Yesterday morning on Good Morning America, religion reporter Dan Harris reported on the Papal Mass from Nationals Park in Washington. He said,
“This is a brand new ballpark opened just two and a half weeks ago and this morning it’s been transformed into a giant outdoor church. Behind me, in the outfield, there is a 75-foot-high altar.”
Wow! A 75-foot-high altar? That’s one big Pope. Clearly, there was a 75-foot-high stage, but the altar was its usual priest-friendly height. It’s slightly silly that ABC’s religion beat reporter doesn’t know what an altar is which goes to prove my newly coined adage – “Journalists don’t do God.”
H/T Newsbusters
April 18, 2008 at 8:24 pm
This one made me LOL.
I have a girlfriend who is a huge part of the music ministry at our parish. The musicians stand up one step (the altar is up three more steps) and to the right of the altar. She used to always refer to things that happened to her during Mass when she was doing music like this, “There I was, up on the altar . . . ” Finally, someone pointed out her error, so she doesn’t do it anymore.
But I used to get quite a mental picture of her standing up on the altar when sparks started flying out of her keyboard, or whatever the story happened to be that day.
April 18, 2008 at 11:45 pm
It just shows how little the media understands religion.