time. You see, there’s just so much to write about and so little time. There are religion-news ghosts all over the place. Consider, for example, that... Read more
I’m on the road right now, in Montana, and haven’t had a chance to catch Saturday Night Live yet but apparently in the comedy show’s skit on the Vice Presidential debate, the Joe Biden character said: “I accept the teachings of the Catholic Church. But then, like most Catholics, I ignore them and do what I want.” Hardy har har. The joke was in reference to a portion of the debate where the moderator treated abortion as a question of... Read more
From the desk of Ayatollah Hassan Sanei Expediency Discernment Council, Tehran Mr. John Powers c/o 89.3 KPCC Dear Brother Powers, Please forgive me for using a business address for such a personal letter, but I cannot seem to find your home address on Google Maps. When Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent me a link to your review of Salman Rushdie’s memoir, I thought Punk’d might be returning to MTV. Oh, I know that too many Westerners see Mahmoud as eccentric and even... Read more
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