On May 17, President Barack Obama gave the commencement address and accepted an honorary doctorate at Notre Dame. Polls suggest that American Catholics were split down the middle about whether the university was right to invite---and, more importantly, bestow with an honorary degree---a president in favor of keeping abortion legal.

Here & there contributor Nathan Schneider writes for Religion Dispatches about the series of covers on classified Department of Defense intelligence updates from 2003, which show pictures of the Iraq war and quote Bible passages.

Rabbi Michael Lerner argues in Politico that "Barack Obama's nonideological pragmatism will backfire."

In The American Prospect, Michelle Goldberg sheds light on the globalizing nature of both the pro- and anti-gay rights movements and draws a connection between homophobia and anti-Semitism.

Edward Sebesta and James Loewen have drafted a letter to President Obama, asking him not to have a wreath laid at the Arlington Confererate Monument on Memorial Day.  Among the reasons they cite is the monument's ties to the religious glorification of the South.

In Foreign Policy, Marc Lynch looks at a new Zogby survey.

In Slate, Dan Pashman wonders if the general lack of a public outcry over the legalization of gay marriage is indicative of a lack of outrage or the slip in importance of those who are outraged.

At RealClearPolitics, Michelle Malkin reflects on the recent attempted attack on a New York synagogue by a group of Muslims who converted to Islam in prison.

Michael Gerson writes about a dinner he had with the Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence Alhaji Muhammad Sa'adu Abubakar III, and Dr. John Onaiyekan, the Catholic archbishop of Abuja, during which they discussed the nature of religious conflict in Nigeria, and the future of interfaith dialogue.

On NPR this week, Barbara Bradley Hagerty reported on "the science of spirituality." In a series of five short pieces, Bradley Hagerty interviewed scientists and religious practitioners about such topics as "The Biology of Belief" and the brain's so-called "God Spot."