Breivik the liar

Last updated on: February 23, 2014 at 6:37 am By geoconger

The news that Anders Behring Breivik has written a letter to the Norwegian media stating his protestations of Christian faith, pro-Israel opinions and anti-Nazi convictions were a calculated lie has left me stunned. Breivik now says his manifesto and early statements were a bluff designed to focus public and media outrage on Christians, Jews and conservatives by tainting them with his actions. His early denials of being a racist or hyper-nationalist were false, Breivik writes. He lied in order to... Read more

Dying children don’t rate religious viewpoints

Last updated on: February 22, 2014 at 12:42 pm By Jim Davis

Belgium is on the map these days, and not for its waffles or Brussels sprouts. It’s for passing a law allowing children to have themselves killed. Euthanasia is already legal there, but in mid-February the nation extended the “privilege” to children. As you might expect, there’s been much hand-wringing over the matter, such as on CNN or at ABC News. The journalists there sought out educators, pediatricians and medical researchers. Naturally. You know whom they didn’t ask? You got it:... Read more

What’s God got to do with it — in Maidan square?

Last updated on: February 21, 2014 at 9:47 pm By geoconger

I’ve said it once, twice, and I’ll say it again — there is more than one Orthodox Church in the Ukraine. Does this matter? Is this pettifogging carping — dull minded pedantry? Am I just showing off a store of useless knowledge, or Is it important to distinguish between the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Kiev Patriarchate) (KP) and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriachate) (MP) when reporting on the demonstrations in Kiev? If you want to understand what is going on... Read more

The sad story of a priest, a partial-penitent and the press

Last updated on: February 22, 2014 at 3:06 pm By tmatt

At this point, it is no longer unusual to read a news story about an issue linked to homosexuality that yanks the pope’s famous “Who am I to judge?” quote out of context. Alas, this is now business as usual in the mainstream press. Click here for a refresher course — video and transcript — about what Pope Francis actually said. So let’s move on. Gentle readers, what is the key word that is missing from this opening passage from... Read more

Religious freedom vs. gay discrimination in Arizona

Last updated on: February 21, 2014 at 9:28 am By Bobby Ross Jr.

Here we go again. In Arizona, a religious freedom bill has riled gay rights supporters, as The Associated Press puts it. Or, as a Los Angeles Times headline describes it, gay rights activists are in an uproar over the “religious freedom” (scare quotes courtesy of the Times) measure headed to Gov. Jan Brewer. In Phoenix, readers of The Arizona Republic woke up to this banner front-page headline this morning: Religion bill OK’d, on way to Brewer The subhead: Measure pits freedom against discrimination The Republic’s big... Read more

Pod people: Local vs. national press on religious liberty

Last updated on: February 21, 2014 at 8:18 am By Bobby Ross Jr.

Proposed religious liberty exemptions for wedding vendors — such as bakers, florists and photographers — opposed to same-sex marriage keep making headlines. Here at GetReligion, we’ve highlighted recent media coverage of a ballot initiative in Oregon and legislation in Kansas (where the Senate, for now, has killed a controversial measure). The Tennessean reported this week on a similar bill failing in Tennessee. Meanwhile, LifeWay Research released results of a national survey today. LifeWay’s Bob Smietana has the story: NASHVILLE, Tenn. –... Read more

Concerning all those ‘fake baptisms’ at Elevation Church

Last updated on: February 20, 2014 at 12:00 pm By tmatt

Long, long, ago I covered several Billy Graham crusades or other evangelistic efforts linked to his organization. In the days before these giant events, the pros doing press relations went out of their way to explain many of the fine details of what was happening and why. For example, they noted that after Graham extended his invitation for people to come forward to accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior, or to rededicate their lives as Christians, many of the... Read more

Pope Francis doesn’t always sound like Mr. Nice Guy

Last updated on: February 20, 2014 at 11:58 am By Jim Davis

Dear reporters: You’re full of you-know-what. Sincerely, Pope Francis Not quite the missal you’d expect from the man who enjoys the media-crafted image of a mild, friendly, non-judgmental granddaddy. But there’s another side to Pope Francis. Like when he described journalists in vivid terms: “Sometimes negative news does come out, but it is often exaggerated and manipulated to spread scandal. Journalists sometimes risk becoming ill from coprophilia and thus fomenting coprophagia, which is a sin that taints all men and... Read more

Balkan absurdist reporting by Reuters

Last updated on: February 20, 2014 at 8:50 pm By geoconger

At Get Religion it is usually considered bad form to criticize wire service reports for lacking context. There is only so much information that a reporter can pack into a 300 word story. The absence of an explanatory sentence or two that gives the reader some clues as to the meaning of the story is seldom fatal to an article’s journalistic integrity — but it can at times lead to an article coming across as a Haiku. This article from... Read more

Orthodox voices: Who is chanting what in Kiev right now?

Last updated on: February 19, 2014 at 5:52 pm By tmatt

The images continue to pour out of Kiev. Right now there are flames rising high over the lovely public squares I first visited in 2009, while speaking at a Ukrainian conference on religion and the news. While there, I wrote this column — “Religion ghosts in Ukraine” — about a tense public event involving then President President Viktor Yushchenko. Here is a rather long passage, linked to ways in which the churches of Ukraine are divided along some of the... Read more