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Faith, as Marcelo learns in Franciso X. Stork's young-adult novel, is following the music when we don't hear it.

The Supreme Court’s split decision on the new health-care law was mirrored days earlier by divided public opinion, according to a national survey....

First Lady Michelle Obama held up the church as the place to deal with political issues and the catalyst for getting people to the polls in a speech June 28 to members of the African Methodist Epis...

The plant-owner says, in a tired voice: “That was from my wife’s funeral but I’ve managed to keep it alive.”...

On the subject of CNN's epic fail yesterday—here's a great Photoshop illustration of the episode—Paul Waldman thinks CNN missed a great opportunity to anticipate the problem and promise to avoid it and focus on accuracy, not on being the fastest. "Maybe," says Waldman, "they would have gained a few viewers." Maybe a few. But it's hard to imagine such a move being transformational.

New today from the Century: Faith and improvised music, CNN and Aaron Sorkin, more.

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c. 2012 Religion News Service (RNS) Nearly a decade ago, Dan Cohen set out to make a film about the Holocaust and dead astronauts, a story some told him would be too depressing to tell. ...

c. 2012 Religion News Service WASHINGTON (RNS) A new documentary exploring the ethical implications of sperm donation is creating a buzz among religious audiences. ...

c. 2012 Religion News Service WASHINGTON (RNS) The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is persecuted around the world, but it has plenty of friends on Capitol Hill. ...

A few months ago I preached a sermon that a lot of people loved and a few people hated. I heard from both groups but spent more time, as is perennially the case in ministry, with the few. I didn’t set off to be controversial. I looked at the texts, read some commentaries. (Get behind me, Satan.) And then, in the middle of the week, a United Methodist preacher's kid made the news.

In the unlikely event you missed it, the Supreme Court upheld the individual mandate—a central piece of the 2009 health-care reform law—in a 5-4 decision today. Read the decision here (pdf) and, if that doesn't keep you busy, follow SCOTUSblog's live blog for ongoing analysis. Whatever this decision means for the presidential election, future SCOTUS decisions,  or future health-care laws, it's important not to lose sight of its most important effect: millions of people will have health insurance who otherwise likely would not have been able to acquire it.

New today from the Century: Health-care reform survives, bad words in the pulpit, more.

c. 2012 Religion & Ethics NEW YORK (RNS) The Dalai Lama has given Nicholas Vreeland, director of The Tibet Center in New York, a daunting new assignment....

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The Jordan River is too shallow for Michael to row across, and the shore is a stinking pile of sludge. But something redemptive is happening.

A breakaway traditionalist Catholic group has rejected a Vatican document that was supposed to lay the foundation for the group’s reconciliation with Rome....

It’s hard not to feel a bit envious. Saddleback Church recently launched the Daniel Plan, a church-based diet regimen that includes small group accountability sessions, expert opinion, recipes and exercise classes before Sunday services. The program appears to be working: so far, some 15,000 participants have lost a collective 260,000 pounds. What can mainline churches learn from the Daniel Plan’s success?

Here are some things I read recently but didn't get around to blogging about.