Rush Limbaugh (hearts) Elton John

Terry Mattingly June 14th, 2010

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If you have read GetReligion for more than a week or two, you probably have noticed that we live in the age of the simplistic label. If you noticed that fact, then you also must have noticed that your GetReligionistas are not fond of labels - especially in religion coverage.

It's just too easy to divide the world into left and right, moderates and fundamentalists and assume that news consumers have some idea what those words mean. Isn't that right, Bill Keller … (Read More)

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Beyond the L-word? Ask questions

Terry Mattingly May 18th, 2010

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As you would expect, the Baltimore Sun is in full celebration mode when it comes to the consecration of the Rev. Canon Mary Douglas Glasspool of Annapolis as a new assistant bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles. This makes sense for all kinds of reasons, in terms of the newspaper's views of the changes that must be made to help build a better and more enlightened world.

The story, as you would expect, openly admits that this local story about the rise of … (Read More)

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Probing the apocalypse in rural Michigan

Terry Mattingly April 6th, 2010

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The headline on the MSNBC version of an Associated Press report out of Michigan was blunt:

Christian militia target of FBI raids?

As you would expect, the top of the story backed that up.

ADRIAN, Mich. - The FBI said … that agents conducted weekend raids in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio and arrested at least three people, and a militia leader in Michigan said the target of at least one of the raids was a Christian militia group. …

Michael Lackomar, a spokesman … (Read More)

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Haitian voices: God and the quake

Terry Mattingly January 27th, 2010

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So far, nothing I have seen coming out of Haiti has changed my mind about how journalists should approach the basic "theodicy" story.

I've said it several times already (click here and then here), I am really not that interested in what American religious broadcasters or even articulate American academics have to say about the role that God or the spirits did or didn't play in causing the hellish earthquake that rocked Port-au-Prince and the surround … (Read More)

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GetReligion.org – Terry Mattingly on SBE

Erik Guzman January 22nd, 2010

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Scripps Howard religion writer Terry Mattingly joins us on this edition of Steve Brown Etc. for his yearly look at how the press just doesn't get religion.

We also read the hate-mail we received because of last week's comments on Pat Robertson and The Merry Monk of Love talks about his "Help Haiti Fast."

(If you're on the front page of the site, click read more to see player options.)

Terry Mattingly writes the nationally syndicated On Religio … (Read More)

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From cheerleading to coaching

Terry Mattingly November 6th, 2009

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Second verse, same as the first.

As I continue to read the New York Times coverage of the Maine vote, my mind drifted back to these lines from Daniel Okrent, the newspaper's former ombudsman, in his infamous 2004 column entitled "Is The New York Times a Liberal Newspaper?" News junkies will recall that his lede said bluntly, "Of course it is."

But on the subject of news "templates" or "maps," here is a thought for the second … (Read More)

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