Faith

From an article of the same title by Ricardo Baca in the Denver Post:

Much of Christian music's integration into the pop culture mainstream comes via the rockers who happen to be Christian - as opposed to the Christian rockers who wear their faiths on their sleeves and crosses around their necks. Each group of musicians is writing about what makes them tick, but one crafts its art with more subtlety, yet its intentions are never fully hidden by metaphor.

Is it a conversion tool? Or is it simply art? Indie rockers from Dave Bazan (Pedro the Lion), Jeremy Enigk (The Fire Theft, Sunny Day Real Estate), Jeff Mangum (Neutral Milk Hotel) and Sufjan Stevens have developed secular followings regardless of their faiths - and it's not always an easy road with certain listeners turned off by any mention of a god. Which is where Page France comes in. The Maryland band's music is soft and sweet, melodic and melancholy, literate and lush - and heavily laced with Christian symbols, ideals and history.

"David Bazan from Pedro the Lion won't even say he's a Christian because of what (evangelical Christianity) has come to mean culturally," said Beaujon. "Part of the cost of the political polarization is that Christianity has become a really loaded term, and it's hard for people to reconcile the basic fact that rock 'n' roll came out of the church."

Many bands, including The Fray, who hail from Denver and are enjoying nationwide popularity, purposefully avoid religious issues in their music regardless of their devout faith. Other musicians' message is a baseball bat to the head. Then there are those in the middle - Page France, Stevens, Bazan & Co. - whose moderate approach leaves them scrutinized from both sides. "Dave Bazan has been pigeonholed, and I worry about Page France in the same sense," said Lewis. "Here's a band that makes beautiful music. They're just being sincere, but when you go into a public sphere, you have to be ready to deal with that."

Though I've always been an avid fan of music, I've never been an avid listener to contemporary Christian music. Pedro the Lion and Neutral Milk Hotel are two of my favorite bands ever. I listened to Page France on myspace. It sounds OK.

Ted Haggard resigned as president of the National Association of Evangelicals. An outspoken opponent of gay marriage, Haggard gave up his post "while a church panel investigates allegations he paid a man for sex." He has since admitted that he "visited a male prostitute for a massage and bought methamphetamine for personal use - though he said he threw the drugs away without using them." Today he was fired by his megachurch for "sexually immoral conduct." It's terrible timing for the environment as folks associated with the National Association of Evangelicals have recently announced a faith-based campaign on global warming. Also, please don't let these statements by James Dobson from Nov. 2 diminish his credibility in your eyes (via Dvorak Uncensored, from U.S. Newswire):

"It is unconscionable that the legitimate news media would report a rumor like this based on nothing but one man's accusation. Ted Haggard is a friend of mine and it appears someone is trying to damage his reputation as a way of influencing the outcome of Tuesday's election -- especially the vote on Colorado's marriage-protection amendment -- which Ted strongly supports. "He has shown a great deal of grace under these unfortunate circumstances, quickly turning this matter over to his church for an independent investigation. That is a testament to the character I have seen him exhibit over and over again through the years."

Via PreacherMike, Haggard's apology to his church is here.

From an article of the same title by Kevin Sullivan and Karla Adam in The Washington Post:

...Jack Straw, a top official in Prime Minister Tony Blair's government and leader of the House of Commons...started the controversy this month by complaining that veils create distance between individuals and cultures... The veil debate has become part of a larger discussion in Britain about Muslims and religious tolerance, free expression, human rights, prejudice and security. These issues have dominated public discourse since the July 2005 bombings on the London public transportation system and a plot uncovered in August this year that allegedly involved blowing up transatlantic jetliners. In both cases, Britons were alarmed to discover that the men who allegedly committed or contemplated mass murder were young Muslim men who had been raised in Britain. While the veil issue has exacerbated tensions between non-Muslims and Muslims, it has also sparked passionate reactions within Muslim communities. Some Muslim leaders have accused Straw, Blair -- who called veils a "mark of separation" -- and others of demonizing Muslims, but others have said they have raised an important issue that has no clear consensus among Muslims... The veil issue has also divided women's rights advocates, Muslim and non-Muslim. Some argue that wearing the veil is simply a woman's choice, whether a statement of quiet religious observance or a battle cry for political independence, and should not be questioned by white male government officials. But others call veils a sad symbol of oppression and subservience.

From an AP article of the same title on beliefnet:

New York's highest court ruled Thursday that social service agencies run by the Roman Catholic Church and other faiths must provide birth-control coverage to their employees, even if they consider contraception a sin. The 6-0 decision by the Court of Appeals hinged on whether Catholic Charities and the nine other groups are essentially social service agencies, not churches. At issue was a 2002 state law that requires employers to provide health insurance coverage for mammograms, bone density screening and other preventive services for women, including prescription contraceptives. The law exempts churches, seminaries and other institutions with a mainly religious mission. Catholic Charities and the other groups sued the state for an exemption but lost in the lower courts.

Via Boing Boing:

Artist Michael Gross flooded a London church-turned-gallery with water. The "lake" hides a system of mechanically-moving steps that enable visitors to walk on water. The installation, titled Bridge, is up until October 29 at Dilston Grove.

From the gallery's description:

Each step emerges one step in front of you and disappears back underneath behind you as you go. This ‘bridge' is purely mechanical, the weight of the person on it depresses each step a little, this force activates a submerged mechanism which raises the next step.