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| In Iraq's Old Battlefields: Two Kinds of Americans The people of Anbar province may not have liked Americans but they learned to hate al-Qaeda more. But they also learned to prefer one kind of U.S. soldier to another feedproxy.google.com |
Bing deepens ties with Facebook Microsoft's search engine begins showing users sites their Facebook friends like in an attempt to give people more personal search results. bbc.co.uk |
So why do we need another religion website? | Jeremy Lott Because we can present the big picture well. And because religion is vital – serious and silly, scandalous and sublimeThis week, after some effort, the Real Clear family of websites births two new offspring: Real Clear Religion (RCR) and Real Clear Science. I am the editor of the first and associate editor of the latter. The Guardian was kind enough to ask me to write a few words on the pressing subject of: why another religion website?There are two ways of answering that question. The first, and easiest, answer is technical. Real Clear websites offer what we call intelligent aggregation. We are both high- and low-tech. Some parts of our websites are automated, but the main product that we offer readers is our judgment. We read many, probably far too many, emails and scour countless websites to give a growing audience what we believe to be the best information and analysis on a timely, manageable schedule.It's a tall order but I'd like to think we pull it off. Our flagship website, Real Clear Politics, is the daily cheat sheet for American politicos and political junkies of every party, as well as interested observers around the world. It does a reasonable job of corralling the whole of American debate into one place. No site really does that for religion, so it seemed like a good area to expand Real Clear.The other answer is a bit more philosophical, and uncomfortable. Narrow the question to: why religion?, and one is forced to drop any pretence and admit to being an interested party. That's me. I'm the son of a Baptist minister and a Catholic convert. While RealClearReligion.org is not a Catholic website or a Protestant website, or a Scientologist website for that matter, it does have a point of view.In my inaugural post on the website's blog, Casting Lots, I took a shot at explaining this to readers. I closed by poaching the final lines from the theatrical adaptation of Crime and Punishment, thus casting RCR in the roles of interrogator and judge:RCR: Do you believe a man can be resurrected?Raskolnikov: I don't know anymore.RCR: And do you believe in God?Raskolnikov: Does it matter?RCR: It might.The intro also complained about the flatness of much religion writing today. Religion, I maintain in my stubbornly alliterative way, is serious and silly, scandalous and sublime. RCR aims to point readers to journalism that adds depth, laughs, and insight.The site existed for a few months in beta. Readers can click back through the archives and see the variety of publications where we have found that insight. These sites include some of the usual suspects (the Catholic Herald, First Things), conservative publications (The American Spectator, Commentary), liberal ones (Salon and, of course, the Guardian), established names (Christianity Today), and newer, quirkier ventures (the Catholic Thing, Religion Dispatches).If readers are surprised by some of what they find when they read the site, that's only to the good. And they aren't the only ones. I've found that religion has a tendency to surprise because it touches our lives at so many intersection points: politics, history, culture, commerce.Bonus observation: this can be as true for unbelievers as it is for believers, and especially true for militant atheists. Just try to imagine a Christopher Hitchens without a deity to deny and damn all at once, or a Richard Dawkins without a Mt Improbable to climb. In their own way, they need God as much as the pope does. That makes them an interesting addendum to the story of religion, don't you think?ChristianityReligionUnited StatesInternetJeremy Lottguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Detainee beaten and totured, reported by US Marines Detainee beaten and totured, reported by US Marines guardian.co.uk |
Art Stolen by the Nazis Now Cataloged Online in Database During World War II, the Nazis pulled off the biggest art heist in history, looting thousands of paintings worth untold millions. Now, thanks to a newly available online database, some of them can be returned feedproxy.google.com |