FāVS News News and Commentary about Religion and Ethics in Eastern Washington and North Idaho
Christopher Hitchens, the acid-tongued atheist and lovably roguish essayist, has met his maker (or not) at age 62. Saith Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, a friend and sparring partner: “He was religion's most vociferous enemy but you could not help but develop an affection for him due to his warmth, wit, and, bizarre as it may sound, humility.”
Howard Friedman's Religion Clauseis reporting that Congress passed a Pentagon spending bill that includes a line thatmilitary chaplains cannot be forced to officiate at same-sex weddings. In Foggy Bottom,Secretary of State Hillary Clintonhosted asummit this week on protecting religious minorities; it was a work-around to the resolutions against the “defamation of religion” that the U.S. finally managed to derail this year at theU.N.
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Tracy Simmons is an award-winning journalist specializing in religion reporting and digital entrepreneurship. In her approximate 20 years on the religion beat, Simmons has tucked a notepad in her pocket and found some of her favorite stories aboard cargo ships in New Jersey, on a police chase in Albuquerque, in dusty Texas church bell towers, on the streets of New York and in tent cities in Haiti. Simmons has worked as a multimedia journalist for newspapers across New Mexico, Texas, Connecticut and Washington. She is the executive director of SpokaneFāVS.com, a digital journalism start-up covering religion news and commentary in Spokane, Washington. She also writes for The Spokesman-Review and national publications. She is a Scholarly Assistant Professor of Journalism at Washington State University.
