Monthly Archives: October 2010

by Don Lattin Talk about your flashbacks… Blogging about media coverage of Prop. 19 takes my boggled mind back to those heady days in  the spring of 1973 and my own misadventures covering the Berkeley Marijuana Initiative, the first law … Continue reading →

by Brie Loskota With an important election looming, our constantly simmering political contest over “values” is once again at full boil. Self-described “values voters” sparked furious debate following the 2004 exit polls. Liberals declared that God has no party. Conservatives … Continue reading →

by Kevin Healey As Judith Weisenfeld rightly notes, the many heart-felt contributions to Dan Savage's “It Gets Better” project provide some of the most nuanced discussions of the religious implications of homophobia. But what should we make of mainstream coverage … Continue reading →

Religion never registered in this season's installment of Mad Men. It didn't need to. The implications of faith, morality and Protestant privilege echoed through the episodes, delineating expectations about work and family, gender roles and even child-rearing. Off-screen in 1965, … Continue reading →

by Nick Street Lee Siegel's essay on resonances between the Beats and the Tea Partiers in last Sunday's New York Times Book Review is a brilliant exercise in religious and political genealogy as well as a signpost for reporters. There … Continue reading →

Judith Weisenfeld If the recent cluster of suicides of young gay men weren't enough to draw our attention to the under-reported consequences of homophobia in our culture, we also have the brutal attacks in the Bronx and the antediluvian remarks … Continue reading →

by John Adams Bless me Father, for I have sinned. It was Saturday night, Sept. 18, and I was nearing the end of a grueling 16-hour shift when a headline came across the wires that caught my attention: “CHURCH MASS … Continue reading →

by Dalia Hashad “Islam: Questions and Answers,” a recent special edition of ABC's “20/20,” promised to shed light on America's most misunderstood religion. That promise went woefully unfulfilled. In fact, riddled with misinformation, confused logic and racist rhetoric, the show … Continue reading →

Much wailing and gnashing of teeth followed the recent release of the Pew Forum's survey of Americans' religious knowledge. The news that, on average, most of us know only half the answers to questions on the Bible, global faith traditions … Continue reading →