by Greg Mayer

Jerry’s back, but still overcoming the inevitable feelings of despair and hopelessness that come from arriving in Chicago in January after cruising among tropical islands (just kidding– Chicago’s my kind of town this time of year!), so he asked me to post the following link to a post by Dan Dennett in the Washington Post’s On Faith blog answering the question, “Is there widespread media bias against Christianity?” Money quote:

The double standard that exempts religious activities from almost all standards of accountability should be dismantled once and for all. I don’t see bankers or stockbrokers wringing their hands because the media is biased against them; they know that their recent activities have earned them an unwanted place in the spotlight of public attention and criticism, and they get no free pass, especially given their power. Religious leaders and apologists should accept that since their institutions are so influential in American life, we have the right to hold their every move up to the light. If they detect that the media are giving them a harder time today than in the past, that is because the bias that protected religion from scrutiny is beginning to dissolve.