The Revealer: June 2006 Archives

Fundamentalist Family Research Council Wants to Ring Your Bell
There's really no news value in alerting the world of the fact that the Family Research Council, a Washington-based Christian fundamentalist Sinn Fein to James Dobson's figurative IRA, loathes LGBT people. But every now and then the daily email newsletter... [ Continue reading: ]

A Different Set of Questions
Diane Winston: Is the press ready to cover the first female presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church in America? [ Continue reading: ]

Who's Kooky, Now?
Slate's Martin Edlund trots out what will likely soon be the reigning narrative for mainstream coverage of the "religious left," contrasting Rabbi Michael Lerner's obviously flaky confab (think concentric prayer circles) with Jim Wallis' upcoming conference, focused on electoral politics... [ Continue reading: ]

The Real Religious Left
The "new religious left" story has become a staple of newspapers, but much more revealing, we think, is this little snippet from today's NY Times, about the anti-poverty group ACORN, a tough, locally-minded outfit that cares more about rotten landlords and rip-off utility bills than electing milquetoast Democrats to Congress... [ Continue reading: ]

Loss for Words
Linda Wertheimer's NPR interview this morning with retiring Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson is surprisingly tough, openly skeptical of Gerson's evangelical eloquence as a responsible approach to reality. Challenged, Gerson loses hold of his rhetorical grace; when Wertheimer points out that... [ Continue reading: ]

In The Name Of...
Nicole Greenfield: At the annual General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church taking place this week, delegates voted to "receive" a policy which would offer alternatives to the traditional Trinity, "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." Congregations won't be required to use the new phrasings--"Mother, Child, and Womb" and "Rock, Redeemer, and Friend," among others--but supporters believe that the new options will help balance gender roles within the church. Many are opposed to the change, arguing that the church should adhere to the way in which God is addressed in the Bible, but it is expected to receive final approval regardless. [ Continue reading: ]

Valedictorian Altar Call
Valedictorian Brittany McComb tried her luck at freedom of (graduation) speech outburst last week when she deviated from the school-edited version and began proclaiming her love for God, the Las Vegas Review Journal reports. Officials quickly pulled her mic, sparking... [ Continue reading: ]

Bush Loses His Voice
Nicole Greenfield: The news that longtime White House speechwriter and policy adviser Michael Gerson was leaving Bush behind didn’t excite the media nearly as much as the resignations of press secretary Scott McClellan and chief of staff Andrew Card did. But that doesn’t mean it’s any less significant. [ Continue reading: ]

You Must Draw a Long Bead to Shoot a Fish
Jeff Sharlet: "I've a letter demanding an answer. It's from my friend Sue, who has gone home to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania to watch her father die. He is, or maybe now was, a self-made millionaire, a maverick Mennonite, a builder of hard, bony houses, and a shooter of animals on land and in water, which is saying something, since you must draw a long bead to shoot a fish." More at Killing the Buddha, excerpted from Revealer contributor Laurel Snyder's new anthology, Half/Life: Jew-Ish Tales from Interfaith Homes. [ Continue reading: ]

Progressive Faith Blog Con
Announcing the first annual Progressive Faith Blog Con, a gathering by and for religious and/or progressive bloggers. The conference will take place from Friday, July 14 to Sunday, July 16 at Montclair State University In New Jersey. Registration is available... [ Continue reading: ]

Jew-Ish
New Yorkers: Tonight, Revealer editor Jeff Sharlet and Revealer contributor Laurel Snyder join novelist Katharine Weber at the "Novel Jews" reading series, produced by the Forward, to present three short, true stories about half-Jews from Laurel's new anthology, Half/Life: Jew-ish... [ Continue reading: ]

Praying and Cheering for the World Cup
Nicole Greenfield: Today is St. Anthony's Day, the patron saint of Brazil, and soccer fans are excited. Parishes throughout Sao Paulo have set up big screens and decorated with flags to encourage church-goers to stay after mass and watch today's World Cup match against Croatia. Despite the fact that Brazil is the tournament's favorite, many nationals will surely be calling on the saint of happiness today to provide support for their team. There's only one problem: Croatia is also Catholic and its fans will certainly be pleading for St. Anthony's help as well. [ Continue reading: ]

Reporting Women's Protests in Tehran
Nicole Greenfield: Hundreds of women gathered in protest of Iran's gender inequality in Tehran today, mere days before the country's June 17th presidential elections. According to reports, the demonstration was almost immediately met with violence by police, and ended with many women being beaten and arrested. It is an interesting story on many levels, but what struck me right away was the variety of media reporting on the issue. [ Continue reading: ]

Better Kept A Secret
This morning's Guardian reports that a "secret high-level" study commissioned by London's Directorate of Professional Standards has been leaked. Why so secret? Because it concludes that Muslim police officers, as a result of their strong family and community ties and... [ Continue reading: ]

Chuck Colson: David or Goliath?
Nicole Greenfield: Former Nixon “hatchet man” and current Bush ally, Chuck Colson, is in the news again after an Iowa judge ruled that his InnerChange Freedom Initiative, a state-funded evangelical Christian prison program, violated the separation of church and state. [ Continue reading: ]

Zarqawi's Short and Violent Life
The Atlantic has just published an online article by Mary Anne Weaver, who traveled to Jordan just months ago in order to learn the story behind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the insurgent leader killed in Iraq yesterday. It is an excellent... [ Continue reading: ]

The Stupidest Journalist in America
Jeff Sharlet: In honor of 6/6/06, Ann Coulter unmasks me as... well, if not the anti-Christ, at least one of the stupidist journalists in America... [ Continue reading: ]

The Apocalypse is Always Now (But Especially on 6/6/06)
Rob Brendle, associate pastor of the New Life megachurch in Colorado Springs -- de facto HQ of the National Association of Evangelicals -- has a very frightening message to share on this special day. Elsewhere in the High Plains Messenger:... [ Continue reading: ]

The End of the World, Again (Plus a Cute Kid)
Gabriel McKee: The remake of The Omen, opening this week, is the latest in an endless line of ‘70s horror remakes that have recently invaded theaters. Where new versions of brutal slasher films like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes have sought to bring the nihilistic atmosphere of the originals to a new generation, The Omen is a Christian film: It draws its scares from the resurgence of apocalyptic spirituality driven by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkin’s Left Behind novels. [ Continue reading: ]