Clergy and lay people celebrated Gay Pride with the passage of a Marriage Equality law in New York State. The testimony of country music star Chely Wright especially moved us to pray for the day when every person can celebrate all the love in their life, whether from a spouse or the Divine. Meanwhile, circumcision continues to hold an odd fascination with the voters of San Francisco who are evoking the ire of those who view this as an attack on religious liberty. I haven't seen anyone mention that circumcision has been proven to drastically reduce the transmission of HIV, but this is not a debate marked by pragmatism.
Mormons have been dominating the religious landscape with hundreds of ads and presidential candidates, begging the questions of how much we actually know about this homegrown and increasingly world-wide religion. In case you missed it, two weeks ago an impressive list of Buddhists met to discuss the future of Buddhism in the West - will denominations and annual meetings come next?
Our bloggers stirred up the sphere by insisting that Christianity is not only compatible with evolution, but that an authentic faith requires accepting evolution - um, not everyone agrees. Also inviting comment was the presence of a wonderfully informed post on slavery and the Bible, which raises the question of what interpretive lens we use when reading sacred texts and the implications for the many social questions facing us today including the war in Afghanistan, and the death-penalty.
Sacred Sounds made its debut on HuffPost Religion with reflections on Vedic chanting, Bobby McFerrin, Mozart and Rage Against the Machine - obviously this hits a sweet spot as many of us find music a means of transcendence.
Finally, Christian and a Muslim leaders are swapping pulpits this weekend in an effort to live out Eboo Patel's encouragement to make religion needs to be a bridge, not a bomb.
Sounds like all of our responsibility. Peace.