2012-08-23T11:31:40-04:00

Last updated on: August 23, 2012 at 11:31 am   By

A few days ago a religion reporter tweeted at us: Will @getreligion cover Todd Akin’s #legitimaterape comments & the conservative #Christian reax? Would grab new @Patheos readers, too. Now, even though we’ve been around for many years, some people are still confused about precisely what we do. We actually have a very limited focus. We don’t “cover” anyone’s comments or the “conservative #Christian” reaction (or anyone else’s reaction) to same. We understand that there are many places on the internet... Read more

2012-08-23T08:57:22-04:00

Last updated on: August 23, 2012 at 8:57 am   By

On this week’s episode of Mutual of Omaha’s “Wild Kingdom,” we’ll take you inside the world of an endangered species: young humans “living the abstinent lifestyle in New York.” I kid. I kid. But a New York Times feature on conservative religious types waiting on sex until marriage (a la Tim Tebow) has a safari-type feel — as if the newspaper is introducing readers to zoo animals. The largely clinical portrayal of “chaste Christians” lacks any real spiritual or religious depth. The top of... Read more

2012-08-22T15:27:00-04:00

Last updated on: August 22, 2012 at 3:27 pm   By

With GetReligion’s move to the Patheos universe, it’s highly likely that this here weblog has lots of new readers. As a result, some of the language that we use over and over may sound a bit strange, for people who have not been around for our whole eight-year journey. Take, for example, the constant references to religion “ghosts.” Confused? This is a big one, so please click here and read. And what, pray tell, is the “tmatt trio”? Here’s a... Read more

2012-08-22T14:37:43-04:00

Last updated on: August 22, 2012 at 2:37 pm   By

Mitt Romney’s surprising decision to allow reporters to follow him into church Sunday drew a slew of major mainstream media coverage. The New York Times opened its story this way: BOSTON — Mitt Romney read Scripture from his iPad as he juggled his 2-year-old grandson on his lap. He made sure to accept a small piece of white bread and cup of water, representing the flesh and blood of Jesus, from a member of the clergy who looked like he was about to... Read more

2012-08-22T11:42:36-04:00

Last updated on: August 22, 2012 at 11:42 am   By

“Truth is true only within a certain period of time,” observed a spokesman for the Burma’s military junta in the aftermath of that country’s 1988 pro-democracy uprising, reported Emma Larkin in her 2004 political travelogue-cum-biography “Finding George Orwell in Burma”. “What was truth once may no longer be truth after many months or years.” My mind turned to Burma and these musings on the nature of truth after reading Thomas Fuller’s solid story in the New York Times on the... Read more

2012-08-22T22:13:46-04:00

Last updated on: August 22, 2012 at 10:13 pm   By

What we have here, in this short New York Times wedding announcement, is a dangerously vague and terribly loaded word — “assisting” — being used in a liturgical context of some kind. It’s crucial that the word “assisting” is being used in a way that directly connects it with another controversial word in this day and age — “married.” Here is the bulk of this short society-news item: Roger Thomas Danforth and Richard James Termine were married Friday evening in... Read more

2012-08-21T12:46:41-04:00

Last updated on: August 21, 2012 at 12:46 pm   By

When a story uses extra adjectives or adverbs to pretty up a story, you know something might be fishy. If the information, data and narrative can’t speak for themselves, it’s worth reexamining the piece more closely. I had that fishy feeling when I read The Economist‘s lengthy piece on the Catholic Church’s finances amidst the abuse scandals. On first read, you could spot strange word choices, ones an editor would often delete. Right up top, the writers make judgments before you... Read more

2012-08-21T09:42:33-04:00

Last updated on: August 21, 2012 at 9:42 am   By

I believe it was President Obama who once said something about the press corps in Washington getting all “wee-weed up” in August. There have been a few news stories in recent weeks that have drawn more attention than they should have (and a few that have certainly received less). But the story we’re going to look at here might take the cake for summer silliness. Apparently it’s huge news that a Republican congressman skinny-dipped. Now, I can’t say I come... Read more

2012-08-20T16:22:08-04:00

Last updated on: August 20, 2012 at 4:22 pm   By

Over the weekend, I complained about the holy ghosts in a New York Times story about disputed oil drilling on a Montana Indian reservation. Reader Per Smith got a little worked up over my analysis: The article says clearly that members of the tribe go on vision quests and you wonder if these people are members of a native American faith. If it had informed us that they took pilgrimages to Mecca would you lambaste the NYT for not stating... Read more

2012-08-20T14:52:38-04:00

Last updated on: August 20, 2012 at 2:52 pm   By

As you would imagine, I have received a few notes seeking my take, as a journalist and as an Orthodox Christian, on the events involving that crudely named feminist band in Russia. You know, the one that drew this headline the other day in The New York Times: “Anti-Putin Stunt Earns Punk Band Two Years in Jail.” What? The band’s actual name didn’t rate large type? Before I address the journalism issues related to this, I would like to note... Read more

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