At 3 Quarks Daily, Gerald Dworkin asks, "When does the fact that our current understandings and commitments were not historically present in an earlier period get people off the hook for behavior that, today, would be universally viewed as outrageous?"

Tom Heneghan writes at FaithWorld about the effort by Palestinians to get the Israeli wall in Bethlehem into the visiting pope's photo op.

At Patheos, Kathryn Lofton reflects on the National Day of Prayer.

Frances Kissling argues that President Obama must strengthen the separation of church and state rather than continue to increase religion's influence on policymaking.

Supported by the findings of a recent Pew study called "Faith in Flux," Courtney E. Martin argues that Americans---including herself---have incredibly complex feelings about God and country.

In the New York Times, Peter Steinfels comments on Catholic anti-abortion politics and the controversy surrounding President Obama's upcoming appearance as Notre Dame's commencement speaker.

Manya Brachear at The Seeker reports on new efforts by Orthodox social justice activists to emphasize the Golden Rule as central to keeping kosher.

In the Guardian, Terry Eagleton takes a page from his recent book, Reason, Faith, and Revolution, to argue that the new atheists have become weapons in the war on terror.