Friday Five

, , , , ,

Friday Five: Thanksgiving, God and Trump, LATimes vs. Fuller, Jimmy Carter, Satan

, , , , ,

We interrupt this day-after-Thanksgiving holiday to update you on the latest religion headlines.

I hope you and your family are enjoying a wonderful time of Black Friday shopping or — if you’re like me — watching football and eating leftover chocolate pie while spending precious time with my family.

In my case, I am enjoying quality time with my 1-year-old grandson, Bennett.

Anyway, let’s dive right into the Friday Five:

1. Religion story of the week: We posted earlier in the week on those news reports that Rick Perry believes God “ordained” Donald Trump (not to mention Barack Obama) to be president.

The Post and Courier of Charleston, S.C., has an interesting follow-up piece on that — tied to comments by Nikki Haley — concerning whether politicians are chosen by God.


Please respect our Commenting Policy
, , , , , , , , ,

Friday Five: RNS/AP partnership, Mister Rogers, Chick-fil-A, personal story, Curmudgeon humor

, , , , , , , , ,

You can read it at The Washington Post. And at ABC News. And at the Charlotte Observer. And at many other news sites.

Yonat Shimron’s Religion News Service story this week on Megan Lively — headlined “The cost of coming forward: 1 survivor’s life after #MeToo” — is “out in wide release, thanks to our friends at The Associated Press,” notes RNS editor-in-chief Bob Smietana.

AP distribution of RNS content is, of course, part of the big partnership between the news organizations funded by an 18-month, $4.9 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. announced earlier this year.

An AP editor’s note on Shimron’s piece points out:

This content is written and produced by Religion News Service and distributed by The Associated Press. RNS and AP partner on some religion news content. RNS is solely responsible for this story.

That seems like an improvement on the note appended to the first RNS story (“US Latinos are no longer majority-Catholic, here's why” by Alejandra Molina) that AP distributed recently:

EDS: This story was supplied by Religion News Service for AP customers. The Associated Press does not guarantee the content.

RNS stories always have been distributed on the wire, but only a certain number of newspapers have subscribed to that content. The partnership with AP dramatically expands RNS’ reach, which is good news for the Godbeat.

Now, let’s dive into the Friday Five:

1. Religion story of the week: Speaking of AP, I posted Thursday on a lovely story by veteran journalist Ted Anthony exploring how Mister Rogers’ faith echoes in his hometown of Pittsburgh.

The feature is tied, of course, to today’s opening of “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” starring Tom Hanks as Mister Rogers.


Please respect our Commenting Policy
, , , , , , , , , , ,

Friday Five: Trump impeachment, Catholic doctrine, Paige Patterson, faith in Sin City, Chick-fil-A (yum)

, , , , , , , , , , ,

Greetings from one of my favorite places in the world!

I’m kidding (a little), but I’m typing this post in a Chick-fil-A parking lot near Dallas Love Field. In case you’re curious, yes, I enjoyed a delicious chicken biscuit for breakfast.

I’m in the Big D on reporting assignment for The Christian Chronicle and putting Friday Five together quickly before picking up a colleague at the airport.

Let’s dive right in:

1. Religion story of the week: In my hurry to post, I hope I’m not missing a major story that should go in this space.

But for me personally, the story of the week has to be Emma Green’s piece for The Atlantic on Iowa voters who both support President Donald Trump’s policies and — get this — wouldn’t mind seeing him impeached.

Yes, there’s a strong religion angle, as I explained in a post earlier this week. Check it out.


Please respect our Commenting Policy
, , , , , , ,

Friday Five: Mexico massacre, German Catholics, Christian contraception, John Crist, wild shot

, , , , , , ,

Welcome to another edition of the Friday Five.

Usually, I offer a bit of extra information or at least a little wit before getting to the point.

But this week I’ll confess that I’ve got nothing, so let’s dive right in:

1. Religion story of the week: The Los Angeles Times’ Jaweed Kaleem was among those who reported on the massacre of a large Mormon clan in Mexico.

Also on the story: New York Times religion writer Elizabeth Dias, who contributed to coverage here and here.

Elsewhere, The Associated Press noted that the slayings highlighted confusion over Mormon groups. The Washington Post explained “How Mexico’s cartel wars shattered American Mormons’ wary peace,” and the Wall Street Journal reported on Mormon families gathering to mourn those killed.

Here’s one more: A stunning New York Times feature on the details of the attack itself and on-the-scene reporting about the families wrestling with grief and the details of how to respond. The reporting is deep and detailed — except that there’s no real sense of why these believers are in Mexico and what separates them from mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints life.

That seems like a rather important subject, in this case.

2. Most popular GetReligion post: Editor Terry Mattingly has our No. 1 commentary of the week, headlined “Washington Post: Catholics should follow Germany's gospel when seeking future growth.”

No, tmatt was not a fan of the Post’s very one-sided story:


Please respect our Commenting Policy
, , , , , ,

Friday Five: Kanye, Joe Biden, Pachamama statues, Tree of Life, Paula White, advice for journalists

, , , , , ,

A big “story” in the world of religion has been Kanye West.

Except — and here’s a sincere question — has anybody seen any actual reporting on the West/”Jesus is King” story in the mainstream press?

Every headline that I’ve come across falls into the category of reviews and opinions. For financial and other reasons (read: opinion is cheap; reporting is not), we live in an age where news organizations often will cover a story by having someone write a column about it.

Religion News Service, for example, has run op-eds headlined “Is Jesus king of Kanye’s bank account?” and “Why Trump — not Jesus — is at the heart of white Christian love for Kanye.” But has there been any actual news coverage at RNS or elsewhere?

Maybe I’ve missed the news stories. And if so, please share links in the comments section.

In the meantime, let’s dive into the Friday Five:

1. Religion story of the week: A story that did draw a lot of news coverage this week was a South Carolina Catholic priest denying Holy Communion to former Vice President Joe Biden because of his political stance on abortion.

I wrote about that earlier in the week and highlighted some of the major coverage.

Some readers have commented and asked if the media went to the priest — or vice versa. I do not know the answer to that question. Anybody seen that question answered in any coverage?


Please respect our Commenting Policy
, , , ,

Friday Five: Astros blunder, Chick-fil-A, SBC women profs, Ugandan justice, Jesus (really) saves

, , , ,

Before we dive into the Friday Five, a few updates to earlier posts:

• I followed up Thursday on my analysis last week of The Associated Press’ haunted obituary of Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland. Kudos to AP for a new piece that delves into the important role of the black church in Cummings’ life.

• Earlier this week, I highlighted the bush-league PR response by the Houston Astros to a foul-mouthed, female-sportswriter-bullying assistant general manager named Brandon Taubman. Welp, the Astros eventually did the right thing and fired Taubman, a Houston Chronicle sports columnist writes.

• Also this week, I asked “What’s the real story?” concerning plans to close the first-ever international Chick-fil-A? The location at British mall apparently will shut down after six months amid protests by gay-rights activists. In that post, I mentioned a lawsuit over the San Antonio airport refusing to allow a Chick-fil-A. Now, the San Antonio Express-News reports that the Chick-fil-A could wind up opening there after all.

Now, on to the Friday Five:

1. Religion story of the week: Here’s a “story of the week” that actually hasn’t hit the mainstream press yet, assuming my Google News search skills are adequate.

Separate stories emerged this week, both concerning female professors and Southern Baptist seminaries, but the only reports I’ve seen were in the religious press: One involves the faculty of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, voting to affirm women colleagues amid attacks from some critics.


Please respect our Commenting Policy
, , , , , , ,

Friday Five: Elijah Cummings, Kurdish evangelicals, Tree of Life, viral forgiveness, open marriages/NYT

, , , , , , ,

It’s not religion news per se, but for those interested in the future of American journalism: Poynter.org reported this week on signs pointing to USA Today phasing out its print edition.

Amazing.

But come to think of it, I don’t open those free copies that I receive at hotels as often as I once did.

Anything that affects the health of major American newspapers will, ultimately, affect their ability to cover tricky, complicated subjects like religion. So would changes at USA Today affect Gannett newspapers everywhere, including funding for religion news coverage? This is worth watching.

Anyway, let’s dive into the Friday Five:

1. Religion story of the week: In case you missed my post Thursday, faith was a major part of the life of powerful Congressman Elijah E. Cummings, Democrat of Maryland, who died this week from complications from longstanding health challenges. He was 68.

Some major news organizations — including Cummings’ hometown Baltimore Sun — nailed the religion angle.

However, at least one major national news organization failed to do so.

Check out my post.


Please respect our Commenting Policy
, , , , , , , , ,

Friday Five: Dodger blues, religious freedom threat, Bathsheba raped?, judge's faith, Chick-fil-A hero

, , , , , , , , ,

This week in news from the baseball gods: They sure don’t seem to like the Los Angeles Dodgers (or the Atlanta Braves).

In the National League Championship Series, I’ll be rooting for the Washington Nationals to defeat the St. Louis Cardinals (I’m a Texas Rangers fan, after all, still dealing with whiplash from what the Cardinals did in the 2011 World Series).

On the American League side, I must decide whether to support the Houston Astros (the Rangers’ division rival) or the New York Yankees (the Evil Empire). Hey, is it possible to root against both?

Meanwhile, let’s dive into the Friday Five:

1. Religion story of the week: Did you catch that headline, via the Deseret News’ Kelsey Dallas? “During LGBTQ rights town hall, top Democrats call for limits on religious freedom.”

It’s a must read.

Already, this story — including Beto O’Rourke pledging to strip the tax-exempt status from churches that refuse to change their doctrines to accept same-sex marriage — is causing an uproar in conservative media. And it’s drawn attention elsewhere in the mainstream press, too.


Please respect our Commenting Policy
, , , , , ,

Friday Five: Forgiveness and justice, Scouting and faith, Tree of Life anniversary, Eric Metaxas

, , , , , ,

I’m back home in Oklahoma after a two-week trip that took me from Las Vegas (for the Religion News Association annual meeting) to Searcy, Ark. (for the 96th Bible lectureship at Harding University, the alma mater of Botham Jean).

Other stops along the way included Los Angeles, a Rust Belt town in Ohio and Chick-fil-A drive-thru lines in at least three states.

I’m looking forward to resting up a bit this weekend.

First, though, let’s dive into the Friday Five:

1. Religion story of the week: I highlighted the viral story of “The hug seen around the world: Botham Jean's brother forgives ex-officer who killed his brother” in a post Thursday.

I focused on a splendid front-page story in the Dallas Morning News. Among the plethora of coverage by major media, another good piece was this one in the Washington Post looking at the debate over forgiveness that the hug ignited.

My post noted that the brother wasn’t the only person to hug convicted murder Amber Guyger. The judge did, too, and gave her a Bible.

I wrote:


Please respect our Commenting Policy