Hey journalists, thou shalt not do this.
Except -- let's be honest -- we really enjoy it when you do.
Regular GetReligion readers know that this journalism-focused website loves to highlight the best -- and by best, we mean worst -- corrections in the world of religion news. For example, just last month, The Associated Press merited a post when it mistook a comment about "sitting shiva" with "sit and shiver."
Who can forget a few years ago when The Times of London reported that John Paul II was the first non-Catholic pope for 450 years? They meant first non-Italian pope in that period.
But today's correction for the ages come to us courtesy of the Wall Street Journal and involves Moses -- yes, the one who led the Israelites out of Egypt.
Here is the correction that quickly went viral on social media:
The Jerusalem Post's Amy Spiro wasn't the only person entertained by it:
The quote came in a WSJ story about Sheldon Adelson facilitating an EPA connection for an Israeli firm:
It “improves on Moses,” Mr. Netanyahu said in video posted by the company. “He brought water from a rock. They bring water from thin air.”
Here is the relevant passage from Exodus 17:
1 The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.”
Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?”
3 But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”
4 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.”
5 The Lord answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile,and go. 6 I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
There's no word yet on whether any stone tablets were smashed as a result of the WSJ's mixup.
I kid. I kid.
So I guess there is only one remaining question to ask: Where does this correction rank in the list of all-time great gaffes (see tmatt USA Today piece long ago) in coverage linked to religion? As a GetReligion reader noted on Twitter:
Here comes Easter. Readers need to keep their eyes open.