February 3, 2011 | 4:25 pm

Super Bowl and Porn Sunday—together at last

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

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I’ve written two blog posts in the past week at GetReligion about coverage of XXXChurch, which you might remember from “Make love, not war, on porn.” Check out the above interview with Craig Gross that ran on MSNBC.

February 3, 2011 | 1:37 pm

Egypt spiraling out of control

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

In the last two days, the fight for freedom in Egypt, which already was a mixed bag, has spun out of control. Violence is taking center stage, and now there is an “all-out witch-hunt against media,” according to Reporters Without Borders:

“Theft, violence, arbitrary arrests and extreme violence… the list of abuses against journalists by President Mubarak’s supporters is getting longer by the hour and they are clearly systematic and concerted,” Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Jean-François Julliard said.

“After shutting down the Internet and then reconnecting it at the start of this week, the regime has decided to target media personnel physically by unleashing its supporters in an unprecedented campaign of hatred and violence. This has gone beyond censorship. This is now about ridding Cairo of all journalists working for foreign news media.

“We urge all news media to reinforce their coordination in order to provide as much security as possible for their correspondents in Egypt. And we urge foreign governments and their embassies to provide the utmost diplomatic support for journalists from their countries when they find themselves in difficulty.”

Julliard added: “It seems that journalists are no longer safe anywhere in Cairo. Several news bureaux have also been attacked. The highest level of the Egyptian government must be held responsible for this policy of physical attacks. We urge the international community to adopt a strong unanimous position quickly, to draw the appropriate conclusions from the events of the past few days and to consider sanctions.”

Among those attacked Thursday were ABC News reporter Brian Hartman and crew. They were threatened with beheading.

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February 2, 2011 | 11:16 am

Fox rejects John 3:16 Super Bowl ad

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Remember Rollen Stewart? He was the Rainbow Man who introduced John 3:16 to sporting events. He’s also serving three life sentences in prison for a 1992 hostage-taking incident.

I’m not sure that 20 years later many people still don’t know what John 3:16 says—“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”— but a Christian organization that aims to “promote a confident Christianity in the public square by fortifying the minds of Christians and challenging the faith of skeptics” thought it would be worth submitting a a Super Bowl ad about the verse.

The cheesy ad, embedded in this post, has two football fans asking each other what John 3:16 means and then one of them saying, I’ll look it up. Then look316.com appears on the screen.

Clearly, this is not last Super Bowl’s Tim Tebow ad.

Not surprisingly, Fox Sports said thanks but no thanks because the commercial contained religious doctrine. We’ve been down this road before, and you always have to wonder whether organization’s with such commercials calculate that the ad will be rejected but the ensuing publicity will be worth their efforts. Here, though, the Orlando Sentinel is reporting that some regional TV markets will air the ad from the Fixed Point Foundation.

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February 1, 2011 | 10:25 am

Egyptian protesters: If we’re free, we’re gonna ‘destroy Israel’

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Thanks to the Wandering Jew on Campus for sharing this one.

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