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I haven’t been covering the Jerry Sandusky child-rape allegations, because it’s not a faith-related story, unless you count the Penn State football=religion, Joe Paterno=God perspective. But other religion reporters disagree, and of course there are obvious comparisons to how the Catholic Church’s sex abuse scandal was mishandled for years. Some of the headlines: Penn State…

Professional journalists, clergy, bloggers, students and other folks simply interested in learning more about how religion headlines happen – check out these events coming up in Manhattan: 1) Religion and the Media The Jewish Theological Seminary 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 30 3080 Broadway (at West 122nd Street) Religion increasingly affects world events. But do the…

My father is a Vietnam veteran, so I never forget that Nov. 11 is Veterans Day – he always puts the flag up outside our suburban New York house, and we try to attend an observance at West Point or in the Washington DC area. But most years, it passes by without personal civilian notice. This…

Here’s another religion/journalism event worth checking out, on Nov. 15, live in New York or via webcast: Does religion breed intolerance and violence?  Or has it primarily been a source for good, imbuing followers with purpose and encouraging moral behavior? Two atheists and two believers will wrestle over the controversial motion, “The World Would Be…

If you who missed Friday’s religion reporting panel at Columbia University — either in person or virtually — here are some excerpts from my notes. (These are paraphrased, not direct quotes.) Moderated by Columbia Prof. Ari Goldman, the panel featured George Vecsey (New York Times), Samuel Freedman (NYT), Jaweed Kaleem (Huffington Post) and Laurie Goodstein (NYT). Pros…

Today is the Greek holiday “Ohi” (No) Day, celebrating Greece’s defiance against the Axis powers during World War II. In that spirit, I say “NO!” to anyone raining on my Halloween parade, from my family’s church canceling its awesome haunted house tradition when I was a teenager, to the latest calls in some Christian circles for…

Believe it or not, most news is religion news, whether we’re covering wars, terrorism, politics, immigration, bullying, holidays, you name it. Even when a story seems completely unrelated to faith, there are usually religion ghosts lurking between the lines. Whether you’re a journalist, a blogger, a student, or someone simply interested in learning more about how national religion…

Edited because Diwali is also celebrated by Sikhs, Jains and some South Asian Buddhists and Muslims, though for different reasons. It’s Diwali, Hinduism’s festival of lights. This is the biggest holiday of the year in India, and Hinduism is the world’s third largest religion, but most Americans probably haven’t heard of it unless they live somewhere with…

Well, it’s Oct. 21 — Radio preacher Harold Camping’s thrice-revised prediction for Judgment Day. And, as CNN’s Belief Blog optimistically observes. we’re all still here.  (Well, except for a certain Libyan dictator. In the words of entertainment journalist and my former coworker Chris Serico: Oh Gaddafi. We hardly knew how to spell you.) Of course, there’s still…

With Harold Camping’s new definitely/maybe apocalypse rescheduled for this Friday, perhaps the Occupy Wall Street crowd’s contagious pessimism has just been preparing humanity for the end of days? Any gold enthusiasts reported deathly ill from a mysterious plague yet? Either way, there’s a growing religious component (boosted by the timing of this year’s Jewish high holidays) to this anti-capitalism movement,…
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