The God Beat
We almost called The Revealer “God Beat,” and thank God we didn’t — the more time we’ve spent studying religion in the media and media about religion, the more we’ve come to think that the phrase itself is part of the problem. Not the “God” part, but the “beat” part. Is religion really a “beat”? Does it […]
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Bartholomew’s Notes on Religion looks at “religion in the news” from a perspective that’s not so much liberal as relentlessly skeptical of absurdity, and intrigued by belief.
B-Log is the blog of Beliefnet. The site varies greatly in depth and quality, but they’ve got sharp folks on staff who all contribute to the blog, sort of a running tally of oddities and educational features about religion.
Casing the Promised Land offers an intelligent roundup of religion news from a center-left perspective.
Christianity Today‘s blog is a superb resource regardless of your faith or lack thereof. Regular blogger Ted Olson roams far and wide and has the wisdom to bring back more than just the controversy of the day.
DeepBlog: Not a God beat blog itself, but a good directory to the blogosphere with a growing list of “Spiritual Blogs.”
Direland, a sharply written politcs and media blog by journalist Doug Ireland, occasionally runs a “theocracy watch” column.
The Foundation for American Communications offers a terrific array of resources for all journalists, and its Religion and Public Life Program is especially useful for God beat reporters.
Get Religion is a pun — get it? But then again, it’s not. Its creators, veteran religion reporters Douglas LeBlanc and Terry Mattingly, consider smart, critical thinking about the news and the way religion often doesn’t get to to be the best witness of their Christian faith. Recommended for believers and nonbelievers alike.
God and Consequences offers religion commentary by sci-fi writer Lilith Saintcrow.
Jak’s View from Vancouver includes the occasional comment on religion, including a 10,000-word essay on “The American Taliban.”
Jesus Politics is a thorough anthology of readings, with some commentary, related to the political influence of Christianity from the Christian Right to the Jesus Left.
Lattin Write is a new blog by The San Francisco Chronicle‘s star religion writer, Don Lattin, author of Following Our Bliss.
On Religion is an excellent newsclipping service — terrific links to the hot topic of the moment and good finds from the lesser-known press.
OpEdNews’s Religion and Politics page publishes a fine collection of original, politically progressive religion essays as well as links to other noteworthy religion articles.
The Raving Atheist, “An Atheistic Examination of the Culture of Belief [on] How Religious Devotion Trivializes American Law and Politics,” is an intensely intelligent, often funny, and all around well-made blog that’s good enough for true believers as well as godless folk.
Relapsed Catholic is a fierce godblog without mercy for liberals or unbelievers, by Kathy Shaidle, a Canadian journalist and poet with a sharp eye for the absurd and compelling.
Religion and Ethics Newsweekly is the website of PBS’ high-minded, thoughtfully-produced program. Looking for background on a contemporary religious thinker, a movement, or a conflict? Odds are you’ll find good information and smart thinking here.
Religion Blogs — “A compilation of religion blogs.” Short comments on other people’s commentary. A good guide to what the God Beat is busy with.
Religion in the News only comes out three times a year. But that’s good, because it means you have plenty of time to absorb everything in each issue. Essential reading for students of the God beat and the journalists who work it.
Religion News Blog is a Christian site that rounds up reports on “religious cults, sects, new religious movements, alternative religions, apologetics-, anticult-, and countercult organizations, doctrines, religious practices and world views.” Plus, apparently, Roseanne.
Religion Review is big and somewhat unimaginative, but it’s a good starting point for research.
The Religion Newswriters Association maintains an excellent site that includes ReligionLink, a guide to understanding religion in the news. Free for non-members.
Religion & Society: Perceptive and thoughtful blog on religion, society and culture from scholar J. Shawn Landres, who has written on ‘American Religious Consequences” and “Religious Ethnography.”
Religion Source provides referrals to over 5,000 religion scholars. Unfortunately, you must be a journalist to take advantage of this resource, which means no bloggers need apply. Just so you know.
The Village Gate, formerly The Right Christians (not the Christian Right). Liberal Christian views on religion in the news of the day.
Speaking of Faith is a weekly public radio program that asks “how perspectives of faith might offer illumination.” That’s a polite way of saying that host Krista Tippet takes religion and its role in the world seriously. Smart guests, smart questions.
The Turnspit Daily: Politics, Religion and their Confluence. A progressive, culti- politico- religio- blog with a name explanation that deserves to be quoted at length: “The word ‘turnspit’ is a noun meaning: ‘One that turns a roasting spit.’ It is often used in reference to a small dog that, during the mid-19th century, was placed in a treadmill to turn a roasting spit. For large households and manors, turning a spit could be tedious work, so they handed that job down to these small dogs. Below is a picture of ‘Whiskey’ the last remaining specimen of a turnspit dog. He is stuffed and kept on display. The breed died out some years ago. One could think of The Turnspit Daily as an attempt to place its subject matter on the skewer where we are the turnspit.” Worth checking.