Actor asked to comment on relationship of dead birds and Armageddon

CNN's Anderson Cooper interviewed Left Behind series actor Kirk Cameron on the significance of large-scale bird kills as a predictor of the end of the world.

Cameron suggested Cooper would have been better off calling a veterinarian.

PBS series on God in America begins today

You can find details on this historical series that runs this weekon the network's web site

Interesting view on "leaving Christianity"

The most popular story on CNN's website is one about Interview With the Vampire author Anne Rice stating that she is leaving Christianity.

The article quotes Rice's blog from two posts in which she both states that she has "quit being a Christian" and that "following Christ does not mean following His [sic] followers."

The Baltimore Sun's religion blog has a more extensive set of quotations, but in neither is there any context from the writer to explain the apparent contradiction between Rice's statement that she follows Christ, but does not consider herself a Christian, essentially because Christians are too narrow-minded.

Across societies, religious folks are fairer, study finds

This science story in the New York Times was intriguing for it's finding that strangers in a WalMart were more likely to be fair to each other, than were people who lived in kinship clans. One finding regarding religion particularly caught my eye:

"People belonging to a modern “world religion,” like the Islamic faith of the Orma cattle herders in Kenya or the Christian faith of the Dolgan reindeer herders in Siberia, tended to share more of their prize than did adherents of local religions. As larger communities became possible after the invention of agriculture, the researchers write in Science, 'intersocietal competition may have favored those religious systems that galvanize pro-social behavior in broader communities, perhaps using both supernatural incentives (for example, hell) and recurrent rituals that intensify group solidarity.'"

Atheist group advertises on New York transit

According to this story from CNN, a group called the Big Apple Coalition for Reason will be advertising in multiple media as part of a campaign to make New Yorkers more aware about atheism and atheists. Supporters, who are spending money from an anonymous donation, are hoping to attract members to atheist groups and to promote dialogue about religion and morality.

I thought it was interesting the story quotes a representative defending both the campaign as non-aggressive and atheism in general.

Sweat Lodge Practice Leads to Deaths

This article from the AP focuses on the story of a retreat in Arizona that included two hours in a sweat lodge, after which two retreaters were found dead, with 19 others sickened.

I thought this story lacked context. What is a sweat lodge? Why might someone use one? Does it have risks? In the story, the only risk listed was that the sweat lodge was built without a building permit.

Here is a description of a sweat lodge ceremony.

Article on prayer illustrates non-believing reporter technique

This article on prayer from the Sunday New York Times Magazine, written by Zev Chafets, features the following:

Cymbala instructed us to form prayer groups of two or three, stand facing one another and read the prayers out loud. I formed a threesome with the man on my left, a middle-aged political consultant from Washington, and a tall fellow on my right who had recently moved to New York from Gary, Ind. “Would you mind reading mine too?” I asked the tall man, handing him my card. “I don’t actually pray, and I don’t want Pete and Angela to get shortchanged.” He nodded with nonjudgmental solemnity, read the request and asked God to bless the couple with prosperity and health.

This transaction made me feel like a jerk. All Pete and Angela wanted was a simple prayer, and I couldn’t bring myself to offer one. I took the card back and said, “I’m having a good thought for Pete and Angela.” I wished them happiness and wealth, in Hebrew. The two words sound alike in Hebrew and are a commonly used secular benediction. My prayer partners said, “Amen,” and we all sat down.

I thought this was an interesting example of reporting from something you believe in and of participant observation.

Blog post reports on story

The New York Times parenting blog has this report on on new research that shows that more religious areas of the country have higher teen pregnancy rates.

Blogger Lisa Belkin seeks reader comments, as always, and many had issue with Belkin's assertion that the relationship is not what one would expect.

Scholars embrace study of religion and media (!), report says

This column, originally in the Boston Globe, explores the study of religion and popular culture as expressed in media. The column looks at venues from the American Academy of Religion to Christianity Today where Harry Potter/Christ parallels are discussed, but also mentions books engaging popular media and religion, written by religion journalists.

Taking the Saint out of Patrick's Day

According to this story from my local paper, there is a movement afoot to remove Saint Patrick from the March 17 holiday.

This is in order to not be offensive to non-religious people who still want to enjoy the parades, green beer and other trimmings of the holiday, which is reminiscent of the issues people had with retailers wishing a Merry Christmas, rather than happy holidays or the even less committal Season's Greetings.

Religion blogger Terry Mattingly pointed to the article in his Get Religion blog, gaining several comments about whether the scope of the idea was really newsworthy.

Sharia adopted as peacemaking measure in Somalia

Another country has agreed with rebel groups to institute Sharia, or Islamic law, in order to gain a cease-fire.

Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed announced today that he has approved the installation of Sharia Law, a move that will have to be ratified by the nation's parliament.

Stories about the move were pretty similar from the BBC and from Al Jazeera, although the latter focused more on the political aspect, while the BBC focused more on the violence.

Somalia has been cited by Christian rights groups for incidents where professions Christians and Christian converts have been beheaded.

New archibishop for New York

With the mandatory retirement of Cardinal Edward Egan, the Vatican has named Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy Dolan, from Milwaukee, to head the diocese of New York.

You can read details that focus on the history of Dolan here in the LA Times. A story with more analysis of the state of the Catholic Church in New York is found in the New York Times.

Westboro pastor, daughter banned from Britain

The BBC has this story about Fred Phelps and his daughter being banned from entering Great Britain, where they intended to protest at a play depicting the death of a gay youth.

The source commenting on the theology of the Westboro Baptist Church, known for villified protests at funerals for U.S. Servicemebers, is the principal of the school where the play is to be presented, which was an interesting choice.

Phelps' daughter has claimed that other church members will be secretly entering the country to carry out the protests.

News outlets cover Pakistan sharia law deal

As was widely reported yesterday, in an effort to boost security in the mountainous Swat region, the Pakistani government has reached a deal with the Taliban to return the region to Islamic law.

In covering a story like this for a Western audience, context is critical if you want the readers/viewers to understand why this is significant. The Associated Press Coverage found here focuses on the U.S. political reaction, with only glancing attention to the issues that shariah law might bring about for civilians living in the region.

Another article published in the National, from Abu Dhabi, offers a lengthy historical context detailing the relationship of shariah law and the relative peace within the region.

CNN's international edition had a few grafs on the social impact here.

Reuters, a few years ago, ran a summary of sharia law in the context of another story. The brief summary does highlight some of the cultural issues that might be important for a Western audience.

Indulgences are back, Times reports

This article, the most popular in today's on-line New York Times is interesting for it's explanation of theological issues.

The article discusses the availability of indulgences for Catholics and how it is becoming somewhat more prevalent in the church.

The indulgence is a tricky concept for a publication to get across to a variety of readers who include, as the article notes, those who vaguely remember that Martin Luther was against them - a fact pulled up from the recollections of high school history.

But I thought this explanation worked well:

"The indulgence is among the less noticed and less disputed traditions to be restored. But with a thousand-year history and volumes of church law devoted to its intricacies, it is one of the most complicated to explain.

According to church teaching, even after sinners are absolved in the confessional and say their Our Fathers or Hail Marys as penance, they still face punishment after death, in Purgatory, before they can enter heaven. In exchange for certain prayers, devotions or pilgrimages in special years, a Catholic can receive an indulgence, which reduces or erases that punishment instantly, with no formal ceremony or sacrament.

There are partial indulgences, which reduce purgatorial time by a certain number of days or years, and plenary indulgences, which eliminate all of it, until another sin is committed. You can get one for yourself, or for someone who is dead. You cannot buy one — the church outlawed the sale of indulgences in 1567 — but charitable contributions, combined with other acts, can help you earn one. There is a limit of one plenary indulgence per sinner per day."

Missionary nun serves in circus

This story on CNN about life in the circus focused on how life for full-time traveling families is similar to and different from life for other families. The article discusses living arrangements, work schedules, the fact that a licensed teacher runs a one-room school for children traveling with the group.

A heavy transition in the latter part of the story reads "With any traveling family, there will inevitably be spiritual needs. Sister Dorothy Fabritze is a full-time circus worker and Catholic nun who holds religion classes, working across cultures, sharing the circus lifestyle."

The rest of the story focuses on the religion angle.

How to produce a prayer

During the opening and closing prayers at today's inauguration, it was interesting to watch the choices the producers made in whom to show. President and Mrs. Obama were shown, heads bowed and eyes closed, although Sasha Obama was looking around at one point, and "First Grandma" Marian Robinson was pulling at her gloves.

Shots of the crowd showed a variety of poses - tears, looking around, people who were reciting the Lord's Prayer with Rick Warren and people who weren't.

For discussion: How to choose shots for this. Better to focus on the speaker? The President? A potpourri?

Catholics Insulted by Mexican Playboy Cover

This piece on CNN yesterday highlights a controversy in Mexico over a Playboy Magazine cover depicting a scantily dressed woman wearing a veil, posing in front of a stained glass window, with the words in Spanish "Te adoremus, Maria." The model on the cover is María Florencia Onori, and the magazine's publisher asserts that the piece, released on the the Virgin of Guadalupe's feast day, is not supposed to depict Mary, the mother of Jesus.

The CNN story is an interview with Miami priest and radio host Father Albert Cutie, and, accoding to Cutie, Catholics aren't buying it. The cover is both offensive and blasphemous, Cutie says.

The story does a nice job of explicating the role of culture in the understanding of religion, explaining to non-Latino viewers the meanings that images and the words would have.

Humbug sign stolen from nativity scene

This lead story from CNN states that an atheist sign that appeared next to a nativity scene in Washington state has been found.

The sign, which was reported stolen from the legislative building in Olympia, read "At this season of the Winter Solstice, let reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven and hell. Only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds."

The Freedom of Religion Foundation has placed similar signs in other locations that have suffered minor vandalism.

One the most interesting things about the article, however, is the emphasis on free speech, both from the foundation and from government officials who faces large protests about the sign, but did not take steps to have it removed.

NBC makes an interesting story request

This call for information from NBC is interesting on a few levels.

The network is attempting to bridge religion and the economic slowdown, which is a rather different idea.

The examples given for what people might have trouble paying for are interesting, though. Gas to get to services is one thing, but I think some readers/viewers might not classify Christmas trees or Hanukkah gifts as costs of religious observances.

I will be interested to see if they get responses from practitioners of other religions.