Theology in the News

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Getting wise about Facebook.

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There has been a significant and interesting shift on Facebook.

The number one interacted Facebook page this past week – which has pushed the ever popular Justin Bieber into second place – is The Bible, with a staggering 6,707,820 fans and 905,125 interactions this week.

Additionally, the Facbook pages: Jesus Christ and Jesus Daily, are in positions 8 & 9 respectively.

The rise in engagement rates with certain religious pages on Facebook is thought to reflect the time of year, namely, the approach of Easter and Passover.

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This one made me smile.

According to MSN Lifestyle John Calvin is the 52nd – of 75 – best dressed man of all time. They note of his dress sense:

Because the most famous minimalist in world history knew a man didn’t need expensive clothes or bright colors to convey authority. Black and white, worn with the requisite gravity, can be powerful and intimidating. Just look at the Secret Service. Or the Reservoir Dogs.

Classic.

Hat-tip: Twisted Crown of Thorns

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The Pew Research Center have just announced that mainstream media coverage of religion-related issues and events doubled from 2009 to 2010, accounting for 2% of news.

The sixteen page report can be found here in PDF format.

Interestingly, religion appeared as a major topic more often in the blogosphere than it did in traditional media.

The top 5 stories were largely depressing and included:

1) The ‘Ground Zero Mosque’

2) Catholic clergy sexual abuse scandal

3) Pastor Terry Jones’ ‘Burn a Qu’ran‘ foolishness

4) President Barack Obama’s faith

5) Religious dimension of 9/11 commemorations

Others in the top ten included: Westboro Church protests, Eddie Long’s indiscretions, Pope’s visit to the UK, midterm elections, and education.

I note a lack of coverage of persecution of religious minorities. Should I be surprised?

Anyway, you can find the Pew Forum summary here if you’re interested.

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Insightful essay from the Jewish thinker Daniel Greenfield on the AOL buyout of Huffington Post, which I thought worthy of your attention:

Sultan Knish – AOL Reinvents Itself as Anti-America Online

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The Daily Texan has an article entitled: “Conservative Christians divorce more, study says” which has been picked up by many other ‘news’ agencies.

This is bunkum.

Here’s a quote from the article:

University of Iowa sociology professor Jennifer Glass presented her study on skyrocketing divorce rates in regions highly populated with conservative Christians to an overflowing crowd in Burdine Hall on Friday.

“Politically and religiously conservative states, especially in the Deep South, exhibit higher divorce rates than politically and religiously liberal states in the Northeast and Midwest,” Glass wrote in her study.

The average divorce rate in the United States is 47.9 percent, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

You cannot simply extrapolate State-wide statistics and infer them on a particular sub-group without specific evidence, even if that State is predominantly politically and religiously conservative.

Put another way, just because divorce rates are high in regions highly populated with conservative Christians, this does not automatically equate to high divorce rates within conservative Christians themselves.

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Some sections of the Israeli media seem to think so:

Arutz Sheva

Muslim religious authorities are concluding a clandestine eight-month dig on the Temple Mount that is intended to erase traces of the Jewish Temple’s Altar, Temple activists charge.

The digs have been taking place under the Dome of the Chain, believed to have been built over 1300 years ago. For eight months, the dome – which has a diameter of 14 meters – has been surrounded by a metal fence and black cloth, which hide whatever activity has been going on there from outside inspection. The Muslim Waqf religious authority has claimed the activity is simply a refurbishing of the structure, but refuses adamantly to let Jews or tourists near.

Jewish activists made various attempts to enter the Dome, but met with no success. In the end, the Our Temple Mount news outlet found an Arab who was willing to take photos inside the compound in return for a handsome fee (see below). The man said that it appears the Waqf has already completed its digs and is now covering the dig with dirt.

Our Temple Mount notes that according to Jewish tradition, the place where the Dome of the Chain is located is the spot upon which the sacrificial Altar stood in Temple times. Temple activists said that the Muslim digs are intended to erase the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount.

Click here for pictures

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The following is a cross-post by Christian of HomeBrewed Theology:

Back in 2005, Arianna Huffington and her partners created Huffington Post, an independent media source with a progressive worldview.  Over the last 6 years, it has grown into one of the most popular sites on the internet.

Today, the “independent” label can be removed.

It was announced that AOL has agreed to purchase Huffington for $315 million dollars, of which $300 million is cash.

HuffPo now joins the ranks of the corporate media and, well, their registered users aren’t happy at all.  In fact, neither am I.

Some will take that comment to mean that I’m against people making money.  I’m not….and the insinuation is lame.

What disappoints me is that yet another independent media source with a progressive viewpoint (please…spare me the “librul media” nonsense) has gone corporate.

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Well this is a pleasant surprise following on from my last post:

Millions of Super Bowl viewers got a dose of Scripture Sunday night when a Christian group’s John 3:16 commercial was unexpectedly aired.

Just before the fourth quarter of the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Green Bay Packers game, the 30-second biblical spot popped up to the surprise of football fans.

In that hour, the Look Up 316 website that the commercial advertised drew so much traffic that it was difficult to load the web page.

“The LookUp316.com website hit totals are soaring …,” Larry Taunton, executive director of Fixed Point Foundation, the group behind the ad, tweeted.

The commercial was originally rejected by Fox Sports for containing too much “religious doctrine” and for being too offensive.

Notably, the commercial features no preaching but simply encourages curious viewers to look up John 3:16.

…..continue reading

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