Christianity

Reporting on Pope Benedict's visit to the UK on Friday's CBS Early Show, correspondent Mark Phillips noted how 65,000 people attended a Thursday outdoor mass in Scotland, but observed: "...it was only about a quarter of the size of the crowd Pope John Paul drew to the same park on his visit 28 years ago. And this crowd had a much better warm-up act...TV talent show star...Susan Boyle."On Thursday…

It can't be any clearer: The ordination of women in the Catholic Church is not going to happen. Ever.It. Will. Not. Happen.This is not a case of Pope Benedict XVI being "inflexible," as NBC's Today show erroneously claimed this morning (9/16/10) in reporting on the Holy Father's high-profile trip to England. NBC needs to know that this is not a case of "waiting it out" until another Pope comes…

At the top of Thursday's CBS Early Show, fill-in co-host Erica Hill teased a report on Pope Benedict's visit to Scotland: "...it's a rather controversial visit for a number of reasons." Later, correspondent Richard Roth proclaimed the state visit "has more pomp and potentially more problems" and would "bound to be shadowed by controversy along with ceremony." Roth went on to tout a gaffe made by…

Predictably, Thursday's American Morning on CNN marked the Pope Benedict XVI's first day in the UK with a report on dissenting Catholic women who claimed they are ordained priests, contrary to the teachings of the Church. Correspondent Carol Costello took a misinterpretation of a recent Church document on ordination as fact, and ran only one sound bite from a Vatican official.Substitute anchor…

People have asked me my opinion of the Rev. Terry Jones' threat to burn the Quran this past weekend. Personally I think the best thing to do with this story is to not give this insignificant media-hound with all of fifty parishioners avoice. But it's way too late for that now. So, of course I find the action in poor taste - I would never burn any religion's sacred parchment. That is just wrong…

Appearing as a guest on Tuesday’s Larry King Live on CNN, comedian Bill Maher picked up on a recent contention by Newt Gingrich that President Obama is motivated by anti-colonialism which his Kenyan father felt as the Real Time with Bill Maher host smeared the potential 2012 Republican presidential field as racist:How are they going to out-firebreathe each other? I mean, where this rhetoric has…

Comedian Bill Maher took his anti-religion, anti-conservative views off HBO and into the mainstream Sept. 13 during an appearance on NBC's "Tonight Show." Maher told host Jay Leno he's against the Ground Zero Mosque, because he's "against a mosque anywhere. I'm against a church anywhere, or a Hindu temple or a synagogue." Maher declared that houses of worship are "places that people go to retell…

Crazy? I'll give you crazy . . . Last Friday Mika Brzezinski and Morning Joe engaged in some strange and possibly unprecedented TV "journalism."  They invited Terry Jones—the potentially Koran-burning pastor—on the show via live feed, gave former Newsweek editor Jon Meacham the chance to lecture him about Christianity and implore him not to proceed with his plan . . . then summarily cut the…

On Saturday’s Fox News Watch, after host Jon Scott displayed a political cartoon that depicted the aggressive overreaction of many Muslims to Pastor Terry Jones’s threat to burn a Koran on September 11, liberal FNC analyst Alan Colmes suggested that a "very similar reaction" from Christians would result if a Muslim announced the intent to burn a Bible. Despite the reported riots and death in…

Dan Rather this weekend smacked down the entire panel of the syndicated "Chris Matthews Show" over the press hyping Pastor Terry Jones's threats to burn Korans on the ninth anniversary of 9/11."Media in general bear some responsibility here by running so hard with this story so early and putting such comments as you just said not only on the air, but high on the air, giving it play," Rather said.…

Imagine for a moment you were the editor of a magazine owned by the Washington Post and Newsweek. Would you a day before the ninth anniversary of 9/11 publish an article with the following headline:The Talibanization of AmericaViewed from Pakistan, the rise of U.S. Islamophobia looks depressingly familiar. Seems rather inflammatory hours before such a solemn day in America, don't you think?Yet,…

Fire doesn't melt steel--and a Florida pastor apparently isn't capable of burning a Koran without a plot by Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich behind him . . . On The Ed Show this evening, guest Karen Hunter, responding to a leading question from host Schultz, went deep conspiracy theory, saying she "wouldn't be surprised at all" if the "fingerprints" of Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich were "all over"…

Chris Matthews on Thursday accused Sarah Palin of aiding and abetting Pastor Terry Jones, the man threatening to burn Korans on Saturday's ninth anniversary of 9/11.For days, Matthews and his colleagues on MSNBC have been calling upon Republicans to speak out against Jones.On Wednesday, the former Alaska governor did exactly that at her Facebook page and at Twitter. But this wasn't enough for…

Talk about your strange bedfellows . . . Both Pat Buchanan and Donny Deutsch have advocated the arrest of Pastor Terry Jones to prevent his possible burning of Korans and the danger to US troops such act would threaten.   The paleo-conservative and the New York liberal made common cause on today's Morning Joe.  They were outnumbered by Mika Brzezinski, Dan Senor and John Heilemann, all of…