As journalists began digging into the who, what, when, where, why and how of Anders Behring Breivik, the deputy police chief of Oslo faced a media scrum and served up the day’s hottest sound bite. “What we know is that he is right wing and he is a Christian fundamentalist,” he said, the morning after the hellish attack on Norway’s Labor Party and on the children that were its future. That was the English version of the quote that jumped... Read more
It’s a question that can cause tension and tears in a circle of home-school moms in a Bible Belt church fellowship hall. It’s a question that can have the same jarring impact in a circle of feminist mothers in a Manhattan coffee shop. Here it is: Will you buy your daughter a Barbie doll? Other questions follow in the wake of this one, linked to clothes, self esteem, cellphones, makeup, reality TV shows and the entire commercialized princess culture. The... Read more
Call it the “Rocky Mountain Time Zone syndrome.” Journalists in the region know that it’s scandalously rare for news events and trends that break in the Rocky Mountain West to gain traction in the elite news outlets of the urban Northeast and the West Coast. But the massacre at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999 was different. The national press came to Littleton, Colo., and stayed — forced to wrestle with ancient questions of good and evil, as framed... Read more
The Harry Potter culture warriors have surged into action one last time, adding their familiar notes of discord to the fanfares greeting the release of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.” “It’s no secret that the Harry Potter storyline about both good and evil wizards has fueled global teenage increase in Wicca and the occult,” according to an urgent Christian Newswire press release. “Stephanie Meyer’s The Twilight Saga about good and evil vampires has done the same thing... Read more
When evangelical leaders look at the United States of America, they do not see a country defined by the familiar Gallup Poll statistic stating that 92 percent of its citizens profess some kind of belief in God. Nor do they see a land that is only 1.6 percent atheist and 2.4 percent agnostic, according to the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. They do not see a land in which another 12.1 percent... Read more
Once a month, Village Church volunteers offer their neighborhood a gift — free babysitting. This Friday “Parents Night Out” program uses non-religious crafts and games, which is important because the Presbyterian flock’s leaders insist that it’s open to parents of any “creed, color, party or orientation.” It helps to know that this evangelical church is located in New York City’s Greenwich Village and meets in rented space in Public School 3. “We’re New Yorkers and we know all about the... Read more
At first, it seems strange for Christians to jump into the firestorm surrounding the Nov. 8 ballot initiative in San Francisco to ban circumcisions. After all, the issue of whether gentiles had to be circumcised when converting to Christianity was — literally — settled in the age of the apostles. Nevertheless, the Catholic archbishop of San Francisco quickly went public with his views on this hot-button issue. “As a religious leader I can only view with alarm the prospect that... Read more
As point man for Russian Orthodox relations with other faith groups, Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev is used to talking shop with Catholics, Anglicans, leaders in older brands of Protestantism and other world religions. These duties have long been part of his job description. Meeting with leaders from the world’s booming evangelical and Pentecostal flocks? Not so much. However, recent ecumenical contacts by this high-profile representative of the Moscow Patriarchate is evidence that times are changing. Time after time, during meetings with... Read more
There was only one way the Oprah Winfrey Show could end after 25 years, 4,561 shows and 30,000 guests — with a sermon. “Here’s what I learned,” explained Winfrey, in a monologue now circulating as an online “love letter” to viewers. “Nobody but you is responsible for your life. It doesn’t matter what your mama did. It doesn’t matter what your daddy didn’t do. … “You are responsible for the energy that you create for yourself, and you’re responsible for... Read more
The 122nd annual commencement address at Catholic University of America was old school from start to finish, offering calls for self sacrifice, inspirational sports stories, a bite of Irish wisdom, a dash of positive thinking and a quote from Mother Teresa. “The good things in life aren’t things. They are people. They are values. They are our birthrights,” concluded Speaker of the House John Boehner, who also mentioned his childhood in a Catholic family with 12 children. “For when it’s... Read more
Terry Mattingly
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In