"...I’m still impressed by the story of the Good Samaritan in the Bible, which was about seeing past ethnic or tribal categories. I wish Christians and other religions would learn that. We all just are who we are walking down the road. We want to be seen as no more and no less than that..."

...we need media systems that are better at helping us see trolls in context, as attention-seeking outliers, which means we need to do a better job of understanding the reality of a world in which the vast majority of Muslims do not see themselves in conflict with Christianity, modernity or the United States. It’s hard for us to see that reality because contemporary media systems are tuned to warn us of the unusual, not to help us understand the everyday.

...the remaking of Jesus from Puritan America to antebellum slave cabins, from Joseph Smith’s revelations to Obama’s presidency. The authors compellingly argue that Christ’s body matters, that it signifies power, reflects national fears and evolving conceptions of whiteness, and perpetuates racial hierarchies by continuously reifying the idea that whiteness is sacred.

...many generations of slaves continued to practice their religion under the guise of Christian liturgy. This union gave rise to a new system of beliefs known as Lucumí or Santería, the ‘way of the saints.’’

Nadia Bolz-Weber represents a...Christianity...that merges the passion and life-changing fervor of evangelicalism with the commitment to inclusiveness and social justice of mainline Protestantism. She’s a tatted-up, foul-mouthed champion to people sick of being belittled as not Christian enough for the right or too Jesus-y for the left.

...It tells me roughly what city a visitor lives in, which Internet service provider he uses, which pages he viewed, which site he came from, and how long he stuck around. And what I discovered is that people everywhere like porn. Even your grandparents. Even NASA...Our taste in porn may vary from place to place: According to search results released by PornMD, for example, Southerners tend to prefer African Americans in their porn while horny Midwesterners go for collegiate smut. The Chinese, for some reason, like their online sex Japanese-style, and Iraqis apparently have a fetish for “sisters"...A large number of my visitors live in the deepest red territory in the United States, Republican towns in Republican states in the deep Republican South, where porn is still a sin. And more than a few of them work or study at right-wing Bible colleges. Conservative Christians are hardly alone in denying during the day what they do at home at night. A surprising portion of my hits come from the Muslim Middle East, including a roster of countries that ban online porn: Egypt, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Syria, Qatar.

...a chronological history from the colonial period to the present that weaves through the construction of Jesus’ image in various Christian groups consisting of primarily white members, and appropriations and challenges within Native American and African American communities.

For millions...around the world, a wildly successful free Bible app, YouVersion, is changing how, where and when they read the Bible. Built by LifeChurch.tv, one of the nation’s largest and most technologically advanced evangelical churches, YouVersion is part of what the church calls its “digital missions.” They include a platform for online church services and prepackaged worship videos that the church distributes free. A digital tithing system and an interactive children’s Bible are in the works.

They made an organized play for a chunk of the black Christian vote, and brought in black church leaders to help them do it.

...in a measure that would declare the state exempt from the Constitution and court rulings. The bill, filed...by two GOP lawmakers...and backed by nine other Republicans, says...courts cannot block a state "from making laws respecting an establishment of religion." The legislation was filed in response to a lawsuit to stop county commissioners in Rowan County from opening meetings with a Christian prayer...

The conquistadors were instructed to read to any indigenous people they encountered a statement that briefly explained God, from the creation story to the pope's supremacy, before requiring listeners to opt for baptism and a civilized life under the Spanish crown. They could refuse, but "we emphasize that any deaths and losses that may arise from this are your fault"...We can only imagine the bafflement of [those who were read this document, sometimes without the benefit of translation, or from a ship moored out of earshot, or with nooses around their necks. In Cuba a...leader was offered a Christian death and burial if he converted. He is supposed to have said that if Christianity meant an eternity spent in the company of Spaniards, he would prefer not to be baptized.