Immanent Frame contributor and professor of philosophy Patrick Lee Miller has been nominated by 3quarksdaily for the best blog writing in philosophy for his essay "Immanent spirituality", published on this site.

Michael Consoli reports that the leadership of a New Jersey mosque successfully petitioned for a permit to hold a collective prayer for "the soul of America" on Capitol Hill this month.

At Notes from the Social Field, Ernesto Castañeda analyzes the televised coverage of Senator Ted Kennedy's funeral, and notes, "how difficult it would have been for such an event to take place in this day and age in a strongly secular country such as France."

The last few days have seen the outbreak of controversy regarding a Bloggingheads.tv "diavlog" with intelligent design theorist Michael Behe, which followed an earlier one with young-earth creationist Paul Nelson. As a result, two frequent Bloggingheads contributors, science writer Carl Zimmer and physicist Sean Carroll, have declared they'll no longer be a part of the site.

A fascinating colloquy is taking shape at the SSRC's Making Sense of Darfur blog, based on Jayne Blayton's three-part essay, "Human Rights Reporting on Darfur: A Genre that Redefines Tragedy." The crux of Blayton's argument follows from the supposition that "human rights reporting [...] has developed into a distinct and new sub-genre."

At the Guardian‘s Comment Is Free, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair lays out his approach to international development through faith-based organizations: We know they are effective advocates—that’s not the key question in development. But do religious leaders and faith communities in the developing world have the capacity to contribute effectively to national development plans? […]

Just a reminder: today is the last day you can vote for Patrick Lee Miller's "Immanent Spirituality" to be among the finalists for 3 Quarks Daily's prize in philosophy writing. See the other nominees and vote here.