Colorado Springs calls itself the Vatican of evangelical Christianity. It's certainly a fulcrum for right-wing fundamentalist religion and politics and serves as the homebase for Ted Haggard, Grand Ayatollah James Dobson, Randy Wilson (infamous for inventing the Purity Ball), Douglas Bruce (the personification of the amoral politician), the reprehensible Kent Lambert, and a multitude of other dubious personalities and their "ministries" and reactionary agendas. Probably no other place in the country embraces theocracy and corporatism like Colorado Springs.

And that's why keeping up with the Springs is so important. It's a case study in how right-wingers think and act. It's why I read the Colorado Springs Gazette. The paper's editorial slant aligns beautifully with fundamentalist preferences. The news stories reported and the opinions expressed often leave my jaw agape in disbelief, which shows how much I need the paper.

A highlight of the paper used to be Mark Barna's blog, The Pulpit. Barna served as the religion reporter, and the paper described his blog like this:

The Pulpit is a look at religious and spiritual life in Colorado Springs. Reporter Mark Barna has covered religion since 1994, first for national magazines and then for regional newspapers.

I started reading Barna about a year ago, just before Ted Haggard announced he'd created a church-structure for tax purposes only. At that time I dismissed Barna as merely writing homilies on current events for the edification of the fundamentalist faithful. I was wrong.

Barna's reporting embraced a respectful sympathy for his (often) fundamentalist subjects, but he did not serve as a bullhorn or push-over for the fundamentalist point-of-view. He expressed kindness towards his subjects and described what they were up to. Criticism in his reporting was muted yet remained an underlying theme. Often I wished he'd bring more investigation to his beat, but that wasn't his approach. He strove – it seemed to me – for accuracy and fairness, which was sometimes lost on his readers, whose comments on his stories often found contention where there were only the facts that Barna had laid out.

Earlier this month I noticed Barna's posts no longer appeared in my twitter-feed from @csgazette. I initially didn't think much about it but eventually called up the Gazette to see what had happened. I spoke with Jeff Thomas, the paper's editor. He said Barna had been let go in "the last layoff." I objected that the religion reporter at the Colorado Springs Gazette served a unique role in reporting on stories of local, state and national interest. Thomas didn't necessarily agree and said Barna had been laid off for budgetary reasons.

Barna's last post to The Pulpit was published on Thursday, January 20th. Listed below are the titles of all of Barna's January posts. They give you a sense of the stories Barna covered and the perspective he brought to bear. If you're not familiar with Barna's reporting, I hope you hear his voice, if only faintly. And for those who, like me, will miss reading Barna, I know this list only starts to recognize Barna's breadth and peerless contribution to Colorado journalism.

All of us can hope Mark Barna lands another position where his reporting will be as timely, as perceptive in what it embraces, and as accessible as what it was at the Gazette. The best of luck to him.

•Ugandan court today: Calls to hang gays "threaten their right to human dignity" (January 3, 2011, 9:59 am)

•GOProud to be part of CPAC 2011... again (January 3, 2011, 10:51 am)

•Focus, other ministries question their commitment to CPAC (January 4, 2011, 3:51 pm)

•Compassion International web designer returns to Haiti next week (January 4, 2011, 4:53 pm)

•What does Focus' CitizenLink and Domino's Pizza have in common? (January 5, 2011, 1:27 pm)

•Chick-fil-A criticized for sponsoring marriage seminar (January 5, 2011, 1:44 pm)

•A Florida deputy suspended for "the Obama prayer" (January 5, 2011, 4:55 pm)

•Haggard says "Scandalous" is about "resurrection" (January 6, 2011, 5:51 pm)

•Little-known local Buddhist group celebrates the new year (January 7, 2011, 11:47 am)

•Professor of religion philosophy: The case for theism is a "fraud" (January 7, 2011, 1:26 pm)

•Springs rabbi offers three proofs of God's existence (January 7, 2011, 1:38 pm)

•More groups pull out of CPAC due to gay group's presence (January 7, 2011, 2:25 pm)

•Another Catholic diocese files for bankruptcy due to sex scandals (January 7, 2011, 3:15 pm)

•Arizona shootings, a wake-up call to faith leaders, too? (January 9, 2011, 2:28 pm)

•Priest caught in girlfriend scandal criticizes Catholic Church (January 9, 2011, 2:48 pm)

•Self-proclaimed prophet explains why blackbirds fell from sky. Hint: DADT (January 11, 2011, 1:36 pm)

•Focus pursues "a more civil discourse," spokesman says (January 11, 2011, 2:31 pm)

•Senate, House chaplains raking in big bucks (January 11, 2011, 3:40 pm)

•More Controversy at CPAC 2011 (January 12, 2011, 9:03 am)

•Reaction to Palin's "blood libel" comment shows it's politics as usual (January 12, 2011, 8:19 pm)

•Springs abortion opponents rallying on Martin Luther King Day (January 13, 2011, 6:20 pm)

•President Obama delivers in Tucson Memorial speech (January 13, 2011, 8:56 pm)

•Controversial Jesus art pulled at Smithsonian will appear at New York museum (January 14, 2011, 12:05 pm)

•Outreach Inc. criticized for gay stance by four local faith leaders (January 15, 2011, 9:55 am)

•Some Springs parents who adopted Haitian orphans say the experience has refined them (January 15, 2011, 12:14 pm)

•The Nowlins are one big happy family one year after Haiti quake (January 17, 2011, 10:21 am)

•Local Mormon billboards changing minds, leaders say (January 17, 2011, 11:41 am)

•What caused the creation of religion? (January 17, 2011, 2:28 pm)

•"Ted Haggard: Scandalous" premiered on TLC Sunday (January 17, 2011, 2:53 pm)

•New Life leader to donate proceeds of upcoming book to Dream Centers (January 17, 2011, 3:12 pm)

•Is Bryan Fischer the new James Dobson? (January 18, 2011, 4:12 pm)

•The Twelve Steps of Courage, sponsored by the Catholic Church (January 18, 2011, 4:18 pm)

•Faith-based pregnancy center doing well despite Planned Parenthood's move last summer (January 18, 2011, 4:56 pm)

•Springs historian suggests MLK Jr. would've supported federal healthcare package (January 19, 2011, 11:07 am)

•Alabama governor says his only "brothers and sisters" are Christians (January 19, 2011, 11:22 am)

•Need a laugh? Check out OneNewsNow.com (January 19, 2011, 12:59 pm)

•"Our everything is Jesus Christ," says a Springs diocesan facilitator of 12-step program for gays (January 19, 2011, 5:51 pm)

•Florida pastor who threatened to burn Quran banned from Britain (January 20, 2011, 9:12 am)

Barna also wrote the following articles for the Gazette in January. They're not all about religion.

•Gay group causing Focus to question sponsorship role in conference (January 4, 2011)

•Haggard starring in TLC documentary this month (January 6, 2011)

•People need to take extra precautions in sub-zero weather (January 10, 2011)

•Aftershocks: Haitian orphans putting down roots in Springs (January 15, 2011)

•Ice chips fly at Old Colorado City event (January 15, 2011)

•Gay advocate: Diocese's 12-step program 'snake-oil therapy' (January 19, 2011)

Lastly, I've reproduced below one of Barna's final blog posts, where he comments on OneNewsNow.com, which is published by the right-wing American Family News Network. OneNewsNow.com was formerly known as AgapePress Christian News Service. Barna's post is not at all typical of his usual reporting, since he expresses unambiguous exasperation with fundamentalist religion – which, of course, is why I like it.

Need a laugh? Check out OneNewsNow.com
Sometimes you just need a laugh during the day.

I sometimes find it at OneNewsNow.com. The "news" site is so far right and biased it makes Fox News look moderate. Also like Fox News, it packages the stories to make them seem respectable.

OneNewsNow.com reads a bit like The Onion, the satirical newspaper that prints outlandish, made-up "news" stories. The Onion is different, though, in that it has wit on its side. Today I saw a OneNewsNow story quoting the arch conservative Phyllis Schlafly about President Obama. Gee, I wonder what she had to say?

Schlafly says Obama wants to transform America into a "type of European-style socialism, where the government controls everything." He's begun his mission through "Obamacare."

Ha, ha, ha.

Oh, what a time we live in. It's a bad thing to help those who otherwise can't afford health care or can't get coverage because of pre-existing conditions. It is a good thing to place our faith in unregulated healthcare insurers doing the right thing, even though history shows that insurers follow the money. Yes, God bless America.

Ha, ha, ha.

Check out the "news story" here [Barna's original post included a hyperlink to "Gov't takeover Obama's objective?" by Becky Yeh (19-Jan-11) at OneNewsNow.com].