Guest Post

New today from the Century: Crunching the American-religion numbers, showing up for Holy Week, more.

In Suzanne Collins's trilogy, and the recent movie adaptation of the first book, the Hunger Games are a nationally-televised spectacle in which 24 randomly chosen teenagers are forced to fight to the death in a man-made arena. The annual Hunger Games are an instrument of oppression by the Capitol--the center of totalitarian power that survived a rebellion--to remind the 12 districts under its power just how powerless they are. The citizens of the Capitol love the Hunger Games. To them it is pure entertainment. To the citizens of the 12 subservient districts, it is a form of torture. Their children and neighbors become murderers or victims, and they are forced to watch (literally--viewing is mandatory). There is a paradox at the heart of The Hunger Games' appeal.

New today from the Century: Notes from the farm; longing for certainty; "Kill them all, Katniss!"

New today from the Century: Stand-your-ground laws, monkish ways, more.

New today (and yesterday) from the Century: Marilynne Robinson on the Easter Sunday gospel, Robert Harman on United Methodist identity, more.

New today (and Friday) from the Century: First-call church planters, a bookstore browser's lament, more.

Brian Bantum, a theologian at Seattle Pacific, was mentioned in the Century's recent article on the new black theology. Readers intrigued by that topic will be interested in Bantum's comments on a book on racial reconciliation written by a white Minneapolis preacher, John Piper.

New today from the Century: Amy Frykholm interviews Ruth Burrows, Laura Kelly Fanucci on Lent's stubborn alleluias, more.

Chicago-based artist Michael Rakowitz is opening a food-truck this week, a date set to coincide with the ninth anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq War. Through his project Enemy Kitchen, Rakowitz has been using Iraqi food and culture to break down cultural barriers for several years. He is launching the food truck as part of the Smart Museum of Art's new exhibit called "Feast: Radical Hospitality in Contemporary Art."

New today from the Century: James Howell on new Bible translations, Amy Frykholm on a political food truck, more.

New today from the Century: Holding banks accountable, the conversation the bishops aren't having, more.

Who would have thought that contraception would become such a major issue in this election year? Or is it? The U.S. Catholic bishops stress that the issue is not really contraception but religious liberty--the right of Catholics, and by extension any group of religious people, to practice and live out their faith. That's a plausible argument, as the Century editors acknowledged a few weeks ago, and it is certainly one designed to gain allies among other religious people.

New today from the Century: Life and death in The Hunger Games, faith formed in the midst of betrayal, more.

Apple unveiled the iPad 3 last week; it's scheduled to be released today. On Sunday the company announced that pre-ordered devices were sold out. The news came weeks after Apple's annual shareholders' meeting, at which it reported that it has nearly $100 billion in cash. Amid its latest triumphs, the company continues to face criticism over labor practices at Foxconn and its other suppliers in China. While such allegations are not new, recent reports by This American Life and the New York Times have raised public awareness of long hours, low wages, cramped dormitories and hazardous working conditions that have resulted in deaths and injuries for Chinese employees.

Defense lawyers for University of Virginia student George Huguely said their client was a "stupid drunk," not a killer. He was widely known to have a history of abusing alcohol--hardly a rarity on college campuses. Huguely was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 26 years in prison for killing his girlfriend, Yeardley Love, after a day of nonstop drinking. The case highlighted yet again the problem of rampant alcohol abuse on campus--and the situation of friends and bystanders who know perfectly well that someone has a drinking problem but don't care or know how to intervene.

New today from the Century: Richard Lischer on Holy Week and the art of losing, Apple's supply-chain issues, more.

The whole Kony-video thing seems to be over. Most of the millions of viewers watched the half-hour film about Joseph Kony right after Invisible Children released it. The group's action kits are sold out. Lots of thoughtful criticism has been written and widely shared. Yet I keep coming back to it, because these conversations have revolved around questions I wrestle with regularly as a missionary in Nicaragua.

New today from the Century: Craig Barnes on the prodigal's brother, Laura Jean Torgerson on the problems of "just doing something," more.

New today from the Century: Interview with Isaac Villegas, Marty on Wood on Chesterton, more.