MSNBC's Matthews Offers Crackpot Theory for Why GOP Going with Tampa f
Republicans are likely to go with Tampa, Florida, as the venue for their 2012 presidential nominating convention in part because evangelicals hate Mormons. That's the gospel truth, at least according to Chris Matthews, who yesterday went on a loopy rant that was pure bluster and completely unsubstantiated in its assertions.[MP3 audio available here; click play on the embedded video at right for…
Newsweek Notes Evangelical Leaders Pushing for Immigration Amnesty
The mainstream media often have little use for religious folks, except, of course, when they sing from the same hymnal on an issue dear to liberals.We've seen it before with how the media bash the Catholic Church as behind the times when compared to its American laity who are decidedly less conservative on sexual mores, abortion, and women or married persons in the priesthood. Yet when Catholic…
‘Hollywood is Running Scared of Radical Islam,’ Says MRC’s Dan G
Dan Gainor, Vice-President of Business and Culture at the MRC, appeared on the May 7 broadcast of Fox News's "America Live" to discuss the double standard at Comedy Central when it comes to mocking religious figures. Two weeks ago, Comedy Central banned "South Park" creators from mocking the prophet Mohammed because network executives didn't want to offend Muslim followers. This week,…
Two Weeks After Censoring 'South Park,' Comedy Central Debuts Cartoon
Guess who said this: "In general, comedy in purist form always makes some people uncomfortable." Nope, it wasn't Lenny Bruce or George Carlin. It was Comedy Central's head of original programming Kent Alterman, who was defending the network's new animated show, "JC," which centers on (read: mocks) Jesus Christ.This, of course, is the same Comedy Central that two weeks ago forbade the show "South…
FNC's Baier Mentions NB Item on MSNBC's Brewer Hoping Times Square Bom
NewsBusters contributor Scott Whitlock's May 4 item, "MSNBC's Contessa Brewer 'Frustrated' That Times Square Bomber Is a Muslim" was noticed by Fox News Channel "Special Report" anchor Bret Baier, who included a reference to the story and the underlying controversy in his May 5 "Grapevine" segment. [MP3 audio available here; click play on embed at right to watch video] Brewer, a daytime live news…
Daily Kos: 'All Religions Pale In Comparison' to Environmentalism
Daily Kos may be an almost official stop of the Democratic Party -- today's top ad demands you help the Arizona Democrats fight the new immigration law -- but it's certainly not a religious website. In fact, last Friday, the blogger "HumeSkeptic" declared that all religions pale in comparison to earth worship: In so far as all morality is fundamentally based on preservation, betterment and…
WaPo Book Reviewer Cheers Atheist Novelist's Spin on Life of Jesus
"[F]or all its satanic fanfare and heretical rejiggering, 'The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ' is -- God forbid -- kind of inspiring," Washington Post book reviewer Ron Charles proclaimed in today's review of the latest novel by avowed atheist Philip Pullman.Charles began by suggesting that Pullman's publication was a veritable act of courage -- "if you fiddle with Jesus, people begin…
CNN Revives Three-Week-Old Story to Cast Pope in Bad Light
[Update, 6:06 pm Eastern: CNN ran a slanted commercial promoting Tuchman's report on Anderson Cooper 360 on Monday afternoon, touting how then-Cardinal Ratzinger apparently "resisted" Bishop Cummins's requests to expel the abuser from the priesthood. (see video at right).] CNN's Gary Tuchman revisited a three-week-old story on a priest abuse case in California during a segment on Monday's AC360,…
N.Y. Times Obit Illustrates How Media See Religion Through Political L
The media don't get religion, often portraying intra-denominational struggles within American Protestant churches through a purely political lens, rather than as substantial debates touching on the core tenets of Christian doctrine or ecclesial discipline. What's more, in this political narrative, conservative defenders of Christian orthodoxy are invariably the bullies. A recent example of this…
MSNBC Suggests Guns in Church 'Crossing the Line'; Omits Fact Armed Ch
Updated with audio and video (18:25 EDT)Picking up on a story from Louisiana about a bill to allow concealed carry for firearms in houses of worship, MSNBC's Tamron Hall asked viewers of the network's live coverage shortly before 3 p.m. EDT today if the legislation was "Crossing the Line."True to the segment's formula, only one side of the controversy was represented in the form of a guest to…
Joy Behar on Prayer: What's the 'Difference Between' Bush and Terroris
When it comes to matters of prayer, Joy Behar doesn’t know the difference between terrorists and former President George W. Bush.The National Day of Prayer is coming up on May 6, but on “The Joy Behar Show” April 29, she was discussing the diversity of religion in America with former talk show host Phil Donahue.In a discussion about the separation of church and state, Behar absurdly compared Bush…
CBS Ignores, NBC Reports and ABC Frets Over Supreme Court Ruling of Mo
Given the contentious debate over the proper role of religion in American public life, you'd think an important Supreme Court ruling on the issue would be a big story to the network news. But the Court's April 28 finding regarding a cross on a World War I memorial in the Mojave Desert elicited a yawn from CBS's "Evening News," a 78-word report from NBC's "Nightly News," and a one-sided segment…
Irony Deficient: WaPo 'On Faith' Frets About Climate Change
“A warming planet is just the tip of the iceberg, the warning light on the dashboard,” according to the Washington Post’s On Faith Guest Voices, Katharine Hayhoe. In her April 27 article, “Not Red, Not Blue, Just Green,” Hayhoe fretted about supposed climate change and attempted to use religion as a means to take action against global warming. Hayhoe, a professor at Texas Tech and climate…
Rick Sanchez Forwards CAIR's Nazi License Plate Speculation
On Tuesday's Rick List, CNN's Rick Sanchez unquestioningly forwarded Islamic advocacy group CAIR's admitted speculation about a Virginia license plate containing a supposed coded message of white supremacy/neo-Naziism, which they found on a pickup truck that also had an anti-Islamic message on it [audio clip available here].Sanchez devoted a brief to the controversy over the Virginia license…
