Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
Rev- Elizabeth Eisenstadt-Evans
It hardly seems nine years since Roman Catholics and Protestant foes vowed to co-exist peacably with one another in the 1998 Good Friday agreement. Last week’s killing of a Catholic policeman and two British soldiers (two splinter I.R. A group’s claimed responsibility for the killings) could have threatened that peace.
I am of the opinion that what drives some media narratives is less overt bias than a love for drama that pits one protagonist against another in competition for the lowest common denominator. But most people don’t live their daily lives on protest lines, or suing one another, or testifying before Congress.
I don’t know about you, but when I read about the collapse of a pyramid scheme that takes down wealthy, well-educated investors and nonprofits, I shake my head and wonder how such smart people made such (in hindsight) dumb choices.
I’ve never been one of those parents who worries about exposing her kids to fantasy worlds, whether they be those of of J.K. Rowling, Lemony Snicket, or C.S. Lewis. Reading them and talking about them together allows their young minds to stretch their imaginations and distinguish truth from fiction.
I’m thrilled when our readers send us story suggestions from papers we might not normally see. Search engines are a wonderful invention, but we still miss articles that might be wonderful examples of factual, fair religion coverage or ones that most clearly are not.
I love stories, like the one about giving up Facebook for Lent from a few weeks ago, in which ancient faith traditions struggle with the advent of modern technologies. How did the 15th-century church view the advent of the printing press, for example? Well, we have another example of the genre–a story in the Times Online (London) by Rome-based correspondent, Richard Owen that describes an effort by some Roman Catholic leaders to get laypeople to give up texting and other virtual communication for Lent.
In this year of anniversaries and celebrations, dead scientists like Darwin and Galileo are getting their due. Live ones, like the atheist former Oxford don Richard Dawkins, attract media attention pretty much every time he opens his mouth or slings a godforsaken poster on a bus.
I had a few thoughts as I read this provocative article from The Telegraph on a survey done among Catholic clergy in Poland.
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the holy season leading up to Easter–and another chance for journalists to pull together one of those “what are you going to give up for Lent?” stories.
