CCBlogs thinking critically, living faithfully

David Lewicki's blog

This past Sunday marked Peter Steinfels' last "Beliefs" column in the New York Times. It was one of the few place in the Times where religion wasn't treated as a curiosity, something for simplistic, naive, unsophisticated rubes. Read the last column here. Steinfels gives a glimpse into the endangered species that is religion writing for thoughtful religious people. Religion writing no longer has a place for general readership. Whole sections are dedicated to Business, Sports, the Arts, even Real Estate. But the newspaper can't even sustain a bi-monthly column on religion. This is not a good sign for the secular culture's ability to tolerate and sensibly engage religion--it's a further sign of an "us-them" rift.

I'm not going to lament the day when the papers on Monday covered the sermons by the "Avenue" preachers the day before. BUT, it's a damn shame when a journalist can't even use the phrase "Apostles Creed" without adding the descriptor “the ancient affirmation of basic Christian doctrines.” Steinfels notes that the religious illiteracy of younger Times readers was largely to blame.... READ MORE.