Girl Scouts and gossip. Just so that title doesn't confuse anyone, let me make clear that we're talking about two different stories.

On this week's Crossroads, I mean.

On the weekly GetReligion podcast, host Todd Wilken and I discuss my recent posts on media coverage of (1) Girl Scouts and the culture wars and (2) the possible excommunication of a Memphis, Tenn., church member for gossiping (among other alleged sins).

Since my post on the Girl Scouts, the Indiana lawmaker who raised a stink over the "radical organization" has apologized for the tone of his accusations but not backed down from his basic complaints. From the Journal Gazette in Fort Wayne, Ind.:

FORT WAYNE – Days after his opposition to a resolution honoring the Girl Scouts went viral, Rep. Bob Morris, R-Fort Wayne, apologized for his remarks but stood by his decision not to sign the resolution.

In a written statement, Morris said he was able to reflect on his previous letter, which called the Girl Scouts a "radicalized organization" that supports abortion and promotes "homosexual lifestyles."

"I realize now that my words were emotional, reactionary and inflammatory," he wrote on Thursday. "For that I sincerely apologize. … I certainly should not have painted the entire Girl Scouts organization with such a wide brush."

The Fort Wayne paper also reports that anti-abortion groups have come to Morris' defense.

On the Podcast, Wilken surprised me with his first question, asking if the Girl Scouts should even have been a story in the first place. I him-haw around for a while before acknowledging that I'm not entirely sure. I give a few reasons why. I refuse to listen to my own voice on tape, but it no doubt makes for great podcast theater.

Be sure to check it out and enjoy the Southern-fried accent. And a little gossip, too.