Guest Post

When I saw the headline in the New York Times—“The Hidden Prosperity of the Poor”— I thought of something very different than what Tom Edsall’s commentary is actually about. Edsall highlights an insidious and specious argument about income inequality made on the right. In essence, the cost of basic human needs has gone down in relation to income, while consumer goods have become cheaper and cheaper.

In case you missed it last Friday, the Obama administration quietly issued a proposed update to regulations coming out of the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as "Obamacare." The verbiage is a bit dense, but here's the upshot: the ACA requires health plans to provide contraceptive coverage to all insured members. Some religious organizations and even a few for-profit companies objected to this requirement, citing religious beliefs.

New today from the Century: Lawrence Wood on online seminary, James Alison's lectionary column, more.

New today from the Century: Will Willimon on the goal of seminary, Maryann McKibben Dana on Newton victim Noah Pozner, more.

There is a line in Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine that has come back to me recently: “After Columbine, it really sucked being a student in America.” Since the Newtown shooting, my son’s school has gone into “hard lockdown” mode twice.

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Why is the video of Mumford & Sons’ single “I Will Wait” so powerful? When I feel lousy, I dial the thing up on YouTube. Everyone I’ve sent it to has a similar response. And this isn’t even the best song on Babel. Whence its power? Why was it one of YouTube’s most watched videos of 2012?

New today from the Century: Greg Carey reviews Gerhard Lohfink, learning from The Hobbit, more.

As I mentioned before, I’ve been reading this strange book called The Spiritual Meadow, written by sixth-century wandering monk John Moschos. One of the last stories in the book was as relevant to my daily existence as any story I have read in a long time. I have only the vaguest idea what it means, but I do know it’s another weird monk joke. And this one was aimed directly at me. The story goes like this: In the ancient city of Antioch, the church had various kinds of social services. “A man who was a friend of Christ” used to gather supplies and give them out to people in need.

New today from the Century: Carol Zaleski on the Bill W. doc, Steve Thorngate on the WSJ's idea of a struggling taxpayer, more.

New today from the Century: The Vietnamese diaspora, a Bible without numbers, more.

New today from the Century: Why people need institutions, social ethics and Les Mis, more.

New today from the Century: Ronald Rittgers on Brad Gregory's case against the Reformation, Steve Thorngate on Ryan Heber's masculine heroism, more.

New today from the Century: Interview with Nanette Sawyer, a pastor's child says goodbye to a church, more.

This past Sunday was the Epiphany, the celebration of the incarnate Christ made manifest. It also happened to be the Sunday I decided to visit a congregation of the Metropolitan Community Church.  The MCC is more theologically liberal than I am, so I braced myself for some hangups. But I also wanted to remain as open as possible to experiencing God in a different context. I’m glad I went.

New today from the Century: Faith-based anti-death penalty work, LaVonne Neff reviews Chris Haw, more.

New today from the Century: Jeanne Bishop on being a public defender, Heath Carter reviews David Swartz, more.