If you have read this blog for any time at all, you’ll notice that it’s been a while since I’ve written. There are a couple of reason for this.
Two years ago, I began another blog as part of a graduate school class on media and America culture. It has received the majority of my writing attention, and I have linked to it here at least once.
The second reason is that, while I still enjoy writing devotionally and want to continue doing so for publication, I have found it increasingly difficult to write this way from a blogging platform.
This weekend, I attended the Religion Newswriters Association conference in Durham, N.C., where approximately 250 freelancers, speakers, authors, and religion beat writers gathered to discuss the variegated aspects of what it means to write about religion in the public forum. Although I visited only one session during the conference (I was exhibiting for my Press), the conversations I had with conference attendees reminded me how important and difficult it is to cover religion.
It is important because, regardless of your faith or non-faith position, the existence of religions and the relationships among them affect how we approach one another in everyday life. Additionally, the relationships among religions and other societal institutions (politics, science, etc.) create an infinite number of decisions with the potential to influence American citizens and individuals across the world.
Just think about where politics would be today without Rick Perry’s comments on evolution and creationism? How would America’s “relationship” with Arabs, Muslims and the Middle East be different if the September 11 terrorist attacks hadn’t happened? What societal and religious forces have led to us needing something like The Marin Foundation?
We live in a country where religion runs deep, yet we struggle with being politically correct when writing about it. And, with newspapers and other media outlets struggling to make to keep bare-bones staff on board, religion reporters are finding it more difficult to keep their jobs. This is especially true in areas like Waco where our local paper has put up a strict pay wall, and did so long before many others.
There is a lot happening in the world of religion. Quite a bit happens in Waco. I want to begin covering religion for these folks. Most of what you’ll see in the upcoming weeks and months, if I keep at it, that is, will be commentary centered on major stories of religion in the public square, although I will begin keeping my ear to the ground about happenings in and around central Texas. I hope you enjoy, and I’d love to hear your thoughts.
