Drive-By Journalism

Over on the conservative blogs, much has been made of the stance of North Carolina bishop Michael Curry, based on this news story.

The newspaper headline reads:

Bishop in full support of gays
Curry will help set Episcopal position

Yonat Shimron's fluffy news story begins:

Episcopal bishops gather today in New Orleans to consider their response to leaders of the parent church who want them to back down from their commitment to gays and lesbians.

One North Carolina bishop will bring a clear message: Don't do it.

But here's the funny thing: Bishop Curry didn't say that. In fact, the only hard quote from him in the story is this one:

"People have had an opportunity to prayerfully reflect on what kind of people we want to be," said Curry, who has held four meetings across the diocese to listen to people's views. "We want to be like Jesus. We want to love everybody."

Maybe Bishop Curry is adamantly opposed to the Tanzanian Communiqué; I suspect he is. I think he is indeed in full support of gay men and lesbians in our church. I have no idea whether he "will help set [the] Episcopal position." But the so-called "journalist" offers not a single quotation nor a single shred of evidence backing up the newspaper headline. Shoddy work. Shoddy, shoddy work.

It won't surprise you to learn that the reactionaries who post and comment here and here are going ballistic, despite any real information about Bishop Curry's plans or views.

That's not really what I wanted to write about this evening. I want to talk about the other oft-quoted snippet from the story. I'll save that for my next post.