Every day, journalists who cover religion face waves of letters, press releases, magazines, books and, now, Internet versions of all of the above.<\/p>\n\n
Some of this is news. Most of it isn\u2019t. But many items fall somewhere in between and create drifts of paper in my office. As of this week, I have written this column for eight years and I\u2019d like to start another year by sharing some tidbits I couldn\u2019t trash.<\/p>\n\n
* An interesting Newsweek report last summer described an emergency operation that saved a woman\u2019s life on a flight out of Hong Kong. The story ended with a dose of foggy faith: \u201cOur lives depend on \u2026 tiny miracles. Physicists say that the universe had to surmount vast odds to exist at all. \u2026 No one stops to think about that, ordinarily, until an event like this one brings it into focus. Thousands of planes take off every day WITHOUT a surgeon on board. But there was a surgeon on Flight 32.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
There but by the grace of \u2014 uh \u2014 the universe go we.<\/p>\n\n
* At an Episcopal conference on church growth, New York Bishop Richard Grein criticized those who, to woo the unchurched, may sacrifice \u201cAnglican style.\u201d This from a bishop who led a 1993 service in his own cathedral that included a whale-song Sanctus, preaching by skeptic Carl Sagan and prayers to Ra and Ausar.<\/p>\n\n
* A thought for the Rev. Bill Hybels, the superstar pastor of Willowcreek Community Church outside Chicago: Bill Hybels is to Bill Clinton as Billy Graham was to Richard Nixon?<\/p>\n\n
* No joke \u2014 an actual Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) news release began: \u201cThe General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission (PJC) has upheld a decision of the Synod of the Northwest Permanent Judicial Commission, sustaining Long Island Presbytery\u2019s decision not to respond to a request from Central Presbyterian Church in Huntington, N.Y., to investigate the alleged ordinations of a homosexual elder and deacon at First Presbyterian Church of Sag Harbor, N.Y.\u201d The PJC noted that \u201cdialogue attempted in an atmosphere where one side or the other faces immediate potential remedial or disciplinary actions is not likely to be productive. \u2026 Unprotected dialogue leads inexorably to wholly unproductive monologue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
No translation was offered for the church-lingo impaired. And, please, no jokes about \u201cunprotected dialogue\u201d among Presbyterians.<\/p>\n\n
* The 1994 document \u201cEvangelicals and Catholics Together\u201d angered many on the left, who called it a GOP tract. On the right, some Protestants said it conceded too much to Catholics. Wait until folks see Catholic scholar Peter Kreeft\u2019s new book, \u201cEcumenical Jihad.\u201d It urges Christians, Jews and Muslims to unite in fighting the \u201ccommon enemies\u201d of secularism, materialism and immorality.<\/p>\n\n
* Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Neb., has threatened to excommunicate members of 12 groups that reject current church teachings. Question: Will he be excommunicated from the National Conference of Catholic Bishops?<\/p>\n\n
* Here\u2019s a memorable politics-and-religion quote from House Democratic Leader Richard Gephardt: \u201cIn the Republican version of Christmas, you only get your stocking stuffed if it\u2019s a SILK stocking. \u2026 Gone are the notions of decency, charity and compassion that were the hallmarks of the man whose birth we celebrate each December 25th.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
* Expect the following to surface in debates about National Public Radio. Referring to Christians who await Jesus\u2019 second coming, commentator Andrei Codrescu said: \u201cThe evaporation of four million (people) who believe in this crap would leave the world a better place.\u201d NPR apologized, after airing the commentary.<\/p>\n\n
* On the Tonight show, Howard Stern waved a Bible and said the Gideons are now putting his books in hotels instead of Bibles. Jay Leno\u2019s response: \u201cHoward, \u2026 this (Bible) will strike you down as you go down the road. It will go through the windshield and pierce your heart. I am sounding like an evangelist now. \u2026 Suddenly, all that is in this book is making perfect sense to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
* Every field has its ruts. New York Times reporter Peter Steinfels said any list of generic religion news stories would include: \u201cAncient faith struggles to adjust,\u201d \u201cScholars challenge long-standing beliefs,\u201d \u201cInterfaith harmony overcomes inherited enmity,\u201d \u201cNew translation of sacred scripture sounds funny\u201d and \u201cDevoted members of a zealous religious group turn out to be warm, ordinary folk.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Every day, journalists who cover religion face waves of letters, press releases, magazines, books and, now, Internet versions of all of the above. Some of this is news. Most of it isn\u2019t. But many items fall somewhere in between and create drifts of paper in my office. As of this week, I have written this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n