“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

Sam Purtill has some thoughts about how a church can get its word out on the net without paying an arm and a leg for it.

Don’t they teach reporters American History anymore?

Q: …It’s been suggested that the President, who has met so often with Catholic leaders and reached out so aggressively to Catholic groups, and whose social views very closely reflect Catholic Orthodoxy, is actually America’s first Catholic President. What do you think of that? (Laughter.)

Various members of Congress are trying to get Congress to declare that the US was founded as a Christian nation. Check out Chris Rodda‘s post for details on why this is a major mistake, and then contact your Congresscritter.

I’ve previously linked to the Bible Gateway, but I just came across another good resource. The Online Parallel Bible has not only multiple translations, but cross-references, commentaries, and concordances on the same page.

In the 90s, J. Brent Walker wrote a critique of David Barton’s arguments that the United States was founded as a Christian nation. It’s still relevant today. (h/t Frederick Clarkson@Kos)

Talk to Action has been doing a series on what it terms the Catholic Right for the past year. I need to look at the rest of it later, but the two articles I’ve read so far are pretty interesting.

During a recent performance of Mike Daisey’s Invincible Summer, a group of 87 adults and teenagers who identified themselves as a Christian group, but who were there from a public high school, walked out en masse, refusing to explain themselves or talk to Daisey at all.

As they left, one of them poured a bottle of water all over the handwritten notes that were the only copy of the script that Daisey used.

Later, Daisey contacted both the administrator of the school and the “man” who had defaced his work.

I ask him to do one thing for me. I ask him to talk to everyone in the group together, parents and students alike, and talk to them about what happened. I do not even ask him to apologize, nor do I dictate what he should say–that’s his prerogative. I simply ask that he open the door for the conversation be allowed to happen. I believe in the truth, and I want him to let the group speak its mind to him and to itself. I do not know if he did this–I hope that he did, and I will continue to hope.

And then I forgive him. He is very quiet–he is obviously shocked. And I tell him, “I want you to remember that a liberal atheist has forgiven you today. I don’t want you to ever forget that, as long as you live, do not forget what happened here. I don’t have God behind me, but I speak for myself, and I forgive you for myself, and for you. Never forget this.”

He said that he would. I wished him good luck, good luck with everything. He wished me the same.

Thanks to Laura for the link.

Pam Spaulding was interested to see Joe Murray, a former columnist and attorney for the American Family Association, writing an article condemning General Pace’s comments against gay soldiers, and the AFA’s related tactics. She contacted him, and wrote an interesting interview on his change of heart. (h/t Bill@Kos)

A judge in Massachusetts has ruled that giving elementary-school children books about gay marriage does not violate the parents’ religious rights.

“Federal Judge Mark Wolf ruled on Friday that public schools are “entitled to teach anything that is reasonably related to the goals of preparing students to become engaged and productive citizens in our democracy.”

(h/t Crooks and Liars)