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New from the Century: inmates and seminarians, Jesus and contraception, family and faith formation, more.

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

Of the rewriting Christ and Culture there shall be no end. Miroslav Volf is too sophisticated a theologian to rehash or imitate H. Richard Niebuhr's celebrated fivefold schema, but A Public Faith remains in the shadow of Niebuhr's defining work.  

God is concerned with the health of women. God cares about teenagers who end up in a lifetime of poverty. Jesus healed the bleeding woman 2,000 years ago, and I think if he walked the streets today, he just might hand her a packet of pink pills. 

"Parents are the most important faith guides, mentors and teachers a kid will ever have."

The Pentagon: Women can serve in more, though still not all, critical combat roles than before. Rick Santorum: "I do have concerns about women in front line combat. I think that could be a very compromising situation where - where people naturally, you know, may do things that may not be in the interests of the mission because of other types of emotions that are involved." John Potter: "I can't be the only one who thought of" 30 Rock.

Parenting has permanently changed my body....

The children from our church walked into the synagogue quietly. But when the rabbi invited them to look at the ark containing the Torah scroll, they lost all reserve.

Philip Weeks fondly remembers the days when his wife of 56 years, June, was a nurse and an artist whose paintings were compared to...

The threat of homegrown Islamic terrorism is "tiny" and often exaggerated by government officials, a leading anti­terrorism expert said in a recent report....

What are we doing to combat poverty in our country and make sure that we join the voices of the prophets who speak out against injustice? Often denominational churches work hard on these issues, but we do it within our particular silos and we may not effectively communicate our work.

Which is to say:  all I have is stories. I noticed a young family gone absent from worship. She is a gifted musician and actress; they have two young children. She did a benefit concert here once full of wonderful musical numbers; all the proceeds went to cancer research. I had been somewhat connected with them and eventually found her on Facebook, where I noticed that her religious affiliation was "atheist." Oh.

New today from the Century: pretending the Bible, occupying our faith, more.

Paul Harvey's introduction to the history of African-American Christianity emphasizes both the fraught relationship between black and white Christians and the tensions within black religious institutions and communities.

We need states to take in enough revenue to provide the services people rely on. We need this more than we need tax-free online shopping.

c. 2012 Religion News Service...

c. 2012 Salt Lake Tribune...

c. 2012 Religion News Service...

c. 2012 Religion News Service...

In a decision that likely will set the stage for a high-stakes showdown at the U.S. Supreme Court, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of...