Remembering the real Mister Rogers – as in the Rev. Fred Rogers

America was divided, tense and angry in 1969, when Fred Rogers faced a U.S. Senate Subcommittee poised to grant President Richard Nixon his requests for deep budget cuts for public broadcasting. Rogers told the senators why he kept telling children they were unique and special. But he also talked about fear, anger and confusion – because that's what children were feeling. The senators nixed the cuts, and the Rev. Fred Rogers – an ordained Presbyterian minister – continued with his complex blend of television, child development and subtle messages about faith.

Two prominent namers of names inside DC Beltway warrant in-depth religion profiles

(COMMENTARY) Justice Anthony Kennedy’s Supreme Court retirement throws the spotlight on one of the most influential players in Washington, D.C., when it comes to deciding what individuals inhabit the centers of power. Leonard Leo, executive vice president of the Federalist Society and the go-to guy for names of federal court appointees when Republicans rule the White House. Journalists should also be taking a close look at another Republican networker and talent-spotter, Kay Coles James, the president of the Heritage Foundation.

What comes next for religious liberty, after the Masterpiece Cakeshop decision?

Justice Anthony Kennedy's 7-2 majority opinion in favor of the baker at the Masterpiece Cakeshop focused on evidence that the Colorado Civil Rights Commission had demonstrated open hostility towards owner Jack Phillips and his Christian faith. Meanwhile, Phillips says he is looking forward to creating more wedding cakes, now that he is free to do so while following his Christian convictions.

The State of Journalism in Trinidad & Tobago

The right to self-governance the world over is and continues to be a battle hard won. As a Trinbagonian, I’m proud to be celebrating fifty-five years of Independence this year and I’m reminded that as a citizen, independence comes with responsibility, and accountability.

Pope Francis and Cardinal Sarah look at European Catholicism and do the math

(COMMENTARY) Europe was once the heart of Christendom and sent waves of missionaries around the world. Now it’s is suffering from "vocational sterility," in part because of a "dictatorship of money" that is seducing the young. In a recent speech to Italy's bishops, Pope Francis offered a sobering sound bite: "How many seminaries, churches, monasteries and convents will be closed in the next few years? God only knows."

Italy’s new government and the Catholic Church increasingly at odds over migrant crisis

The soap opera that is Italian politics has taken a dramatic turn in recent weeks as two populist parties on opposite ends of the spectrum have decided to join forces as the Catholic Church opposes the wave of anti-immigrant sentiment that has engulfed the country over the past year.

Time for #SBCToo: 'Wrath of God' has fallen on the Southern Baptist Convention

Anger is timely, along with grief, as waves of #MeToo and #ChurchToo messages about sexual abuse and domestic violence have triggered a series of stunning headlines. Most have been linked to the work of Paige Patterson after news about sermons in which he critiqued a teen-aged girl's body, knocked female seminary students who weren't striving hard enough to be attractive, and advised an abused wife to stay with her husband rather than seeking legal help.

Fighting FGM is a spiritual war

Ann-Marie Wilson, a doctor of psychology and a midwife who trained in Pakistan, recently completed a paper on the origins of FGM, claiming that the mummies in the British Museum show clear signs of the practice. Now three countries, Egypt (97 per cent), Ethiopia and Indonesia (the most populous Muslim country in the world) account for more than half of the 200 million women and girls who have undergone what can be a life-threatening procedure.

Seeking God's will: Inside the complex soul of the real Gen. Robert E. Lee

(COMMENTARY) Robert E. Lee grew up in a "household divided by a common faith," with a father whose Episcopal convictions centered on honor and duty and an "almost Unitarian" rejection of anything hinting at superstition or human emotions. His mother, however, was a fervent evangelical Episcopalian.

Seeing isn't believing in the Greek baby baptism

(COMMENTARY) The internet furore over the violent Greek Orthodox baby baptism has seeped into the press. The story in itself is amusing, but it also provides a teaching moment on how not to do journalism.

Having their cake and eating it too: The fight for civil rights and religious liberty are one

(COMMENTARY) It’s been nearly three years since the Supreme Court ruled in a landmark case that the Constitution provide same-sex couples the right to marry. The justices are soon expected to render a decision on whether it also protects business owners with religious objections from providing their personal wedding services to gay couples.

Remembering Tom Wolfe

a collection of thoughts and memories from friends of The Media Project

OpinionMedia Project StaffMay 17, 2018obituary, Tom Wolfe, News

When it comes to recruiting Catholic priests, doctrine often shapes demographics

(COMMENTARY) It's an often quoted fact: The number of men ordained each year is about a third of what's needed to replace priests who are retiring, dying or simply leaving. Two decades ago it was common to see between 800 and 900 ordinations a year.

Pounding Pell in the press: The Cardinal takes a hit from the Gray Lady

(COMMENTARY) The “trial of the century” of Cardinal George Pell - the Vatican’s “number 3” man and head of its finances - on sexual abuse charges has been passed by a Melbourne Magistrate to the Victoria County Court for adjudication. Magistrate Belinda Wallington found sufficient evidence to justify a trial for the 76-year old former archbishop of Melbourne and Sydney, who has been placed on leave by Pope Francis to respond to the charges.

Larry Norman: Trapped in Contemporary Christian Music walls he helped create?

When Larry Norman died in 2008 there was one thing the critics – secular and religious – agreed on: The controversial singer and music maven helped create the "Contemporary Christian Music" industry. For Norman, that was not good news.

Fatwas on Social Mixing: the UK Government’s new integration strategy (Part 2)

(COMMENTARY) In part two of her look at the UK Government’s new integration strategy, Dr. Jenny Taylor examines how the ground is set in Britain for a showdown between the secular state’s need to govern its disparate peoples but without a religion to bind it together. Religio means ‘to bind’ but in the UK, despite historical precedent, the majority do not believe and the religions that there are have their own versions of transcendent accountability.

‘Multiculturalism is defunct’: British Government signals U-turn on 70 years of social policy

(COMMENTARY) The British Government’s Green Paper, published on March 14, outlines a strategy that signifies a 180-degree U-turn in the direction of nearly 70 years of public policy since the Second World War. The final report of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Social Integration’s own inquiry into the integration of immigrants (2017) declared last year that ‘multiculturalism ... is defunct’.

Holy Week parable: Yes, faith played role in life, sacrifice of Lt. Col. Arnaud Beltrame

(OPINION) Hours before Palm Sunday and the start of Holy Week, Lt. Col. Beltrame died in a sacrificial act that caused mourning across France. Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia said Beltrame was a civil servant doing his job and a "man who deliberately shaped and disciplined his own life to place the well-being of others before his own."

Life after Sexual Revolution: United Methodists still waiting for final shoe to drop

After decades of fighting about sex and marriage, the world's 12.5 million United Methodists are still waiting for a final shoe to drop. It's less than a year until a special General Conference that has been empowered to choose a model for United Methodist life after the Sexual Revolution – some path to unity, rather than schism.

Ten Ethics Lessons from the #MeToo Movement in Media -- and Beyond

It is a time of reckoning in the media industry. Breakthrough reporting revealed that newsroom sexual misconduct is both pervasive and protected. That truth became the catalyst for the #MeToo moment, which opened eyes by opening old -- and not-so-old wounds for all to witness. How did it happen here? How did our systems and values harbor harassment and discrimination?

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