As the Christmas season approaches (or, some might say, lumbers through its three month marathon), a rising level of tension between atheists and Christians has finagled its way to the public stage. A variety of atheist organizations have launched public campaigns that either encourage free thought or viciously attack religion---which is all dependent on your point of view.

Inter-caste marriages in India, though legal, are often met with hatred and violence. Emily Wax reports on this clash of traditional and modern India and on the marriage of Anita Pharti and Rajeev Singh, an inter-caste couple, in The Washington Post.

On December 12th, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith—the Vatican body once led by the current pope—issued a new statement, Dignitas Personae, clarifying the Catholic Church's position on life with respect to today's bioethics challenges.

Kathryn Lofton discusses Oprah Winfrey.

Mark I. Pinsky writes about a growing group of fundamentalists from all religious walks of life who have incorporated humor into their faith.

Jeffrey Goldberg interviews Shmuel Rosner in The Atlantic.