Amy Levin: “Aren’t these topics the very ones your mother warned you never to raise at a dinner party?” asks Marie Griffith, editor of the new online magazine, Religion & Politics. With its boasted tagline, “Fit for Polite Company,” Griffith, the current director of the John C. Danforth Center on Religion & Politics at Washington University in St. Louis, says in her editor’s note that the journal’s aim is to address one of the most “contested issues of our time:” the role religion plays in U.S civic and political life.

Ashley Baxstrom: You’ve probably heard at this point about the Vatican’s statement concerning what it considers to be the wayward actions of its sisters in faith. You can refer to The Revealer’s “Radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith” for the basics, including how nuns were “reprimanded for making public statements that ‘disagree with or challenge the bishops, who are the church’s authentic teachers of faith and morals.’”

And then, you’ve probably heard about some of the reactions, people talking about Christian feminism, and hierarchy, and personal histories with the Church and faith. One major trend in the reactions has been people coming to the defense of the nuns for acting on behalf of social justice and the poor. But we all know a trend of movement hasn’t really gained steam until it’s gone viral, and that’s where we find ourselves today.

Anthea Butler at Religion Dispatches

David Badash at The New Civil Rights Movement

Jeff Sharlet on Twitter

Michael Dobbs at The Washington Post

David Sessions at The Daily Beast

David Mark and Adelle M. Banks at Religion News Service

The bishops have taken nearly four years to plan their renovation of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.  The new oversight and changes come without input from the Women Religious.  The New York Times wrote yesterday:

The sisters were also reprimanded for making public statements that “disagree with or challenge the bishops, who are the church’s authentic teachers of faith and morals.” During the debate over the health care overhaul in 2010, American bishops came out in opposition to the health plan, but dozens of sisters, many of whom belong to the Leadership Conference, signed a statement supporting it — support that provided crucial cover for the Obama administration in the battle over health care.

Read National Catholic Reporter’s thorough coverage here.

What does Rowan Williams’s resignation mean for American Anglicans?

By Daniel Schultz

Word reached us lately that the eyebrows of the Most Rev. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, had decided to step down at the age of 61, apparently taking the attached primate with them into an early retirement, or at least a return to the academic life as Master of Magdalene College. Perhaps not coincidentally, a little while later it came out that the Church of England was set to reject the Anglican Covenant, Williams’ pet project to bind together the far-flung theologies of the Anglican Communion in some way or another. Nobody was ever quite sure how. In any case, a defeat like this must have been hard to bear, even for Williams’ ordinarily indefatigable—not to mention gravity-defying—eyebrows. Little wonder he (and they) decided to light out for Oxford (update: Cambridge per the comments) while the getting was good.

What does Williams’ departure and the arrival of his successor mean for the average Christian in the United States? As with so much in the world of the church, the answer is: it depends.

At the moment, the bookmakers favor John Sentamu, the Ugandan-born Archbishop of York, to replace Williams. But it’s not by much: Sentamu averages about a 50-50 shot from the houses willing to accept a wager on his ascension.

Becky Garrison: The Miss Universe Organization’s decision to change their rules so that transgender women can compete appears to signify a growing acceptance of trans individuals (GLAAD and other groups had admonished the organization). However, statistics from the Transgender Europe’s Trans Murder Monitoring project, noting more than 800 reported murders of trans people in the last four years, indicates this shifting is not universal.  But the internet helps.

As a growing sign of the increased visibility of the trans community, academic, author and activist Helen Boyd, noted that one can now find over a hundred transgender related blogs. In addition, this community also connects with each other via Facebook, Twitter, Live Journal and other social media tools.

Becky Garrison:  Even though the Family Research Council was designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) in 2010, their spokesperson, Tony Perkins, continues to grace cable network news programs like MSNBC’s “Hardball With Chris Matthews.” In light of the fact that Perkins has been a guest on the station 23 times since the SPLC issued their findings, Faithful America designed a TV ad they hoped to run on MSNBC calling the network to cease booking Tony Perkins. As reported by The Advocate, MSNBC chose not to run the ad. According to an MSNBC spokesman, “We have many guests from a variety of viewpoints who all play roles in the political process. The views of our guests are not those of MSNBC.”

Ashley Baxstrom: It’s a curious culture we live in when a children’s event has to be cancelled because people are acting belligerently.

It’s troubling even – or maybe especially – when it’s a religious children’s event. A religious children’s event that’s supposed to be a joyous celebration. A religious children’s event that’s supposed to be a joyous celebration about a bunny (or, you know, Jesus).

I’ll be on a panel with the amazing Susan Gerbino, Amber Hollibaugh, Ai-Jen Poo and Robert Campbell on April 10.  Come say hi.