WaPo Sloppy Reporting on Conservative Episcopalians

October 17th, 2008 11:20 AM

Frank Lockwood of Bible Belt Blogger spotted a "glaring error" on the front page of the Washington Post the other day. File this in the "media don't get religion" department (emphasis mine):

Can you spot the mistake? It's in this story about parishes and dioceses that have split from the Episcopal Church since the ordination of a practicing homosexual as bishop of New Hampshire in 2003:

"They say the Episcopal leadership defines Scripture on modern rather than eternal standards, and they take exception to the ordination of female clergy, the full acceptance of gays and lesbians and what they see as reduced importance in the role of Jesus for a believer's redemption."

[...]

But the indisputable problem with the story, I think involves the claim that "they" (breakaway Episcopalians) "take exception to the ordination of female clergy." That will come as a surprise to the ordained Episcopal women who have left the Episcopal Church in the past five years to protest its policies.

D'oh. Lockwood closed by tweaking the Post by praising its competitor the Washington Times and praising their religion editor, who holds a master's degree in religion from an Episcopal seminary:

You won’t see this error, I’m guessing, in any of the stories by The Washington Times’ Julia Duin.