Rev- Elizabeth Eisenstadt-Evans

, , , , ,

Behind the veil

, , , , ,

On Monday President Nicolas Sarkozy told French lawmakers that he supports banning women’s Islamic full-body veils like burqas and niqabs in public. Tuesday the Parliament voted to establish a commission to study whether women in France would be allowed to wear these garments.


Please respect our Commenting Policy
, , , , , ,

(Almost) wholly ungrounded

, , , , , ,

As I read the story from the Citizen-Times.com website, I tried to remember a few basics about what it’s like to write for a paper in a smaller market. Local papers (as in Asheville, North Carolina) might not have a full-time religion reporter. They often don’t have space for longer articles, thus making it possible for details to get lost. And they may assume that their local readers know about churches and institutions that those of us surfing from “abroad” might not know.


Please respect our Commenting Policy
, , , ,

Journalism from the inside out

, , , ,

Stories about religous and moral controversies are about polity and denominations, protests and politics — but they are also, and mostly, about people. When a writer cares enough to spend time getting to know the people behind the positions, then it is possible (or more possible) for the journalist to let the story unspool invitingly without jumping in there with the exclamation points and scare quotes.


Please respect our Commenting Policy
, , , , ,

Habeas corpus, postmaster?

, , , , ,

After having argued in my Tuesday post that not all Episcopalians are theological innovators, imagine my anxiety while perusing read this article on the telegraph.co.uk website. “Church leaders offer communion wafer in the post” reads the headline. Communion wafers, eh? Must be a liturgical denomination — or a remarkably tacky secular entrepreneur. Hope it’s not the Anglicans or some sister freelancers across the pond!


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

Lines in the sand

, , , , , , ,

Last month I attended a meeting of Episcopal clergy. Most of us were middle-aged and elderly, longtime denizens of parish ministry. We spent some time talking about the Scriptures for that Sunday. Then I asked them what they thought of the Rev. Kevin G. Thew Forrester (got to be Episcopalian, with that name), a controversial bishop candidate in the Diocese of Northern Michigan.


Please respect our Commenting Policy