Manti Te’o, fake girlfriends and confirmation bias
Way back in my guilt file is a story I wanted to highlight from CNN about Manti Te’o, Notre Dame’s star linebacker. The story is a detailed account of the role religion plays in his life and I found it...
View ArticleBoy Scouts, Mormons and CNN’s tabloid-style ‘reporting’
Let’s face it: Most of the mainstream media coverage of the Boy Scouts of America’s decision to delay a vote on possibly accepting gay Scouts and adult leaders was pretty ho-hum. Here’s how The New...
View ArticleWhat, precisely, makes Stephenie Meyer so important? (updated)
I need some help, folks. My goal is to find that classic Washington Post piece — on A1 or the Style front — about the whole Beltway-women cult that surrounded the “Twilight” series by Stephenie Meyer....
View ArticlePlaying the same-sex marriage card
Over the weekend, the better half stirred up quite a hornet’s nest for a post noting that some in the media aren’t the slightest bit interested in covering the same-sex marriage debate with any degree...
View ArticleAsking the Boy Scout questions that matter the most
If you know anything about the politics of gay rights, you know that there is absolutely nothing that the Boy Scouts of American can do right now that will not lead to major divisions in their...
View ArticleMormonism is a religion, not just a culture
For people serious about their faith, religious beliefs tend not only to influence other types of beliefs but they tend to be presuppositional. Believers adopt particular cultural and political beliefs...
View ArticleAfter the Boy Scouts? For a few, camping with doctrine
When considering the forces pulling at the Boy Scouts of America, one thing journalists really needed to consider was a simple statistical chart that can be found (.pdf) on the organization’s homepage....
View ArticleOhio State vs. Notre Dame’s ‘damn Catholics’
Earlier this week, I saw someone tweet something about how the Republican Party “should never write off any block of voters. It’s horrible politics and it causes great damage.” I retweeted it with the...
View ArticleSeven questions about Boy Scout gay policy coverage
Headlines over the Boy Scouts of America’s decision to allow openly gay members are still flying fast and furious. There’s been so much recent coverage, actually, that it’s impossible to critique all...
View ArticleFundamental misunderstandings of ‘fundamentalism’
When it comes to religious terms, you would be hard pressed to find a word more misapplied by the media than “fundamentalist.” As your GetReligionistas have stressed a gazillion times, that is why the...
View ArticleMormon missionaries: switching from bikes to iPads?
From CBS News: SALT LAKE CITY — The common image of Mormon missionaries has long been two young men wearing white shirts and ties walking through neighborhoods, knocking door-to-door. I can attest to...
View ArticleBoy Scouts: Hollywood vs. some vague army of Americans
On one level, the recent Reuters “special report” on the financial issues haunting the 10,600-acre Summit Bechtel Family National Reserve in West Virginia breaks quite a bit of new and important ground...
View ArticleSkeptical about the NYT’s Mormon skeptic piece
We joke about having guilt files here at GetReligion — folders full of stories that we’d like to look at and analyze but don’t get around to for one reason or another. I have one from May of last year...
View ArticleConcerning theological Swiss Army knives (think chaplains)
In the world of church-state studies, few puzzles are as tough to crack as those that surround the work of military chaplains. Suffice it to say, many soldiers would like spiritual comfort and help in...
View ArticleHey AP: Where is religious left on religious liberty issues?
A long, long time ago, 1998 to be precise, I wrote a column marking the 10th anniversary of my weekly “On Religion” column for the Scripps Howard News Service. I opened it with an observation about one...
View ArticleSun does it again: Ghost in the Ngata and Suggs friendship
Are you ready for some football! GetReligion readers: What?!? So, the National Football League season starts tonight with the world-champion Baltimore Ravens returning (due to a baseball schedule issue...
View ArticleAnother haunted story about Ravens locker room faith
At this point, fans who pay close attention to the Baltimore Ravens are contemplating a deep moral and religious question. No, I am not referring to the sins being committed on a weekly basis by the...
View ArticleMormons softening opposition to homosexuality … or not
If you enjoy quality journalism, feel free to skip an Associated Press story out today on Mormons challenging their church’s stance on homosexuality. But if you’re in the mood for a puff piece, wow …...
View ArticlePod people: Facts are your friends, journalists
Here at GetReligion, we make no secret of our bias. That bias: our deep affection for good, old-fashioned journalism. In two recent posts, I highlighted stories at opposite extremes of that ideal. I...
View ArticleThose Latter-day Saints: What’s in a name?
ROYCE WONDERS: (Paraphrasing) What’s the origin of Mormonism’s official name, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and do those two “of” phrases mean Saints are on equal footing with Jesus,...
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