President Bush praised Southern Baptists today for their history of “Christian witness.” Speaking at the group’s annual convention, he said Southern Baptists have set a great example in caring for the poor, supporting American troops, working to build “a culture of life,” fighting malaria and AIDS across the globe, helping the war-torn region of Darfur, Sudan — and teaching the Bible.
“God has blessed our nation with prosperity and great abundance,” Bush said. “And I firmly believe, like you, that we should use our resources to help those that need here at home, and help those who need abroad.”
How well do the mainstream media cover American religion? Not so well, according to Media Matters for America — but not in the way that many people might think.
The liberal media watchdog group today released a report that says conservative voices dominate in religious coverage in major newspapers and television outlets. Paul Waldman, a senior fellow and director of special projects for the group, called the difference in the media’s use of conservative and liberal religious sources a “striking imbalance.”
That clip of Waldman is one of several video excerpts from a press conference to announce the report. Other speakers included:
Katie Barge, the communications director of Faith in Public Life;
Bob Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches;
Jim Forbes, a minister in New York City and host of “The Time Is Now” on Air America;
Alexia Kelley, executive director of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good;
Brian McLaren, a religious author and the board chairman of Sojourners/Call To Renewal;
And David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.
Sen. John McCain built his run for the presidency in 2000 on his reputation for “straight talk.” But as he contemplates an expected second bid for the White House in 2008, McCain’s critics are eager to turn that phrase against the Arizona Republican, and they are using today’s online video technology to their fullest advantage.
Now playing at TheRealMcCain.com, a production of Brave New Films, is a mini-movie that pits McCain’s seemingly conflicting statements against each other. The film covers topics from the Iraq war and the flying of the Confederate flag to his views on the religious right and gay marriage.
Rep. Virgil Goode has been under fire for days because of a letter he sent to constituents that criticized the plans of Rep.-elect Keith Ellison, a Muslim, to take the oath of office on the Koran next month.
Goode, R-Va., called the Democrat Ellison “the Muslim representative from Minnesota” and said that “if American citizens don’t wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration, there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran.” The letter has earned him the condemnation of The Washington Post and numerousothernewspapers, bloggers, and other commentators.
But Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch is questioning the rush to condemn Goode. He noted that Ellison has “sounded a defiant note” in a speech in Michigan that was hosted by the Muslim American Society and the Islamic Circle of North America.
Spencer said that some people in the groups support the idea of replacing the U.S. Constitution with Islamic law and favor holy war in the United States as a way to promote an Islamic world. Those views prompted Spencer to ask some questions.
“Is it reasonable to ask Ellison if he shares such views?” he said in a video commentary. “On the basis of what evidence do Goode’s many detractors assume that neither Ellison nor any other Muslim in the United States subscribes to these views? Is it irrational or bigoted to ask Ellison to clarify where he stands on the MAS’ desire for the imposition of Islamic law in the United States?
“He has chosen freely to be associated with MAS and ICMA. He ought to be willing to clarify matters accordingly. And the mainstream media ought to be willing to take time out from vilifying Virgil Goode long enough to entertain the possibility that this case doesn’t quite fit their preconceived notions.”
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