Remember that strange item the other day when the computer at the Los Angeles Times, for some reason, decided that a story on Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and some "earmarks" bills should be listed at the newspaper's "religion" site? Apparently, anything linked to Palin is "religious" at the moment.
Well, here we go again! Once again, at the "religion" news site the all-powerful computer has given us:
How to spot counterfeit True Religion jeans
Want to know if your new dungarees are truly True Religion? Here are some tips to help you separate the bona fide jeans from the fakes:
* True Religion sews a security tag featuring a red "U" beneath the inside labels of its jeans and T-shirts. ...
* In many styles of True Religion jeans, smiling Buddhas are printed on the front pocket linings. They should be neither too bright nor too faded. The pockets should be lined with Pellon, a thin fabric used for support.
And so forth and so on. As it turns out, this is a sidebar to a consumer-news piece. However, since it is about people seeking "true religion," should it also be cross referenced with Palin?
I know, I know. Computers make mistakes. However, all of this underlines one of the main purposes of this here weblog -- which is to find mainstream news stories that actually ARE RELIGIOUS, or contain unexamined religious themes, that journalists don't "get."
Thus, I fund it sad that the same computer that gave us the "True Religion" jeans "religion" story on the religion-news site missed this Carla Hall story -- which really does have strong religious content. Then again, it isn't about Palin's brand of religion. So maybe it does not count.
Read on. Here's the double-decker super-headline, which does contain the theme in question:
Before Rielle Hunter was linked to John Edwards, she was on a search for enlightenment -- but not scandal.
The former Lisa Jo Druck at various times has been a party girl, an actress and a spiritual seeker.
And the summary transition section:
Let's rewind the tape of the life that brought Rielle Hunter, nee Lisa Jo Druck, to that fateful meeting on Park Avenue with Sen. John Edwards. And her name is pronounced "Ree -- elle."
Hunter's life has been equal parts magical mystery tour and perpetual job quest. She has been a party girl, a minor (but working) actress, a writer of oddly titled compositions, a yoga enthusiast and a spiritual seeker.
During the 1980s and '90s, she bounced between coasts and made occasional forays in the world abroad, following one guru or another
Read it all. It may not be your brand of religion, but it appears that -- to some degree -- it spoke to Edwards.