So, when push came to shove, what did the Southern Baptist Convention decide to do about the Boy Scouts of America? To the surprise of the national press, the debate in the national convention ended up featuring a variety of voices making a variety of interesting and valid points about Scouting and its new approach to gay members. In the end, the nation’s largest Protestant flock elected to do something that was more Baptist and congregational than it was political... Read more
When it comes to religious terms, you would be hard pressed to find a word more misapplied by the media than “fundamentalist.” As your GetReligionistas have stressed a gazillion times, that is why the term has its own cautious entry in the Associated PRess Stylebook: “fundamentalist: The word gained usage in an early 20th century fundamentalist-modernist controversy within Protestantism. In recent years, however, fundamentalist has to a large extent taken on pejorative connotations except when applied to groups that stress... Read more
Last night I had the privilege of moderating a panel discussion for The Fund for American Studies’ Institute on Political Journalism. This summer program gives students internships at media organizations, coursework in politics and economics, and other features (such as mentors to guide you as you start your career). Anywho, the director asked me to put together a panel of religion journalists and I was thrilled that both Kevin Eckstrom, editor of Religion News Service, and Kim Lawton, managing editor... Read more
I have been reading the mainstream coverage of the events unfolding in Turkey from the get go, in large part because of my interest — after two visits to Istanbul — in the nation’s complex blend of European secularism (think France) and a variety of approaches to Islam. In the midst of all that, religious minorities have not fared well at all, including the tiny remnant of Eastern Orthodox believers who huddle in what was once the New Rome. Is... Read more
I would like to ask a journalistic question and I want to stress that this question is sincere. I am not asking this question as part of a rationalization maneuver that allows me to write a post that contains the words “bikinis” and “Islam” in the same headline. Honest. So here is my question: Does anyone in the mainstream press actually care about what Islam does or does not teach about women’s issues? Let me put a more specific edge... Read more
One common complaint we hear from readers is that reporters, when caught messing up some key point of Roman Catholic doctrine, will claim that they are right because they were “raised Catholic” or “went to Catholic school.” Frequently this response to messing up a story is made in private correspondence. But related to the BuzzFeed discovery of St. Augustine’s teachings we discussed on Sunday (“Political reporters learn about St. Augustine. Chaos ensues.“), I saw a great example in public. It’s... Read more
Just how much do you know about Calvinism? Former GetReligionista and current Religion News Service national correspondent Sarah Pulliam Bailey developed a short quiz to gauge readers’ knowledge: See if your score is predestined, or if you have free will to determine your score. Go ahead. Take the quiz. I scored — gulp — 58 percent. In other words, I probably should start this post by referring to Matthew 15:13-14, where Jesus talks about “the blind leading the blind.” My... Read more
In America there are two career fields that have a disproportionate number of agnostics and atheists: scientists and stand-up comedians. At least that’s my impression. While surveys confirm that four-in-ten scientists (41 percent) say they do not believe in God or a higher power, the data on comedians is anecdotal and based entirely on my having watched way, way too many stand-up comedy specials. While black and Hispanic comics often reference topics such as church-going, white comedians tend to only... Read more
This just in from The Associated Press: Southern Baptists are having a tough time. But it’s not what you might think. Instead of declining membership and baptisms, the big worry for Southern Baptists appears to be — you guessed it — a weakening influence in American partisan politics: NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A decade ago, the Southern Baptist Convention was riding high. The president of the United States was a conservative evangelical Christian who personally addressed the group’s annual meetings, either by... Read more
Let me begin with a few confessions. First of all, let me stress that I know that there are plenty of weddings that are completely secular or, well, they should have been completely secular. You know what I mean? Second, I have been to quite a few weddings in recent years, in large part because I sing in our church’s choir and in an Eastern Orthodox wedding the choir is a big part of the proceedings. One of these rites... Read more
GetReligion
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In