“Evangelical Christianity’s dance with secular culture has always been a complicated one. Whereas Biola once trained students to use modernism’s devices, like the scientific method and rational argument, to undercut modernism, today, in a more postmodern era, it educates its students about the diversity of ideas and cultures and experiences in order to equip them to bring the world a single unchangeable truth.” Read more of Samantha M. Shapiro’s excellent report, “All God’s Children,” in The New York Times.

The Conventional God: The Raving Atheist read through all of the presidential campaign convention addresses from 1960 through last Thursday’s, looking for God-talk, and didn’t find much. “As turns out, God is not really all that popular a guest at presidential conventions. However much the candidate may talk about Him on the stump or while visiting churches, He doesn’t get that much play in the nomination acceptance speeches. That meaningless quote picked up by Nixon and Kerry is about as deep as it gets, and Jesus never gets his props…”

The Turkish government has proposed a bill, due to be submitted to parliament next month, that would make adultery a crime. Though women’s rights organizations in the country are fighting the bill, both the majority government party and the main opposition party support it, arguing that adultery should be criminalized “because that is how society regards it.” Read more.