by David Safier
I'm a non-observant Jew so this isn't exactly in my wheelhouse, but I'm doubly cheered by two articles in today's Star: 2 churches here act to dispel idea that Christianity means 'conservative', which is on the front page of the print edition, and Pope's blunt remarks challenge US bishops, on the front page of the Nation section. The first article has a sidebar with two events reframing the tenets of Christianity in a way that doesn't echo right wing talking points. The second is a discussion of Pope Francis' much-discussed interview where he said, basically, opposition to abortion and gay rights aren't the two main pillars of Catholicism and should be secondary to the church's more primary, more loving articles of faith.
It's a wonderful antidote to Howie Fischer's penchant for consulting Cathi Herrod of the far-right Center for Arizona Policy as a religious expert every time he talks about anything vaguely related to abortion, birth control or gay rights. She's a well funded political operative, Howie, not an expert or an authority on theology.
A "WELL, THIS IS ODD" NOTE: I looked for the front page article online and couldn't find it without doing a search. Not only is it not on the home page or in the State and Region section (I even tried the Education section to see if it was there — Nope), but it isn't even on the "All Headlines" page. That's very odd, since the story is written by Star reporter Patty Machelor, and local stories tend to be easy to find online. The "All Headlines" page looks like it hasn't been updated, so maybe they'll correct the omission later today. (The story about the Pope is from the AP, and those tend not to be featured, so I wasn't surprised to find I had to search for it.)
Amen. Amen.