“One abortion on ABC’s Scandal was already enough to send extreme pro-lifers into a tizzy last weekend, especially because Olivia’s procedure was set to the soundtrack of “Silent Night.” But two abortions on television in the same week is practically unheard of. That’s not just a coincidence; it’s an unprecedented sign that female showrunners like Shonda Rhimes and Jessica Jones boss Melissa Rosenberg aren’t going to shy away from showing a common medical procedure for women — controversy, critics, and extremists be damned.”
(2) Officer Garrett Swasey, who died in Colo. Planned Parenthood shooting, was a co-pastor, skating champion, by Sarah Pulliam Bailey (The Washington Post)
Swasey was part of the leadership at his non-denominational, evangelical church that is overseen by a group of elders or co-pastors, as opposed to one specific pastor. Swasey was part of what the church calls the “teaching team” and played guitar on the worship team, his bio states. …“Here’s a guy who worked full time as a police officer, and then gave a great amount of time to his local church and didn’t get a dime for it,” Scott Dontanville, a co-pastor who knew Swasey for 15 years, told the New York Times.
(3) Democrats could learn from Jimmy Carter’s public religiosity, by John-Clark Levin (Los Angeles Times)
Without taking the rest of the Carter package, could we please return to the idea that a President won’t lie to us? I reckon that starts with choosing nominees that don’t lie to us—and that goes for both parties (yes, I’m pointing at you Mr. Trump).
As a presidential candidate, Carter tapped into common Christian themes that unite Americans across race, class and geography. He spoke often of love and charity, brotherhood and compassion, framing his campaign through moral imperatives as much as political ones. Although he entered the race as a little-known outsider, this message resonated with an electorate disheartened by recession, Watergate and Vietnam. His promise to “never tell a lie to the American people” — quixotic by today’s standards — reassured the scandal-weary voters of 1976.
(4) When Some Turn to Church, Others Go to CrossFit (New York Times)
As the famous dictum by G.K. Chesterton reminds us, “When men choose not to believe in God, they do not thereafter believe in nothing, they then become capable of believing in anything.” So, here’s an article focusing on the other places where people worship: the gym, the NFL couch, and Star Trek.
When Harvard Divinity School researchers were studying spaces other than churches that function as spiritual communities, they interviewed Ms. Huberlie. “CrossFit is family, laughter, love and community,” Ms. Huberlie told the researchers, who quoted her in their study, “How We Gather.” “I can’t imagine my life without the people I’ve met through it.”
(5) Holiday fare? National Geographic delivers a meandering mess on the Virgin Mary, by Julia Duin
The idea behind this piece –- that Mary is the world’s most powerful woman -– is intriguing. But the story lost its way early on and the result was a mishmash of anecdotes about visitors to her shrines. It certainly doesn’t illustrate her influence in anything that matters. If Mary truly is that powerful a female, the right kind of article would have illustrated how vivacious and magnetic a personality she must have and how she’s using all that power.
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