This could easily be a Links Dump item, but it's so good that it deserves more prominent placement. Inside Higher Ed has a spoof Editor's Note from an imaginary US News & World Report ranking of churches:
In thanking those who took the time to write, I would remind all in the community of believers that our rankings are intended as a public service to aid spiritual consumers in making one of life's highest-impact personal choices. We claim no infallibility in our rankings. We strive to provide accurate, user-friendly data to allow seekers of quality worship to do their homework and grasp truth with full confidence that they are comparing apples to apples. Yes, we visibly spread the word about the handiness of our shopper's tool, but we can't be held responsible if certain churches choose, for example, to display, as a recruiting come-on, their U.S. News ranking on a banner atop their steeple.
We reject the assertion that church reputations are made or broken based on tables published once a year in our magazine. Nor do we find any signs that "America's Best Churches" encourages a "one-size-fits-all" path to the mountaintop. Frankly, any American who would build an entire cosmological belief system on a two-or-three-point rise in a church's year-to-year U.S. News ranking should probably stop, take a deep breath and meditate a bit on values, personal style, and the theistic limits of magazine journalism.
It's a near-perfect imitation of the annual defensive letter from the "America's Best Colleges" editor. I just wish the author had provided fake rankings, as well...
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