January 9, 2010 | 2:47 pm

Hollywood finally getting religion?

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

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An old joke in journalism is that if you can find three examples illustrating the same theory, you’ve found yourself a trend piece. Here’s a pretty miserable example about religion at the box office:

Call it religion. Or if that makes you uncomfortable, go with the more general “spirituality.”

Whatever you call it, it’s everywhere at the multiplex these days.

In movies as varied as the dead serious “The Road,” the uplifting family picture “The Blind Side,” the biting comedy “The Invention of Lying” and even James Cameron’s sci-fi opus “Avatar,” issues of faith and morality and mankind’s place in the universe are all the rage .

Not all of these movies embrace religion. Some question human gullibility. Some ask for evidence of a higher purpose in what often seems a random universe. But whether they encourage prayer or doubt, they’re all part of the zeitgeist.

But why now?

I don’t want to even touch that first sentence. (You kidding me?) But the theory this story sets out to prove is painfully thin. Why now? Because it’s been this way for at least the past half decade—and I may be limiting it to that short a period only because my frame of reference starts in 2004. That’s when I became a reporter and also when Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” became the highest-grossing film ever, preceded by a phenomenal New Yorker piece about Gibson’s cross in getting the film made.

“The Passion” was followed by the explosion of Christian writers in Hollywood, chronicled in Hanna Rosin’s “Can Jesus Save Hollywood” for The Atlantic. An excerpt from her trip to Act One, a Christian screenwriting program:

So far Hollywood’s gamble on the Christian audience is paying off. The Exorcism of Emily Rose (a sort of The Exorcist for religion majors that pits faith against rationalism and takes the side of the Catholic priest) was the country’s top-grossing movie when I visited in September, earning $30 million in its opening weekend. Its director, Scott Derrickson, is a graduate of the evangelical university in Los Angeles, Biola, and guest teaches at Act One. The following week Emily Rose lost the top spot to Just Like Heaven, a movie that plays the priest-exorcist for cheap laughs but is generally sympathetic to the idea of a spirit world. All over Hollywood, in fact, spirits and angels were rising up on billboards touting the new fall TV season: Ghost Whisperer, Medium, Three Wishes. And while you can’t quite call it Christianity, it’s a clear sign that Hollywood is enthralled with the realm beyond.

Next we had the Christian marketing campaign surrounding the religiously themed, albeit heretical, “Da Vinci Code” (again in The New Yorker) and then another piece by Rosin titled “How Hollywood Saved God.”

Seeing a pattern? One long in place before this winter film season.

January 8, 2010 | 9:34 pm

Hume: Buddhism OK with forgiveness, but Christianity embraces

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Responding to the flak that former Fox News anchor Brit Hume got for saying Tiger Woods needs Jesus, Hume tells Christianity Today why he had the advice for golf’s fallen star:

I certainly expected this. I’m nowhere near the first Christian to be mocked for his faith. It is simply a fact of life that the two most explosive words in the English language appear to be Jesus Christ. You don’t even need to say them if you speak openly of Christianity. Faith engenders a tremendous reaction, a lot of it positive and a lot of it negative.

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I don’t think Buddhism is hostile to forgiveness or redemption, but Christianity, like no other religion we’ve ever known, is principally, and fundamentally, and especially about forgiveness and redemption. That is what Christianity is based on. That is why Christ was here. That is what he came here to achieve. On that issue, Christianity is unique.

Click here for the rest of Hume’s interview with my two-time colleague Sarah Pulliam Bailey.

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January 7, 2010 | 6:48 pm

Yes, Artie Lange is Jewish; no, he’s not dead

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Howard Stern’s sidekick, Artie Lange, of “Beer League” fame, is, in fact, Jewish. He’s also, surprisingly, still alive after stabbing himself nine—NINE—times. From the bastion of in-depth journalism, the New York Post:

Lange sustained six “hesitation wounds” and three deep plunges. A source close to Lange’s management team confirmed that the Howard Stern sidekick stabbed himself, adding that his mother had come to visit him that day to drop off food. Surgeons managed to save Lange despite heavy bleeding. “We all have our demons,” Stern said on-air this week, referring to Lange’s past battles with addiction. “Artie has given this show tremendous moments of great comedy. He’s a tremendous contributor. He is a good man. Don’t forget how great he is.”

The rest is here.

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January 7, 2010 | 3:47 pm

Sports and the Eight Commandments

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Had some fun with a GetReligion post today. Here’s an excerpt:

It never mattered to me whether the term was religion writer or religion reporter, though RNA has taken a position. And despite the fact that sportswriters often participate in hagiography (and not of the Tim Tebow persuasion) and the fact that they ask some of the most mundane/absurd questions (Shanahan excited to be in D.C. — really?) sportswriters are journalists, just like the rest of us.

I mention this because it provides context for the gimmicks sportswriters often try — and too often fail at. I was reminded of this as I listened to Frank Deford on NPR’s “Morning Edition” yesterday.

The piece was “Thou Shalt Not Covet They Neighbor’s Sports Star.” The extended metaphor, as you can imagine, was the Ten Commandments. The delivery could not have demonstrated a greater ignorance about probably one of the most universally known details of the Bible

Read the rest of my commentary on Deford’s commentary here.

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January 6, 2010 | 2:40 pm

Merry Armenian Christmas

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

And you thought Christmas cheer happened but once a year.

While most Christians stopped celebrating the holiday a few days before New Year’s—and most all the lights in my neighborhood have been taken down—some Christians, including Armenians, celebrate Jesus’ birth today:

On a date that comes later (or, some might argue, much earlier), than traditional Western Christmas, Armenians across Southern California will gather Wednesday to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and his baptism in the Jordan River. Many will flock to Orthodox Christian churches to participate in a solemn, centuries-old service in which people drink holy water believed to contain some of the same oil used to baptize Jesus. Then they will gather, generally without gifts, to dine and rejoice in their homes.

The celebration, known to some as Theophany or simply Armenian Christmas, follows the original Julian calendar as opposed to the standard Western or Gregorian calendar. When Christians began to celebrate Christmas on Dec. 25 as dictated by the Romans, Armenians held to the original Jan. 6 date.

It is not to be confused with El Dia de los Reyes or Three Kings Day, which is celebrated by many Spanish-speaking Catholics on Jan. 6 and marks the adoration of the Christ child by the kings, or Magi.

For Armenians living in America, the dual holidays add more cheer to an already-packed season.

“We double-dip,” Dekmejian said. “It’s an extended Christmas period from the 24th until the sixth.”

More from the LA Times here.

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January 6, 2010 | 10:46 am

Temple 420 founder back in court

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

I got an e-mail yesterday from Craig X Rubin, the founder of the cannabis church Temple 420 (much more here and here), saying he is again looking at a decent prison sentence—he said 12 years. He was arrested in October for operating a pot pharmacy and will be in court today.

According to a court filing, Rubin, whose church upholds cannabis as a sacrament for communicating with God, says he was given permission by the court in his 2007 case to operate such a dispensary and further claims that he is being singled out in an act of religious discrimination:

Because of the religious nature of his medical marijuana facility clinic Rubin has been singled out for prosecution, thus, violating his First Amendment rights.  Marijuana laws in the State of California are not ‘generally applied’ because the state has carved out an exception for medical marijuana.  This exception is being ignored and Defendant Pastor Craig Rubin is being targeted by law enforcement in violation of his civil rights.

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Further when the Defendant, a duly ordained minister, requested right under CA Penal Code 1524 and 1525 at the time of the arrest Detective Dennis Packer, the Officer in Charge and head of the Asset Forfeiture Division, asked, “What religion is this?”

The Defendant responded, “Judeo-Christian,”  as the temple taught both the Old and New Testaments.

Detective Packer replied, “There is no such religion, so you have no religious rights.”

It seems as if the First Amendment was violated at this time because it does not seem appropriate for an officer of law enforcement to be making the call on what constitutes a religious establishment and what does not.  It seems that should be done by the courts, but in this case LAPD took that matter into their own hands.

In fact, courts have generally punted evaluating the legitimacy of religious beliefs. As the California Court of Appeal stated in Smith v. Fair Employment and Housing Commission: “The determination of what is a ‘religious’ belief or practice is more often than not a difficult and delicate task…. However, the resolution of that question is not to turn upon a judicial perception of the particular belief or practice in question; religious beliefs need not be acceptable, logical, consistent, or comprehensible to others in order to merit [free exercise] protection.”

It will be interesting to see how this turns out for Rubin, who in the above video can be seen delivering a sermon from 2008. It’s 4:20 long.

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January 6, 2010 | 4:21 am

Tiger Woods needs Jesus

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Tiger Woods has gotten plenty of bad publicity in the past six weeks. But now Brit Hume is getting hammered for saying that Woods, who is Buddhist, needs to meet Jesus.

If you don’t find the above clip from “The Daily Show” funny, read Tom Shales column for The Washington Post. Here’s an excerpt:

Brit Hume was certainly full of something on “Fox News Sunday” this week. Hume, a part-time analyst at Fox since stepping down from his daily anchor role, sought to redefine the job of political pundit, apparently, when he stepped boldly up to the task of telling people what religious beliefs they ought to have. He prescribed in particular a remedial, therapeutic dose of Christianity for disgraced golfing champ Tiger Woods, a man whose lubricious private life has been haunting the headlines for weeks.

Noting that Woods has referred to himself as a Buddhist, Hume knocked his fellow “Fox News” panelists for mortified loops when he dissed about half a billion Buddhists on the planet with the remark, “I don’t think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith.”

It sounded a little like one of those Verizon vs. AT&T commercials—our brand is better than your brand—except that Hume was comparing two of the world’s great religions, not a couple of greedy communications conglomerates. Further, is it really his job to run around trying to drum up new business? He doesn’t really have the authority, does he, unless one believes that every Christian by mandate must proselytize?

Oh, but there was much more to it. Since Buddhism is so lacking in news-you-can-use, Hume continued—sinking into his own mouth-made mire—“My message to Tiger would be: Tiger, turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world.” Whom did he sound more like—Mary Poppins on the joys of a tidy room, or Ron Popeil on the glories of some amazing potato peeler?

(Speaking of Ron Popeil, if you only read one article by Malcolm Gladwell in your life, please make it this profile of Mr. Showtime Rotisserie himself.)

Hume’s comment reminds me a bit of what Carrie Prejean had to say about Perez Hilton. Then again, I think he’s right. Too bad you can’t say that on television, not even Fox News. I bet George Carlin never would have guessed that.

The rest of Shale’s column is here.

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January 5, 2010 | 1:28 pm

Deborah Howell dies, and so does NYT Beliefs

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

The Godbeat has grown all too accustomed to bad industry news. Still, this weekend was particularly tragic. The New York Times crucified its Beliefs column, sending it to the grave just like the religion sections at every major paper. Worse, though, Deborah Howell, the Washington Post’s excellent ombudsman, passed away.

Mollie at GetReligion has a nice appreciation of Howell and compiles some of the comments her columns made about religion reporting. Here’s an excerpt from 2006:

Religion is a subject that many Post readers care deeply about, and they often don’t think journalists care as deeply about it as they do. Journalists are just like readers. Some are religious; some not. I don’t think that matters as long as religion and spiritual issues are reported thoroughly and sensitively.

While religion reporting has had a renaissance at The Post and in American journalism in the past few years, it doesn’t get anything like the resources devoted to coverage of entertainment, sports, and politics and government. I think that readers would not be so offended by an occasional story or reference they see as insensitive if they believed that The Post made religion coverage a priority… .

I see nothing wrong with The Post’s religion coverage; I would just like to see more of it — particularly in the A section, even if it is brief stories from RNS, the Associated Press and Reuters. I don’t think that incremental stories about denominations are all that important, but I don’t want The Post to ignore interesting stories, especially as the diversity of religions explodes in our area.

This as the paper that infamously posted a listing for a religion reporter position that stated: “The ideal candidate is not necessarily religious nor an expert in religion.”

Howell will be missed, no doubt. But rest easy. The God Blog survives.

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January 5, 2010 | 3:29 am

Farmar leading the Lakers

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Just got back from a Clippers game—desperate times, but got to love that B Diddy—at which Cantor Chayim Frenkel sang the national anthem and then sat courtside. It reminded of Jordan Farmar’s performance in the Lakers domination of the Mavericks last night.

I know, seeing a cantor and thinking of the NBA’s first MOT since Danny Schayes retired is a stretch, but, again, it’s desperate times for Jewish players in the NBA. There’s rookie Omri Casspi, who is tearing it up, and there’s Farmar. About last night:

The Mavericks couldn’t do anything right. The Lakers could do no wrong.

Jordan Farmar led seven players in double figures with a career high-tying 24 points, and Los Angeles trounced the Western Conference’s second-best team in a 131-96 victory over Dallas on Sunday night. ...

“Yes, you can expect this every night,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson deadpanned.

One can hope. Farmar, who is earning $1.9 million this year, making him one of the poorer homeowners in the South Bay, is averaging 6.9 points and 2 assists per game. But the opportunity seems there as Derek Fisher takes a backseat. One can hope.

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January 3, 2010 | 11:35 pm

Secularism tops Time’s 2009 top 10

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

We’ve already looked at the decade in Jewish and Christians news. This is probably the last year in review post I’ll do.

Time offered its own top 10 of religion stories. Leading the list: Secularism.

Europe’s increasingly emboldened — some might say bullying — secularism flexed its muscles all across the continent in 2009. In Strasbourg, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the crucifix hanging on the walls of many Italian public schools is a violation of religious and educational freedom. Elsewhere in France and Italy, Muslim women wearing religious swimwear — cheekily referred to as Burqinis — were kicked out of public pools. French President Nicolas Sarkozy urged members of Parliament to consider banning burqas in public, declaring that “France is a country that has no place for the burqa.” And most recently, Swiss voters approved a measure to prevent the building of mosques with minarets. Secularism is indeed strong in Europe, with more than two-thirds of survey respondents in countries such as Britain and France telling Gallup pollsters that religion is not important to them. But as “secularism” becomes cover for anti-Muslim rules, tensions in Europe will continue to rise.

Not much here about the United States. Read numbers two through nine here.

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January 2, 2010 | 12:12 am

Thank God for Tim Tebow

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

The Florida Gators and college football fans everywhere are going to miss their Jesus Christ football star.

The first half is not yet over in the Allstate Sugar Bowl, Tim Tebow’s last collegiate game and Urban Meyer’s last for a little while, and Tebow has just unloaded on the poor Cincinnati Bearcats. He’s completed 17 of his 18 passing attempts for 293 yards and three touchdowns.

Too bad it’s not the BCS Championship Game, which he won last year and in 2007, but at least Tebow is going out like a boss.

In case you’re wondering, Tebow’s eyeblack tonight references Ephesians 2:8-10:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

If any mortal man could boast, it would be Tebow. Though I wouldn’t expect him to.

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January 1, 2010 | 5:57 pm

Top Christian news of 2009

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

It was a painful decade in Jewish history—in all honestly, most are—but what about the decade in Christian news?

In an article about the 10 top news stories of 2009—“The Great Recession” tops that list—Christianity Today also recounts the decade’s biggest stories. Nothing from the past two years, but a flurry in ‘04:

February 2004: Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ shocks observers by earning more than $600 million.

November 2004: “Values voter” analysis draws more attention to U.S. evangelicals as a voting bloc.

December 2004: A Southeast Asian tsunami, followed by Hurricane Katrina, mobilizes unprecedented compassion efforts.

Read the rest here.

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