eHarmony Launches Gay Dating Site

Online dating site eHarmony launched a version of its match-making service for homosexual couples Tuesday in response to a settlement late last year.

The company agreed to launch Compatible Partners after a user had filed a complaint against eHarmony, citing New Jersey's discrimination law. Elizabeth Holmes compares the company's new site with its heterosexual site for The Wall Street Journal.

Compatible Partners mirrors the features of its sister site, beginning with the same extensive relationship-preferences questionnaire for which eHarmony is known. There are just a few minor modifications between the two 34-page documents. For example, an eHarmony question reads, "I greatly appreciate the physical beauty of the opposite sex." The Compatible Partners version reads, "I greatly appreciate physical attractiveness when looking at people." The company changed so little in the surveys that it put a disclosure on the Compatible Partners home page. The notice says the site was developed "on the basis of research involving married heterosexual couples." It adds: "The company has not conducted similar research on same-sex relationships."

... Last month, eHarmony was the sixth-most-visited online personals site, with roughly 2.3 million unique visitors, according to comScore.

It's not a comfortable fit for eHarmony's founder, Neil Clark Warren, David Colker writes for the Los Angeles Times.

"It's what I did for 40 years," said Warren, 74, who is retired but remains on the board. "I never had a gay couple."
... Even Warren is finding out that gay couples might not be so different after all. He and his wife are friends with a male couple they met in Maine, where they live most of the year.
"I asked them, 'Are you guys committed?' " Warren said, "and one said yes and the other said, 'I think so.'
"And the first one said, 'You'd better be!' "

After the settlement, Dale Buss wrote that many evangelicals were upset with what they see as eHarmony's cop-out.

This community was responsible for making eHarmony thrive, especially after Mr. Warren allied himself with fellow California psychologist James Dobson and was featured repeatedly on Mr. Dobson's Focus on the Family radio show. Mr. Warren's Christian base allowed him to compete with the giants of the nascent matchmaking business, including Match.com.

Then, in 2005, Mr. Warren suggested in a couple of interviews that his association with evangelicals was hurting the company. Seeking a broader audience, he pointedly broke with Focus on the Family because "people do recognize [it] as occupying a very precise political position in this society and a very precise spiritual position," he told USA Today.

Buss writes that eHarmony's critics expected more of a fight from a company that's just eager to move on from this dispute.

Faith, Fashion, and Forever 21

The skimpy tops and flirty miniskirts on sale at Forever 21, a cheap-chic mega-retailer known for its runway knockoffs and rock-bottom prices, seem to have more in common with Paris and Milan than the local church.

Owners Don and Jin Chang have built a fashion empire on two principles that don't often get mentioned in the same breath: fashion and faith. The Changs attend church daily, give generously to their church, and attend mission trips. In May they will launch Faith 21, a plus-sized version of their flagship store. This new venture embraces overt language of faith in an industry that generally steers clear of the potentially polarizing issue.

But what does it really mean to be a Christian retailer? Forever 21 is known for producing less-than-modest clothes, though in recent years more professional and mid-market garments have found their way onto the shelves alongside the tank tops and miniskirts that define the brand's image. The retailer has been criticized by the fashion industry for blatantly ripping off runway designs (US copyright law only protects logos and brand names) and their styles often end up on racks before the higher-end originals as they rush the typically months-long process from sketch to store into just a few weeks.

Last year Radar magazine ran a profile of the Changs that highlighted the couple's outspoken faith as well as their questionable business practices. The pair champion young Christian designers: "She plucks young designers out of the companies she's working with," said an anonymous business associate of Jin Chang. "And if they're Christian and religious, she puts them in business." Rowena Rodriguez, a former designer for Forever 21, told Radar, "In the short time I worked with Mrs. Chang, my life was transformed, and I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Mrs. Chang prayed me into the Kingdom!"

As in any creative industry, the ethics of fashion are complicated for both producer and consumer. Where we choose to shop is not an innocuous decision; our money is supporting the organization behind it. Is Forever 21 to be commended for bringing language of faith into our malls? Or should their controversial reputation give pause to Christian consumers? What does it really mean to be a Christian retailer?

Faith Takes Center Stage on American Idol

Christians regularly lament their lack of representation in mainstream entertainment, but this season, the most popular show on television features a cast of vocal Christians.

Surprised? While Christians are certainly not strangers to the American Idol stage, six of this season's top 10 - Kris Allen (shown right), Matt Giraud, Danny Gokey, Scott MacIntyre, Michael Sarver, and Lil Rounds - profess Christian faith, and many of them lead worship at their home churches.

Two weeks ago MTV.com ran an article highlighting the pronounced role of faith in this eighth season of the show. The story implicitly suggested that Christians watch the show and vote for these performers because of their faith, which elicited strong reactions both for and against the idea. Critics insisted that American Idol is a singing contest, and votes should go to the best singer, regardless of personal convictions. But many Christians support like-minded contestants because of what they represent: they are lights in the darkness, hope that Christians can eschew the perceived excesses of the music business and still succeed. "Christian music has always had this cheesy label attached to it," said Joanne Brokaw, who blogs about American Idol for Beliefnet's Gospel Soundcheck. "This shows that a Christian singer can have artistic integrity and they are people who can really sing." For a show notoriously fueled by personality at least as much as by music, is this really so terrible? If the objective is to produce a successful recording artist, we need look no further than the numbers.

The Christian music industry has been good to former Idol contestants. Mandisa, who finished ninth in season five, released a gospel album that debuted at #1 on the Top Christian Albums chart and sold 160,000 units, a moderate success for a CCM album. Compare that to the 700,000 units sold by season five winner Taylor Hicks, considered a major disappointment in the secular music industry. More recently, Jordin Sparks and David Archuleta have found success in the mainstream by selecting material that is consistent with their respective professions of faith (Sparks is a Christian and Archuleta a Mormon).

During the singing portion of the show, it is difficult to distinguish the Christians from the rest of the bunch, as all contestants sing secular hits; this week they will select their songs from the Motown genre. The role of faith is limited to personal bios and brief on-air interviews, though occasionally a theme night allows for a religious selection, as when season six contestant Chris Sligh performed the dc Talk song "Wanna Be Loved" in the semifinal round.
While we can certainly celebrate the positive morals being portrayed by the Christian contestants on American Idol, it may not always be a good thing to see Christian culture broadcast on television's largest stage. Beliefnet posted a list of the top 10 religious moments on American Idol, and among them is last year's group performance of "Shout to the Lord," which both excited Christians by featuring a Christian worship song and annoyed them when they replaced Jesus' name with the word shepherd. Contestants could also potentially abuse "the Christian vote" to get ahead in the contest, or begin to feel pressure to adhere to a certain religious standard perceived as required to get votes.

This argument echoes the familiar refrains of this past election season, in which the candidates' professions and practices of faith, or lack thereof, were the source of much debate. Do we prefer our pop stars, like our politicians, to share our faith? Or is the show, ultimately, nothing more than a singing competition?

How do you feel about the portrayal of Christianity on TV's biggest stage? Does a contestant's faith influence your vote? Discuss!

'Morning-After Pill' to Become Available to Minors

A federal judge ruled today that the Food and Drug Administration must allow company sell the "morning-after pill" to 17-year-olds without a prescription. U.S. District Judge Edward Korman also ordered the feds to consider expanding access to women of all ages.

Plan B, also known as "the morning after pill," reduces the chance of pregnancy if taken within three days after sex. It prevents ovulation or fertilization or implantation of a fertilized egg, which some people consider to be equivalent to an abortion.

Articles about the decision from the Associated Press, Washington Post, and U.S. News & World Report offer only positive quotes about the ruling. Conservative groups released statement criticizing the ruling for endangering parental rights.

"Given legitimate concerns about the safety of self-medicating with Plan B, it is incomprehensible that we would allow a minor to walk into any pharmacy and obtain this drug without medical oversight or parental involvement," Charmaine Yoest, President & CEO of Americans United for Life said in a statement.

Family Research Council's Chris Gacek said in a statement that the judge accepts an ideology that promotes sexual license for teens.

"There is a real danger that Plan B may be given to women, especially sexually abused women and minors, under coercion or without their consent," Gacek said. "The availability of Plan B over-the-counter also bypasses the routine medical care of sexually active girls and women, which is important to allow screening for other health conditions, including sexually transmitted diseases."

In 2006, the FDA approved over-the-counter sale of Plan B to adults, but girls 17 and younger were required to obtain a prescription.

Ted and Gayle Haggard to Appear on 'Divorce Court' April 1

Three months after Alexandra Pelosi's documentary The Trials of Ted Haggard debuted on HBO, the founder of New Life Church and former president of the National Association of Evangelicals and his wife will be appearing on Divorce Court, the longest-running court TV show.

The Colorado Springs Gazette reports that Ted and Gayle Haggard are in Los Angeles now filming the show, which will premiere April 1. In an interview with Judge Lynn Toler, the couple will discuss Haggard's sex-and-drugs scandal involving a male escort that surfaced in November 2006 and led him to resign as pastor of the Colorado Springs megachurch. They will be speaking about how their Christian faith has kept their marriage from ending in divorce.

To promote the HBO documentary, the Haggards also appeared on Oprah and CNN's Larry King Live in late January. On the latter, Haggard described himself as a "heterosexual with complications." The couple tells Colorado Springs Gazette that they are scheduled to speak at prominent evangelical churches in coming months.

Update: The Associated Press reports that Haggard initially wanted his wife to divorce him.

Ted Haggard said he wasn't rejecting his wife but thought he had become so "toxic" that divorce was best for her and their children. He said she replied, "No way. I'm not going to do that."

Ted Haggard told the show's "presiding judge," Lynn Toler, that when he consulted with pastors about his sexual struggle, they advised him to pray about it, but that didn't help.

Since then, he said, he has consulted Christian counselors in secular counseling centers and now no longer has sexual desire for men.

The Haggards were to be paid an undisclosed amount for their appearance on Divorce Court.

Amy Julia Becker

Amy Julia Becker is a writer, a student at Princeton Theological Seminary, wife to Peter, and mother to Penny and William. She blogs about the things she's thinking about, which usually include theology, disability, children and parenting, education, and the intersection of grief and hope. She is the author of A Good and Perfect Gift: Faith, Expectations, and a Little Girl Named Penny, and Penelope Ayers: A Memoir. She keeps a personal blog at Patheos called Thin Places.

Dad-in-Chief: Parenting Lessons from Rick Santorum and President Obama | We need more political leaders modeling family sacrifice--especially for children with disabilities. (March 14, 2012)

Why Teens Drift Away from Faith | It might have something to do with their marginally Christian parents. (November 17, 2011)

Perfection Obession: What It Looks Like to Accept Limitations | Amy Julia Becker finds perfection in her daughter’s limitations in her award-winning book, 'A Good and Perfect Gift.' (Interview by Karen Swallow Prior, November 7, 2011)

A Real Christian Education | My daughter Penny reveals that academic success is not always connected to test scores. (October 26, 2011)

Coming Home after Hurricane Irene | The place where our family played, worked, and fell in love for nearly 100 years was destroyed. So it's not "just a house." (September 21, 2011)

MIA: Men Who Don't Use Pornography | For a new survey on prostitution, researchers had a hard time finding men who don't buy sex, whether embodied or digital. (September 8, 2011)

When God Told Us to Adopt | Amy Julia Becker talks to fellow Her.meneutics writer Jennifer Grant about her new memoir, Love You More. (August 1, 2011)

Two Stories about Babies with Down Syndrome | In light of new prenatal testing, what story will Christians tell about children with an extra 21st chromosome? (July 28, 2011)

When Sex Becomes an Idol | Jenell Williams Paris's The End of Sexual Identity seeks to overturn the power that sexual identity labels — homosexual and heterosexual — have in and outside the church. (July 18, 2011)

The Lost Girls of China and India | Why so many baby girls are being killed in the world's two largest countries. (June 29, 2011)

Food Cleanses and the Integrated Self | How nourishment illuminates the relationship between the body and other aspects of our humanity. (May 13, 2011)

How Do I Explain Easter to My Children? | The reality of a human raised from the dead is hard enough for adults to understand, much less kids. But here are some approaches I've taken. (April 20, 2011)

Should Christians Use Self-Help Programs? | Many programs teach self-love and self-compassion as a path to inner peace. What is the gospel response? (March 29, 2011)

When Christians Get Divorced | A popular Christian blogger recently announced the end of her marriage. How should churches respond to those grieving? (March 23, 2011)

The Divine Grace of Diapers and Dirty Laundry | A harried mother of three rediscovers Kathleen Norris's classic The Quotidian Mysteries. (March 18, 2011)

The State of Sex | For one writer, porn is simply a representation of sex: a brutal, male-dominated, and harmful act. Sign me up for lifelong virginity. (February 11, 2011)

Why I Don't Want to Be a Chinese Mother | I don't want to be an American mother, for that matter. (January 17, 2011)

Blessed Are Those with Alzheimer's | Discovering God’s image in a nursing home called “The Beatitudes.” (January 14, 2011)

The Virgins-Only Dating Website | Is WeWaited.com really a perfect haven for Christians struggling in a sex-obsessed culture? (January 12, 2011)

Holiday Shopping for Jesus | How women — who have begun to out-earn men in the U.S. business sector — can use their holiday spending to glorify God. (December 15, 2010)

Secular People Need Sabbaths, Too | Internet fasting. Experiments in chastity. Meatless Mondays. Nonreligious people are seeing the personal benefits of Christianity, even if they don't have the whole story. (November 18, 2010)

Doctrine in Diapers | In teaching my children about God, I'm not sure who's receiving the greater lesson. (November 9, 2010)

Actually, It Takes Much More Than a Village | Annie Murphy Paul's new research shows mothers alone cannot be responsible for babies' prenantal health. (October 28, 2010)

Abortion Case: Womb vs. Egg | Ethical issues abound in case of British Columbia couple who wanted surrogate mom to terminate pregnancy after baby was found to have Down Syndrome. (October 15, 2010)

How Christians Will Save America's Schools | Being salt and light in a failing education system. (September 28, 2010)

A Course in Dying 101 | What Christians can teach our death-denying culture. (September 7, 2010)

Preserving Man and Beast | Humans are more valuable than animals — which is precisely why we can't be indifferent to animal suffering. (August 23, 2010)

How Many Kids Should We Have? | To answer the question, Christian couples need more than a few select Bible verses. (July 19, 2010)

Why Dads Matter | The role of fathers may be changing, but it's no less essential. (June 25, 2010)

Sexy Evangelism | Why our narrative about sex, dating, and marriage is a gospel priority. (June 15, 2010)

I Once Was 'Lost' But Now Am Found | Despite all its syncretistic symbols, the show's finale depicted one aspect of Christian theology superbly. (May 25, 2010)

Adultery: My Genes Made Me Do It | Research like the kind in For Better: The Science of a Good Marriage runs the risk of reducing people to brain chemistry and DNA. (May 19, 2010)

The Anti-Racist, Anti-Fear Gene | People with Williams Syndrome, a rare genetic condition, show us what it means to live trusting others as God calls us to. (May 11, 2010)

Perplexed by the Pill | How birth control pills — which turn 50 this year — led me to believe I was in control of my life and my body. (May 5, 2010)

Yoga: An Exercise in Discernment | How I submit the meditative practice to Christ. (April 22, 2010)

iHave an iPad, But at What Cost? | Perhaps technological advances are challenging spiritual disciplines, such as prayer, contemplation, and waiting to hear from the Lord. (April 12, 2010)

Caught between the Easter Bunny and the Empty Grave | Reducing Easter to a purely spiritual celebration is almost as problematic as reducing it to a consumer smorgasbord. (April 1, 2010)

Finding the Right Words for Disability | Following Jesus' example in John 9, I want to see beyond 'the problem' when I encounter people with disabilities. (March 18, 2010)

Eliminating Suffering or Eliminating People? | When genetic testing threatens our common humanity. (February 26, 2010)

Iris Robinson, Jesus Loves You More Than You Will Know | Speaking grace and truth into Ireland's sex scandal involving a born-again Christian woman. (January 22, 2010)

Dr. Grace Augustine: Avatar's Christian Character? | Well, Christian-ish, anyway. Na'vi spirituality seems to mix pantheistic and monotheistic beliefs. (January 18, 2010)

Alicia Cohn

Alicia M. Cohn is a freelance writer. She is a native of the Midwest, former homeschool student, graduate of Wheaton College (near Chicago), and a previous intern at Christianity Today magazine. She continues to take journalism internships, thanks to this interesting economy, though hopes not perpetually. Above all, she expects God to illuminate each step on the path ahead. Follow her on Twitter @aliciacohn.

The Power of Choice in 'Downton Abbey' | The British World War I drama, depicting a world away, teaches me how to live in my own. (February 8, 2012)

Learning from Tim Tebow about Workplace Evangelism | Why we all could stand to do a bit more Tebowing around the office. (January 9, 2012)

Why Identifying as a Republican—or Democrat—Can Be Idolatrous | And how Sojourners’ Lisa Sharon Harper navigates one side of the political spectrum. (December 8, 2011)

An Open Letter to DC Comics | How to stop making it so hard for me to love you. (October 13, 2011)

Why Singles Need Married Friends | Instead of looking to celebrity couples to uphold our marital ideals, we should look to real couples in our midst. (September 13, 2011)

Working for the (Son of) Man | What a theology of work might look like for female professionals, who tend to downplay their success. (June 3, 2011)

Lady Gaga: Where's the Outrage? | What happens when a pop culture phenomenon becomes a 'religious experience.' (May 17, 2011)

Why Barbie Needs Ken After All | The power couple's Valentine's Day reunion may just teach Barbie that the world doesn't revolve around her. (February 15, 2011)

Tangled, Kate Middleton, and Modern Princesses | Why Disney's newest fairy tale — and England's real-life one — give me hope for my 6-year-old niece. (December 10, 2010)

Christian Woman Sentenced to Hanging for Blasphemy | Asia Bibi, the first woman to get the death sentence under Pakistan's blasphemy law, was charged with insulting Muhammad. (November 19, 2010)

Women Take Election Spotlight | Politicians like Sharron Angle, Michele Bachmann, and Barbara Boxer show it's possible to be powerful and feminine. (October 25, 2010)

Why I Envy Young Nuns | What a remarkably large class of young Catholic nuns-in-training taught this Protestant. (September 22, 2010)

How the Iraq War Has Affected Women | The country now faces a large population of unmarried women, many of them widows. Are government-doled incentives for marrying widows a good economic strategy? (September 15, 2010)

The No-Fault-Divorce Nation | As New York becomes the last state to legalize no-fault divorce, will Americans see a new chapter in our national marriage crisis? (August 17, 2010)

Skinny Jeans, Nose Jobs, and Jesus | In Unsqueezed, Margot Starbuck explores what shopping and eating to the glory of God looks like. (July 2, 2010)

Abortion Measures Move State-à-State | The shape of the abortion debate has shifted to state-level politics. (May 6, 2010)

A Higher Calling than Barbie | Why do women want to be represented by a plastic doll? (April 14, 2010)

Therefore Let Us Keep the Feast | Celebrating the Passover meal prepares Christians for Easter. (March 30, 2010)

A New Frontier in Pro-Life Stem-Cell Research | FDA-backed Georgia researchers hope stem cells from umbilical cord blood will effectively treat cerebral palsy. (February 18, 2010)

Did You Consider Having an Abortion? | The value of Tim Tebow’s life is not more than that of any other child. (February 11, 2010)

When to Leave If You Can't Cleave | Homebound adult children in Italy are called ‘big babies.’ But can staying at home be a mature choice? (February 3, 2010)

China's Own Marriage Crisis | Gender imbalance due to sex-specific abortions signals imminent crisis in the Chinese family. (January 19, 2010)

When Stem Cell Research Isn't Embryonic | Christians have reason to celebrate miracles of adult stem cell research. (December 22, 2009)

Christmas Cooking with Nigella (or Jesus) | Christmas activities are not the meaning of the season, but they can make the season more meaningful. (December 10, 2009)

Going Rogue: An American (Pro-) Life Woman | The former vice presidential candidate promotes her new book alongside the pro-life cause. (November 23, 2009)

Carrie Prejean's Book Urges Women to Stand Up for Beliefs | Still Standing doesn't claim Prejean made the right decisions, only that she has the right to make them. (November 10, 2009)

Mazel Tov for Jewish Women | Orthodox Judaism gets in touch with its feminine side. (October 16, 2009)

Redeeming Roman Polanski | Looking for a Christian response to a child rapist with powerful friends. (October 2, 2009)

Anne Graham Lotz, the Church, and Me | Like Lotz, I've never doubted faith in Christ, but I have mightily doubted the goodness of church.

The President's Speech and Parental Rights | To what extent should the government shape children’s beliefs? (September 9, 2009)

In Their Own Words: Laura Ling and Euna Lee | One of the women, Euna Lee, was driven by her faith in Christ to cover the plight of North Koreans. (September 4, 2009)

Juanita Bynum Returns to Conference Stage | Self-declared prophetess emerges after domestic abuse court case and TV circuit. (August 31, 2009)

Quest for a Father's Love | Author Margot Starbuck talks about the universal need to be ‘seen, heard, known, and loved.’ (August 28, 2009)

So, How Are Those Summer Reading Lists Coming? | How to read the Bible in an age of anxiety; plus three book reviews from Christine A. Scheller. (August 17, 2009)

Florida's Other Marriage Amendment | Christian groups propose $100 fee for Florida couples who do not get premarital counseling. (August 3, 2009)

Breast Cancer and the Bible | Does HarperOne's forthcoming Pink Ribbon Bible push the boundaries of niche-marketing? (July 15, 2009)

Fighting Injustice through Art | Iranian writers and filmmakers use media to address life and death in Iran. (June 29, 2009)

Sarah Pulliam Bailey

Sarah Pulliam Bailey is online editor for Christianity Today, managing the site's content and editing the CT Politics blog. She can be reached at spulliam[at]christianitytoday.com.

Sarah Palin's Rogue Comments | The 2012 presidential hopeful calls people who ask whether mothers should work outside the home "Neanderthals," telling them to "evolve" on Fox News last week. (November 8, 2010)

Why We Envy Elizabeth Gilbert | Who doesn’t want to bury personal burdens through exotic travel on the company dime? (August 16, 2010)

'Eat, Pray, Love' Book Club | Join us August 12 for Her.meneutics' first book discussion. (July 9, 2010)

A Failed 'Date Night' | Tina Fey and Steve Carell’s new romantic comedy about marital commitment hits a dull note. (April 15, 2010)

A Black Maid's Expose | First-time novelist Kathryn Stockett's The Help uses compelling narrative to illustrate the power of truth telling. (March 10, 2010)

Confession: I Stopped Giving to the Church | There's something psychologically important about writing a check and putting it in the plate. (January 8, 2010)

Planned Parenthood Puts Restraining Order on Former Director | The director had resigned after watching an ultrasound for an abortion. (November 4, 2009)

Signs of Faith in Sarah Palin Book? | Palin is writing her book with an evangelical author. (October 8, 2009)

Jenny Sanford Offers Forgiveness After Husband's Affair | In her first post-affair interview, Mark Sanford's wife tells Vogue about learning of her husband's infidelity — and offering forgiveness. (August 17, 2009)

Women Pastors Remain Scarce | The Assemblies of God elected a woman to one of the highest leadership positions in the denomination, but women pastors remain few and far between. (August 7, 2009)

Jimmy Carter Speaks Up on Women | The born-again President recently penned an op-ed condemning gender inequality in the name of religion. (July 21, 2009)

Conservative Women Respond to Sotomayor | Anticipating swift nomination hearings this coming Monday, pro-life groups portray Sotomayor as an activist judge. (July 10, 2009)

Trashing Sarah Palin's Faith, Family, and Femininity | The outgoing Alaska governor has faced 10 months of serious scrutiny. (July 6, 2009)

Stand By Your Unfaithful Politician Husband? | Christian politicians Mark Sanford and John Ensign recently confessed to having affairs, but their wives were absent from the press conferences. (June 26, 2009)

Women's Groups Lash Out at Letterman in Palin's Defense | Letterman joked that Alex Rodriguez 'knocked up' one of her daughters. (June 12, 2009)

What Are You Reading This Summer? | We've offered some lists if you haven't decided yet. (June 10, 2009)

Up Takes Disney Higher | Pixar's latest hit takes Disney beyond its usual princess tales. (June 3, 2009)

Donald Trump Says Miss California Can Keep the Crown | But will conservative Christians continue to put her on a pedestal? (May 12, 2009)

Going Undercover to Expose Planned Parenthood | Lila Rose's pro-life activism may be breaking state privacy laws. But does it matter? (April 28, 2009)

FDA Accepts Ruling, Minors to Have Access to Morning-After Pill | (April 24, 2009)

Why Do We Love Susan Boyle? | (April 17, 2009)

Why Melissa Rogers Signed the Health Care Workers Document | (April 13, 2009)

eHarmony Launches Gay Dating Site | (March 31, 2009)

'Morning-After Pill' to Become Available to Minors | (March 23, 2009)

Lisa Graham McMinn

Lisa Graham McMinn is a professor of sociology at George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon. She's somewhat new to blogging, because she generally prefers watching and tending bees, trees, and the vegetable patch to sitting in front of a computer. But besides teaching, she loves engaging with thoughtful women, and this promises to be that. She has written several books, including, most recently, Walking Gently on the Earth: Making Faithful Choices About Food, Energy, Shelter and More, Growing Strong Daughters and The Contented Soul.

James Lee and 'Filthy Human Children' | The environmental activist's views on human life were obviously extreme and very wrong. But should we rethink limiting our family sizes? (September 3, 2010)

'Femivores' and Food Ethics | The trend toward locally grown, naturally raised food is giving some women more fulfilling lives than the workplace ever did. (March 16, 2010)

'Love Thy Neighbor' Shows Up at Copenhagen | Many Christians who support climate-change protocols have the least of these in mind. (December 11, 2009)

'The Blind Side' Reaches Across Class and Race | A movie about a Christian woman's outreach to an African American teenager depicts redemption, but only at the personal level. (November 30, 2009)

2D Love and Lars and the Real Girl | The Japanese phenomenon reveals a right human desire gone terribly wrong. (July 30, 2009)

The Urban Chicks Movement | Living out faith can include 'just food.' (July 24, 2009)

Declining Female Happiness | A new study reveals that feminism may be the source of our discontent. (June 4, 2009)

The Upside of Never-Empty Nests | Why having our adult daughter and son-in-law move in is not 'enabling' them. (May 12, 2009)

Humans in Creation: Another View | Nature's enduring value is not in what it can provide us. (April 29, 2009)

The Secret Life of Beekeepers | Beekeeping reminds me of the many tasks before me - and my dependence on others. (April 15, 2009)

LaVonne Neff

LaVonne Neff is a writer, editor, publishing consultant, book reviewer, and constant reader. She is also the grandmother of three, the mother of two, the dogmother of two, the wife of one, and the friend of many. She is frequently spotted at the Wheaton Public Library.

When a Daughter Must Parent Her Parents | A new study shows why caring for aging parents more often falls on women than on men. (June 11, 2010)

Review: Anne Lamott's 'Imperfect Birds' | Flawed characters make this book stand out. (April 6, 2010)

LaVonne's Top 40 Books of the Decade | A good list to take the next time you go to the library. (December 31, 2009)

Holiday Generosity: Now a Click Away | Why I'm thankful for Amazon's new 'Add to Wish List' button. (December 3, 2009)

Eunice Kennedy Shriver, 1921-2009 | Remembering the devout Catholic's tireless work for people whose lives were often seen as worthless. (August 14, 2009)

Young Pups in Love | My family's own story bears out the wisdom of 'The Case for Early Marriage.' (August 3, 2009)

The Friendship Boost | The inextricable link between happiness and meaningful relationships (hint: they take more than Facebook updates). (June 18, 2009)

Journalists Slammed for Covering N. Korean Women's Hell | Laura Ling and Euna Lee were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for reporting on women who are 'sold like livestock' in China. (June 10, 2009)

Sonia Sotomayor: 'I Feel Your Pain' | Why the new judge's empathy - extended to more than just Latina women - will serve the Supreme Court well. (June 1, 2009)

When Childbirth Means Risking Your Life | Midwives may be one major factor in offsetting Africa's high maternal mortality rate. (May 26, 2009)

Stuff, the Sleeper Hit | Viral video on consumption may be coming to a church near you. (May 13, 2009)

The Matriarchal Blessing | Even without words, our oldest relatives have something important to tell us. (May 8, 2009)

Blog Comments and Christian Courtesy | Some otherwise loving believers could use a remedial course in table manners. (April 21, 2009)

Breast-feed - If You Can Afford To | (April 13, 2009)

Your Responses: AIDS in Uganda | Part Two of 'Meanwhile, What about the Women and Children?' (April 6, 2009)

Meanwhile, What about the Women and Children? | (April 3, 2009)

Laura Leonard

Laura Leonard is assistant editor of BuildingChurchLeaders.com. Though she now lives in this place they call "Chicagoland," she'll always be a Philadelphia girl at heart (go Eagles!). Blogging combines two of her favorite things — talking about ideas, and the Internet — so she's very excited to discuss arts and media with such intelligent, thoughtful women.

Why Women Are Obsessed with Pinterest | The spirituality of the booming online "self-expression engine." (November 30, 2011)

When Christian Teens Doubt | Sara Zarr's Once Was Lost beautifully captures the moment when an evangelical girl encounters the real world. (May 12, 2011)

Why Your Church Needs a Dr. Oz | Fitness programs like the one launched at Rick Warren's Saddleback Church rightfully teach us that exercise and healthy eating are not spiritually 'neutral.' (February 15, 2011)

Friday Night Lights' Shining Female Lead | Why Tami Taylor is the best female character on television today. (November 3, 2010)

How the Movie Partly Redeems 'Eat Pray Love' | The movie replaces Elizabeth Gilbert's self-indulgent writing with a look at how community contributes to restoration. (August 17, 2010)

The Glamorous Life of the Pregnant Teenager | Do pop culture's portrayals of teen pregnancy harm young women? (July 30, 2010)

Glee: Stereotype Me! | Why the introduction of a stereotypical Christian character on the popular show Glee could be reason to celebrate. (June 21, 2010)

Christian Female Musicians, Missing in Action | What accounts for the surprising dearth of women in today's CCM scene? (May 20, 2010)

Lady Gaga: Champion of Abstinence? | The wave of celebrities touting a "celibate" lifestyle actually undermines the movement. (April 19, 2010)

Are Chick Flicks 'Emotional Porn'? | It depends on how you view them. (March 5, 2010)

Female Olympians, Missing in Action | When it comes to female athletes, why do the media have a one-track mind? (February 12, 2010)

Consider the Vampire | Why the Twilight novels deserve our attention — and why they should raise concern. (December 23, 2009)

I Have a Confession to Make | Why online confession booths like FamilySecret and Post Secret take us only so far. (November 20, 2009)

In the Loop: Down syndrome abortions on the rise | What the women's blog editors are reading today. (October 29, 2009)

What Christian Women Want Now | How do we respond to recent reports of women's declining happiness? (October 27, 2009)

Where Someone Loves Us Most of All | Is Where the Wild Things Are too wild for children? (October 23, 2009)

In the Loop: Matters of Life and Death | What the women's blog editors are reading today. (October 14, 2009)

In the Loop: Two Memoirs, One Tweet, and No Votes for Letterman | What the women's blog editors are reading today. (October 7, 2009)

'Homeless Chic' and the Homeless | Does the 'poorgeoisie' fashion trend trivialize a serious reality? (September 30, 2009)

In the Loop: Christians in Court, Women in the Army, and Writing on Faith | What the women's blog editors are reading today. (September 22, 2009)

In the Loop: Pre-Sex Prayer, More Women Pastors, and Father-Daughter Baseball Bonding | What the women's blog editors are reading today. (September 17, 2009)

In the Loop: The Women's Blog News Roundup | What the women's blog editors are reading today. (September 14, 2009)

Girl Dumps God | Carlene Bauer’s memoir recounts her de-conversion from Christianity for the literary set. (September 1, 2009)

Teaching an Old Dogfighter New Tricks | Michael Vick appears truly repentant. Can we forgive him? (August 19, 2009)

Dancing Down the Aisle | What a viral wedding-dance video can teach about the meaning of marriage. (July 28, 2009)

Harry Potter and the Vampire Battle | Yet another reason for evangelicals to embrace the boy wizard. (July 15, 2009)

A (Crooked) House Divided: the Gosselins Announce Their Divorce | Ten years, eight kids, and five seasons later, Jon and Kate call it quits. (June 22, 2009)

When a Pro-Life Blogger Goes Too Far | The case of 'April's Mom' is less an indictment on the pro-life movement and more the story of a deeply pained woman. (June 18, 2009)

The Duggars: the Anti-Gosselins | When reality TV marriage actually works. (June 12, 2009)

Kris Allen Triumphs on American Idol -- in More Ways Than One | Lessons from the outspoken Christian's friendship with the competition, glam rocker Adam Lambert. (May 22, 2009)

A Weighty Issue | The church's silence on food addiction is ignoring sin - and hurting women. (May 15, 2009)

A Campaign for (Kind of) Real Beauty | "Real" fashion models may present as many problems as their hyper-stylized counterparts. (April 27, 2009)

TV's Women of Faith | The medium has a long way to go in its portrayal of both women and Christians, but ABC's Lost may be a promising start. (April 7, 2009)

Faith, Fashion, and Forever 21 | (March 27, 2009)

Faith Takes Center Stage on American Idol | (March 24, 2009)

Jennifer Grant

Jennifer Grant is a writer with interests in parenting, family life, and international health and development. She freelances for the Chicago Tribune, and other publications including Sojourners magazine's God's Politics blog and Fullfill. Jennifer has written for Adoption Media, Chicago Parent, and Conscious Choice. Jennifer is a proud founding member of Redbud Writers Guild. Her memoir Love You More: The Divine Surprise of Adopting My Daughter was published in summer 2011 by Thomas Nelson publishers. Her second book, MOMumental: Adventures in the Messy Art of Raising a Family will be published by Worthy Publishing in May 2012. Jennifer lives with her husband and four children outside of Chicago. Find her on Twitter @jennifercgrant and online at jennifergrant.com.

Why You Could Be in a 'Sh*tuff People Say' Meme | The YouTube trend can help us understand what we're really saying. (February 13, 2012)

'Unbroken' by Jesus | Louie Zamperini's life included Olympic races, torture, and starving on shark-infested waters, but the real thrill was a 1949 Billy Graham crusade. (September 30, 2011)

My Husband's Affair - with the Church | Eileen Button's The Waiting Place describes a marriage complicated by a pastor's overcommitment to his congregation. (September 6, 2011)

When God Told Us to Adopt | Amy Julia Becker talks to Jennifer Grant about her new memoir, Love You More. (August 1, 2011)

What You Don't Know about Obama's Mama | A review of Janny Scott's new biography, A Singular Woman: The Untold Story of Barack Obama's Mother.

The Happy Death of Soap Operas | Social media and real-life drama have replaced soaps as the daytime audience's entertainment of choice. (May 10, 2011)

Rethinking the Death Penalty | Why recent information has shifted discussion about capital punishment away from debating morality and toward exposing abuse in the criminal justice system. (April 12, 2011)

The Charlie Sheen Has Worn Off | This Lent, given the disturbed actor's slow self-wrecking, I'd like to fast from celebrity news. (March 11, 2011)

A New Mission for the Burnt-Out Mom | In The Missional Mom, Helen Lee says women should expand their ministry focus to beyond the home front. (February 23, 2011)

Another Assault on Little Girls | Vogue Paris's "Gifts" photo spread is one more example of how our culture robs children of innocence. (January 3, 2011)

Girls in Sports No Longer 'Tomboys' | There are also no longer any 'woman astronauts,' according to my 10-year-old daughter. (November 4, 2010)

Midlife Matters: An Interview with Dale Hanson Bourke | Women who no longer have kids at home should seek new ministry ventures, says the longtime journalist and president of the Center for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia Foundation. (August 25, 2010)

Multitasking: Bad for the Soul | Sure, I was getting a lot done as a mother of four. But I was having a hard time obeying God. (July 16, 2010)

Ooh La La over Lady Gaga | Why I showed my son a music video from one of pop culture’s hottest artists. (June 17, 2010)

More . . .

Silencing the Maternal Nag | I've learned that our baby needs a mother and father, not two mothers. (November 18, 2009)

Obama's Kinder, Gentler Culture War | At Notre Dame this weekend, President Obama seemed to forget the indelible pain of having an abortion. (May 18, 2009)

//

LaVonne Neff is a writer, editor, publishing consultant, book reviewer, and constant reader. She is also the grandmother of three, the mother of two, the dogmother of two, the wife of one, and the friend of many. She is frequently spotted at the Wheaton Public Library.

Birth Pangs: When God Shows Up in Pregnancy | In her new book, minister and mother Sarah Jobe says God is present precisely in the "grossest" moments of pregnancy. (December 12, 2011)

When a Daughter Must Parent Her Parents | A new study shows why caring for aging parents more often falls on women than on men. (June 11, 2010)

Review: Anne Lamott's 'Imperfect Birds' | Flawed characters make this book stand out. (April 6, 2010)

LaVonne's Top 40 Books of the Decade | A good list to take the next time you go to the library. (December 31, 2009)

Holiday Generosity: Now a Click Away | Why I'm thankful for Amazon's new 'Add to Wish List' button. (December 3, 2009)

Eunice Kennedy Shriver, 1921-2009 | Remembering the devout Catholic's tireless work for people whose lives were often seen as worthless. (August 14, 2009)

Young Pups in Love | My family's own story bears out the wisdom of 'The Case for Early Marriage.' (August 3, 2009)

The Friendship Boost | The inextricable link between happiness and meaningful relationships (hint: they take more than Facebook updates). (June 18, 2009)

Journalists Slammed for Covering N. Korean Women's Hell | Laura Ling and Euna Lee were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for reporting on women who are 'sold like livestock' in China. (June 10, 2009)

Sonia Sotomayor: 'I Feel Your Pain' | Why the new judge's empathy - extended to more than just Latina women - will serve the Supreme Court well. (June 1, 2009)

When Childbirth Means Risking Your Life | Midwives may be one major factor in offsetting Africa's high maternal mortality rate. (May 26, 2009)

Stuff, the Sleeper Hit | Viral video on consumption may be coming to a church near you. (May 13, 2009)

The Matriarchal Blessing | Even without words, our oldest relatives have something important to tell us. (May 8, 2009)

Blog Comments and Christian Courtesy | Some otherwise loving believers could use a remedial course in table manners. (April 21, 2009)

Breast-feed - If You Can Afford To | (April 13, 2009)

Your Responses: AIDS in Uganda | Part Two of 'Meanwhile, What about the Women and Children?' (April 6, 2009)

Meanwhile, What about the Women and Children? | (April 3, 2009)

//

Ruth Moon is a freelance writer for Christianity Today, where she has written stories on the economy, higher education, and climate change. She loves getting book recommendations and looking through other people's bookshelves, and is currently reading "Midnight's Children" by Salman Rushdie.

Sara Zarr Talks Faith, Art, and Imperfect Christians | How to Save a Life, her newest novel for young adult readers, is about several lives that need saving.

Go Marry, Young Man! | Ted Cunningham argues that marrying young has its benefits. (October 13, 2011)

'Bridesmaids,' Marriage, and Real Happiness | Where are all the popular stories about happy single women? (July 22, 2011)

The Perils of Christian Chick Lit | How my sugary-sweet chick lit relationships turned on me. (June 29, 2010)

Addicted to Books | My love of reading has too often become another way to stay busy rather than practice 'holy leisure.' (March 19, 2010)

Reading to Enrich a Child's Soul | In Read for the Heart, Sarah Clarkson wants to introduce families to good, true, and beautiful books. (February 2, 2010)

Facebook and the Amazing Technicolor Bra Update | Does the bra-color meme — meant to raise cancer awareness — end up hurting women more than it helps them? (January 12, 2010)

Gimme that Christian Side Hug | The viral video has received some negative attention over the past few weeks. But the joke’s on whom? (December 14, 2009)

Mixed Reports on Abortion | The media reports on a new abortion study while "The Gray Lady" shows a different side of the debate. (October 15, 2009)

Banned Books and Blasphemy | Being offended by the right things, and letting God handle the rest. (October 9, 2009)

A Good Man Is Hard to Find | Early marriage sounds great — as long as there are mature Christian men willing to initiate. (September 23, 2009)

Deciphering the Pennsylvania Gym Shooting | What George Sodini's journal reveals about women and violence. (August 12, 2009)

Journalists Link Rising Teen Pregnancy Rates to Bush Administration | Rates of teen pregnancy, STDs rose during 2006-2007. Does this mean abstinence education isn't working? (July 23, 2009)

Nancy Guthrie: Hearing Jesus Speak Into Your Sorrow | Well acquainted with suffering, Guthrie offers Jesus' words of comfort in her most recent work. (July 14, 2009)

Breadwinning Moms and Stay-at-Home Dads | Wheaton College English professor balances work and parenting as breadwinner. (July 8, 2009)

First Dalit Woman Elected to India Parliament | Christian groups hope Meira Kumar will raise profile of India's Untouchables. (June 15, 2009)

Author Interview: Elissa Elliott | Her debut novel explores what the Book of Genesis would look like from the first woman's view. (June 8, 2009)

Test Tube Ethics | Some couples pay the hefty price of storing frozen embryos, despite increasing pressure to donate them for scientific research. (April 16, 2009)

Marital Rape Law Reconsidered in Afghanistan | President Hamid Karzai agreed to review the law after outcries from Western agencies. (April 8, 2009)

Elrena Evans

Elrena Evans holds an MFA from The Pennsylvania State University, and is the mother of three children. She writes the column Me and My House for the online magazine Literary Mama, and is co-editor of Mama, PhD: Women Write About Motherhood and Academic Life. She is also the author of a short story collection, This Crowded Night, forthcoming from DreamSeeker Books.

Amid Bribery Scandal, Wal-Mart Contest Attracts Christians | T.J. Foltz says his clean-water nonprofit works because 84 percent of Americans shop at the superstore chain. (April 25, 2012)

Should You Let Your Baby 'Cry It Out'? A Christian Response | My "attachment parenting" is rooted less in outcome-based goals and more in God's example. (January 24, 2012)

The Sin Behind My Swearing | Cussing out the didgeridoo in front of 5 kids only illuminated a bigger problem. (September 12, 2011)

Why Dogs Should Be Sent to Court | Examining the case of Rosie, a golden retriever who sat beside a 15-year-old raped by her father. (August 12, 2011)

Women Step to Frontline in Mideast Protests | Women's political gains will be a litmus test for fledgling governments in Egypt, Tunisia, and Bahrain, says Council on Foreign Relations senior fellow. (March 3, 2011)

Apple Takes a Bite Out of Sexting | Is a parental-control device the best way to teach teens that sending sexually explicit texts is a bad idea? (November 2, 2010)

Why There's No Narnia in Our Home | Forget Slaughterhouse Five — there's enough bloodshed in some of the best children's literature to raise my parenting fears. (October 13, 2010)

Why Parenting May Be Your 'Highest' Calling | Researchers re-vamp Maslow's famed hierarchy of needs, replacing "self-actualization" with something more self-giving. (October 4, 2010)

Young, Single Women Outearn Male Counterparts | Does this signal a bridge in the perennial gender pay gap? (September 27, 2010)

Little Girls and Single Ladies | The backlash to the video of 8-year-olds gyrating to Beyonce suggests there's still hope for our culture. (June 3, 2010)

The Secret (Moral) Life of Babies | Does the fact that infants seem to have an innate morality suggest divine intervention? (May 17, 2010)

Turning Child's Play into a Passion Play | How we might consider observing Lent after Easter. (April 9, 2010)

Michelle Obama Tackles Childhood Obesity | The First Lady has been criticized for mentioning her daughters' weight to launch the 'Let's Move!' campaign. (March 2, 2010)

Would I Have Hid Jews During the Holocaust? | The story of Miep Gies, the Christian Dutch woman who helped hide Anne Frank and preserve her diary, makes me wonder. (January 13, 2010)

Disney Croaks with Newest Princess Film | The voodoo and black magic in The Princess and the Frog made for a disturbing movie-viewing experience. (January 12, 2010)

The Trouble with Depicting Jesus | Is a Bible showing the Holy Family in traditional Indian clothes any worse than one depicting them as doe-eyed Caucasians in pastels? (December 15, 2009)

Baby Dies Aboard United Airways Flight: A Response | In our eagerness to assign blame, mothers usually bear the brunt of tragedies like this. (December 9, 2009)

Snakes, Spiders, and the Science of Gender | Why do women tend to be more afraid of creepy crawlies than men? (September 25, 2009)

Breast-feeding Dolls: Cute or Creepy? | I'm pretty ambivalent about Bebe Gloton, the world's first electronically nursing doll. (August 24, 2009)

The Horrors of Orphan | Christian ministry fears the film will stigmatize older adopted children. (August 5, 2009)

Of God and Galaxies | Now that the Cold War is over and we have an economic crisis on our hands, is space exploration still justified? (July 21, 2009)

The Faith of Our Mothers | Surveying the countless women in history who lived audaciously for Christ, we have a tall order to fill. (July 10, 2009)

Liberty University and the Liberty to Dissent | Jerry Falwell Jr.'s Virginia school revokes official recognition for both Democratic and Republican student clubs. (July 1, 2009)

Top Clothing Lines Downsize Plus-Size Offerings | Which clothing lines are belt-tightening during the shrinking economy. (June 19, 2009)

What to Do with Smoking Moms | New research makes me reexamine smoking as a women's issue, and question when it's time to speak up. (May 27, 2009)

Arts Funding Slashed in Economic Crunch | But when children in my home state are going to bed hungry, maybe it's for the best. (May 21, 2009)

Glow-in-the-Dark Bark | Ruppy, the world's first transgenic dog, raises questions about the ramifications of genetic tinkering. (May 5, 2009)

Artist Profile: Anna Kocher | The Philadelphia painter finds 'gritty physicality' in motherhood and in faith. (April 30, 2009)

Is There Such a Thing as Too Many Children? | Questions linger as last of Nadya Suleman's octuplets heads home. (April 21, 2009)

Bible Translated into LOLcat | (April 14, 2009)

When Deadbeat Dads Are Really Trying | (April 1, 2009)

Katelyn Beaty

The Thin Line Between Trafficking and Pornography | Trafficking survivor Jessica Richardson talks about the connection in her own life. (November 2, 2011)

Beyond SlutWalk: A New Conversation about Sexual Assault | Why Justin and Lindsey Holcombs' new Crossway book, Rid of My Disgrace, is the perfect conversation starter. (May 11, 2011)

Christians Launch Anti-Slavery Efforts for Super Bowl XLV | This year's game is located in one of the nation's seedbeds of human trafficking. (January 25, 2011)

Miss America and the Bikini Question | Do modern-day pageants ask young evangelical women to compromise their values an itsy-bitsy teeny-weeny too much? (January 20, 2011)

The American Red Cross's Knight in Shining Pearls | Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, the first woman to chair the American Red Cross, says women hold the keys to the world’s economy. (November 11, 2010)

Freed by Bill Clinton, Saved by Jesus | The World Is Bigger Now recounts Christian journalist Euna Lee’s imprisonment in a North Korean jail.

'Eat Pray Love' Book Club Discussion | For all the bad and the ugly in Elizabeth Gilbert's 2006 spiritual memoir, I wanted to hold on to the good. Here's what I found. (August 12, 2010)

Stalked by a Priest | Donna Freitas's This Gorgeous Game, about a priest obsessed with a teenage girl, is a work of deep empathy and disturbing believability. (July 7, 2010)

Modesty: A Female-Only Virtue? | Scripture suggests that modesty means more than keeping the right parts covered. (May 18, 2010)

Female Sex Addict: Not an Oxymoron | Marnie Ferree's No Stones: Women Redeemed from Sexual Addiction challenges easy assumptions about who gets addicted and why. (April 26, 2010)

Female and Athletic: College Basketball's Gender Dilemma | Gay bloggers' backlash to Christian coach's pro-family statement highlights the NCAA's messy relationship with femininity. (April 23, 2010)

Citing Modesty, Two Women Refuse Full-Body Scans | Pope Benedict and Muslim scholars have warned that the scanners — slated for major U.S. airports — violate principles of human dignity and chastity. (March 8, 2010)

Why I'm Giving Up Counting Calories for Lent | The practice has led me to believe, erroneously, that thinness is a virtue. (February 17, 2010)

N.C. Court Upholds Sex Offenders' Right to Worship | When extending grace and protecting 'little ones' clash. (January 6, 2010)

Top 10 Her.meneutics Posts of the Year | 2009 was the year of viral dance videos, Christians mired in pageant scandals, reality TV marriages, and church burnout thrown in for good measure. (December 28, 2009)

Should Christians See 'Precious'? | What is the spiritual benefit of watching hard-to-watch films? (December 4, 2009)

Top 10 Posts of the Last 30 Days | What you read during the month of October. (November 12, 2009)

Wheaton Students Advocate for Woman President | An open letter encourages selection committee to commit to 'ethnic, economic, and gender diversity.' (November 2, 2009)

Top 10 Posts of the Last 30 Days | What you may have missed on Her.meneutics in September. (October 13, 2009)

The Confusing Case of Caster Semenya | The South African runner may lose her gold medal after gender test results are released. (September 11, 2009)

Top 10 Posts of the Last 30 Days If you didn't catch them the first time, here are the most popular posts from August. (September 8, 2009)

What the TNIV Means for Evangelical Women | To see it go won't mean that much, actually. (September 3, 2009)

The Persecuted Rifqa Bary? | Christians rally support for a 17-year-old believer who says her Muslim parents have threatened to kill her. Should they believe her? (August 13, 2009)

Top 10 Most Popular Posts, July | A round-up of the most popular posts of the last 30 days. (August 10, 2009)

Pants-Wearing Woman Challenges Sudan's Decency Law | Lubna Hussein says she'll take 40,000 whippings if it will change her human-rights-challenged government. (August 6, 2009)

Where Does Francis Collins Stand on Stem-Cell Research? | The question is more pressing now that he is heading the National Institutes of Health. (July 13, 2009)

Top 10 Most Popular Posts, v. 3 | A round-up of the most popular posts of the last 30 days. (July 8, 2009)

Women's Ordination: A Crack in the Cathedral? | Female bishops outlawed, female priests tacitly allowed at last week's Anglican gathering in Bedford, Texas. (July 2, 2009)

Supreme Court Rules Girl's Strip Search Unconstitutional | Lone female justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg spoke up for the 13-year-old who had to undress before school officials in 2003. (June 30, 2009).

Schuller's Eldest Daughter to Lead Crystal Cathedral | Sheila Schuller Coleman to become her father's 'legs' in new role. (June 11, 2009)

Top 10 Most Popular Posts, v. 2 | What you clicked on the most during the second month of Her.meneutics. (June 9, 2009)

Media Lukewarm on Laodicean's Meaning | Last night's spelling bee champ rattled off the word with ease, but media today haven't yet connected the Greek adjective to the Bible. (May 29, 2009)

Q+A: Kaffie McCullough on Craigslist | A top advocate for stopping child prostitution is skeptical about Craigslist's decision to pull its 'erotic services' ads. (May 14, 2009)

Women Benefit from Health-Care Overhaul | The failing industry says it will stop charging women at higher premium rates than it charges men. (May 6, 2009).

Miss CA Becomes Ad Spokeswoman for Traditional Marriage | Meanwhile, two pageant directors say they paid for Prejean's breast implants weeks before Miss USA. (May 1, 2009).

Elizabeth Lev Defends Mom's Decision to Turn Down Notre Dame | She may be a bit biased, but her response is still spot-on. (April 29, 2009)

The Other Miss California Controversy | Carrie Prejean might have stood up for Christian sexual ethics by skipping the Miss USA pageant altogether. (April 24, 2009)

Re: Evangelical Women in Public Life | (April 20, 2009)

MIA: Evangelical Women in Public Life | Are there really none? (April 17, 2009)

Strip-Searched Girl Heads to Supreme Court | (April 16, 2009)

Christians Urge Obama to Keep Conscience Clause | Today is the last day for arguments supporting medical workers' right to refuse to provide care that violates their conscience. (April 9, 2009)

When Serving Makes You Sick | (April 2, 2009)

Ted and Gayle Haggard to Appear on 'Divorce Court' April 1 | (March 20, 2009)

Karen Swallow Prior

Karen Swallow Prior, Ph.D., is associate professor of English and Chair of the English and modern languages department at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. She and her husband, Roy, serve as deacons in their church and keepers of their 100-year-old homestead, where they live with their horses and dogs — and, more recently, Karen’s mom and dad.

The Wall Builders: A Parable about the Gender Debates | A tale about a small kingdom, the kingdom-dwellers, and the great wall that divided them. (April 27, 2012)

Trayvon Martin, Hoodies, and the Power of Images | Understanding our visual writing helps explain how we respond to the case. (March 30, 2012)

Why 'Slut' Cuts to the Core--of All of Us | The furor over Rush Limbaugh's comments illustrates the power of a single word. (March 8, 2012)

What the 'After-Birth Abortion' and 'Personhood' Debates Have in Common | If there is 'no moral difference' between infants and fetuses, where do we draw the line? (March 5, 2012)

Want to Follow God? Go to Sleep | Why rest is paramount to a "successful" spiritual life. (February 21, 2012)

Scared to Death of Death: Facing More Than Gramma's Mortality | When my family moved my grandma cross-country to a nearby nursing home, I had no idea she would bring with her a reminder of irrevocable loss. (February 7, 2012)

Marriage: Creating a Partnership, Not Reeling in a Catch | The old traditions of luring in a spouse still linger today. (January 27, 2012)

When the State Took Away My Life: North Carolina Grapples with Sterilization Practice | It all began just a mile down the road from my house. (January 18, 2012)

Why 'Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' Is Hurting Women | Lisbeth Salander is less a female role model than a projection of a base male fantasy. (January 4, 2012)

Beards: A Hairy Topic in My Household | The cultural and religious significance of the manly mane. (December 21, 2011)

Perfection Obsession: What It Looks Like to Accept Limitations | Amy Julia Becker finds perfection in her daughter’s limitations in her award-winning book, 'A Good and Perfect Gift.' (November 7, 2011)

Tattooed Barbie: You’ve Come a Long Way! | Barbie is art imitating life (and vice-versa). (October 27, 2011)

Exotic Animals and Kingdom Ethics | Principles for why we should avoid treating all animals as possessions. (October 21, 2011)

Ben & Jerry’s ‘Schweddy Balls’ and Scatological Humor | Why I’m not joining ‘one million moms’ in a boycott. (September 27, 2011)

Welcoming Doubt to Christian Education | Reflections on the Cardus Education Survey from a department chair at the world's largest evangelical university. (September 16, 2011)

Inside the Heart of an Animal Hoarder | When a love for pets goes terribly awry. (September 7, 2011)

The Female Friendship Crisis | Friends are an indispensable part of growing in Christ. So why do many of us have so few? (August 2, 2011)

The Redemptive Narrative in Jaycee Dugard's Captivity Story | Why children play a vital role in the stories from women who were abducted. (July 29, 2011)

Doing Authentic Ministry with My Smokin' Hot Bride | A list of the worst ever Christian cliches. (July 19, 2011)

An Open Letter to Donald Miller on Your Engagement | First, congratulations. Second, let's talk about that list of qualities we should want in a spouse. (June 23, 2011)

Anthony Weiner, Gnostic | The embroiled congressman's defense that sexting is not adultery reveals a mind-body dualism long resisted by Christian tradition. (June 9, 2011)

Sex and Salvation according to Picasso | Seeing the huge Picasso exhibit now touring the world reminded me of why Christians should make time for the fine arts. (May 26, 2011)

Confessions of a Breadwinner Wife | Most American women still want to 'marry up' on the socioeconomic scale. How I hit the jackpot on a totally different scale. (May 3, 2011)

Liberty U. Students on Interracial Marriage Trends | I asked five female alumni whether their marriages mirrored recent sociological data on mixed-race marriages in the South. Here's what they told me. (April 5, 2011)

The Gospel of Grace for Women Who Self-Injure | How the church can respond as cutting and other forms of self-harm are increasingly glamorized online. (February 28, 2011)

Michael Vick's Long Road to Recovery | A Christian animal-welfare activist reflects on the NFL quarterback and dogfighter's restoration. (February 16, 2011)

Surprised by Beauty at the March for Life | The people who caught my eye — the ones the mainstream media overlooked — at this year's march. (January 27, 2011)

Skins Prompts Call for Child Porn Investigation | This time, the Parents Television Council is probably right about the British export that spotlights teens (and teen actors) engaging in a sexual free-for-all. (January 21, 2011)

Honeymoon with Mom and Dad | How I spent the holidays with my live-in parents. (January 5, 2011)

The Best Ever Christmas Gift | Women in particular, it seems to me, have a hard time thinking of themselves as gifts. (December 22, 2010)

What Is the Stay-at-Home Daughters Movement? | What the branch of the Christian Patriarchy Movement believes about family and young women. (December 20, 2010)

A Peter Singer Sympathizer Changes His Mind | After his infant son, August, suffers irreparable brain damage, professor Chris Gabbard re-thinks what makes a life worth living. (December 7, 2010)

When Mom and Dad Move In | Dispatches from a member of the half-a-sandwich generation. (November 23, 2010)

What Is Her.meneutics?

Her.meneutics is the Christianity Today blog for women, and provides news and analysis from the perspective of evangelical women. We cover news stories, ideas, and books related to the church's mission in the world, including international justice and evangelism, pregnancy and sexual ethics, marriage, parenting, and celibacy, popular culture, fashion, health and body image, raising girls, and women in the church and parachurch.

Her.meneutics is edited by Christianity Today assistant editor Katelyn Beaty and online editor Sarah Pulliam Bailey.

Gina Dalfonzo

Fractured Fairy Tale: The Appeal and Danger of 'Once Upon a Time' | The show's emphasis on the power of love is its strength—and weakness. (February 17, 2012)

Why the New Planned Parenthood Controversy Raises Old Questions | The world is waking up to a conflict pro-life women have faced for years. (February 3, 2012)

The Best Christian Marriage Book You've Never Heard Of | Dwight and Margaret Kim Peterson's book offers advice fora realistic and positive marriage. (January 19, 2012)

'Unwanted' Girls Defy Sexism in India | How will Americans respond to the unwanted kids in their midst? (December 5, 2011)

What the Herman Cain Case Reveals about Harassment | How Christians can respond to sexual harassment allegations in their own communities. (November 9, 2011)

Why Men Should Read Jane Austen | And, how we all should read works like ‘Pride and Prejudice.’ (June 20, 2011)

Guarding Your Marriage without Dissing Women | Women aren't disappearing from the workplace or ministry staff teams. How will married men adjust? (May 31, 2011)

Bill Maher Slurs Sarah Palin, NOW Responds | The National Organization for Women seems to believe that being conservative and pro-life means being anti-woman. Not so fast. (March 28, 2011)

The Social Network's Women Problem | The likely Oscar Best Picture winner's disturbing view of women apparently come not from Mark Zuckerberg's world but from the views of writer Aaron Sorkin. (February 25, 2011)

Facebook Envy on Valentine's Day | Social media have given single people one more way to be reminded of what they don't have. (February 14, 2011)

What Are Wedding Vows For, Anyway? | Not much, if Carol Anne Riddell and John Partilla's wedding announcement in The New York Times "Vows" section means anything. (January 31, 2011)

Don't Think Pink | Breast cancer awareness campaigns often raise everything but real, tangible support for survivors. Just ask my mom. (November 22, 2010)

Why Sex Ruins TV Romances | And it's not for the reasons you think. (October 26, 2010)

Sharon Hodde Miller

Sharon Hodde Miller is a writer and a doctoral student at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Her husband is also pursuing his PhD in Systematic Theology, which means they have lots of interesting conversations and many, many study dates! Before beginning her PhD in Educational Studies, Sharon earned her Master of Divinity from Duke Divinity School. She also worked for Proverbs 31 Ministries, has served as a college minister, and has written for LifeWay's Collegiate Magazine, Ungrind, Cultivate Her, and Gifted for Leadership, in addition to her personal blog, SheWorships.com.

Cross-Gender Friendships: What's Appropriate for Married People? | A new model suggests married men and women can be best friends—and not with their spouses. Think again. (April 18, 2012)

Mike Daisey, Apple, and Our Culture's Crisis in Truth-Telling | Are “emotional truths” acceptable if they lead to greater awareness? How we answer matters a great deal. (March 28, 2012)

What A Flight Attendant's Outburst Revealed About My Own Fear | The scare revealed I am more afraid of death than I should be. (March 12, 2012)

'Am I Pretty?': A Troubling Question Among Christian Women Like Me | I have more in common with the girls asking "Am I ugly?" on YouTube than I care to admit. (March 9, 2012)

Unplanned Parenthood: The Blessing of an Inconvenient Pregnancy | For many women, pregnancy reveals just how far we've bowed to the god of control. (February 16, 2012)

Why Women Leave the Church -- and Come Back Again | Jim Henderson's 'The Resignation of Eve' offers first-hand accounts (and no small amount of editorializing) of women struggling in local congregations. (January 20, 2012)

How 'Moddest Is Hottest' Is Hurting Christian Women | What the phrase communicates about female sexuality and bodies. (December 15, 2011)

Yes, We Can Learn Something from the Kardashian Fiasco | Family and friends should support the couple, not pick sides. (November 7, 2011)

Why It’s Your Job to Break the Women’s Ministry Stereotype | Sure, some of us are choking on cutesy things, but many of us are working towards a new model of discipleship. (October 11, 2011)

Real, Authentic Authenticity | It's an attribute that disappears as soon as it's intentionally sought. (September 22, 2011)

PETA to Launch Porn Site | The group's newest and wholly misguided campaign overshadows a kernel of truth about animal suffering. (August 31, 2011)

Taming the Twitter Tongue | Why I'm still not tweeting. (August 16, 2011)

The Newest U.S. Mission Field: Women | In order to reach educated and professional women, Christian women must be able to articulate what they believe and why. Is the church equipping them (August 9, 2011)

Much Ado About Mark Driscoll | What do we do when Christian leaders are imperfect? (July 15, 2011)

How to Talk about Having Children | Maybe God intended babies to mess with our well-planned lives. (June 22, 2011)

Schwarzenegger, Strauss-Kahn, and Power | Why power is so often spiritual poison. (May 23, 2011)

Gender Differences: All in the Brain | Recent findings from neuroscience highlight why the church needs diversity in order to thrive. (May 16, 2011)

Sex Sells - So Does Virginity | Nickelodeon star Miranda Cosgrove is being marketed as the embodiment of purity in a sex-saturated culture. Why Christians should be concerned. (April 27, 2011)

Toddlers, Tiaras, and Surviving Princess Mania | A review of journalist Peggy Orenstein's new book, Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture. (March 1, 2011)

The No-Makeup Spiritual Discipline | Why going out in public without mascara and blush is an act of Christian discipleship (for me, anyway). (February 8, 2011)

Anna Broadway

Anna Broadway is a writer, avid knitter, and modestly ambitious cook living near San Francisco. She's the author of Sexless in the City, a memoir of reluctant chastity, and and a contributor to Faith at the Edge. She holds an M.A. in religious studies from Arizona State University and has written for Books and Culture, Comment (online), Beliefnet, the Art House America blog, Godspy, The Journal of the History of Sexuality, Paste (online), Radiant, and Relevant (online). She is a former volunteer editor for The New Pantagruel. Follow her on Twitter @annabroadway.

Ryan Gosling, Romance Novels, and the Dangers of Fantasizing | The problem isn't that we long for something better. It's that we long for too small of things. (April 5, 2012)

On Valentine's Day, Praying for Men Who Buy Sex | Why I'm praying for the johns today--and you can, too. (February 14, 2012)

The Woman Who Shelters New York City's Trafficking Victims | Faith Huckel, founder and director of Restore NYC, took her social-work skills and a heap of prayer to launch the city's first and only long-term aftercare shelter for foreign-born trafficking victims. (January 23, 2012)

The God of Awkward Virgins | Can he be trusted? (December 7, 2011)

Why I No Longer Pray for a Husband | Lessons in longing, hunger and trust (September 26, 2011)

The Cult of the Orgasm | Thinking Christianly about the vibrator boom and unsatisfied sexual desire (June 16, 2011)

The Praying Artist: God Is My Editor | How praying through my work changed me (part 2) (April 13, 2011)

The Praying Pedestrian: A Lenten Discipline | How praying for my neighborhood changed it (part 1 of a 2-part series) (April 7, 2011)

Snakes on a (Spiritual) Plane | The varieties of Elizabeth Gilbert's spiritual experiences (August 16, 2010)

Seeking a Spouse? Lighten Up | Could 'dating cards' help Christians take their love lives a little less seriously? (August 2, 2010)

Why I Can't Boycott Mel Gibson | And it's not because he's 'too talented,' as Salon wrote last week (July 22, 2010)

Michelle Van Loon

Michelle Van Loon is the author of two books about the parables of Christ and has contributed to three recent devotional projects. She's done a wide variety of freelance writing including plays and skits, curriculum, articles, and ghost-writing. She’s been a church communications director, served on staff at Trinity International University, and currently handles communications for a Chicago-area ministry that networks evangelical congregations. She’s married to Bill, and is mother to three and grandmother to two. Her writing focuses on issues of the church and spiritual formation. She blogs at michellevanloon.com.

Voice of the Victims: Sex Abuse Survivors and the Church | Tom White's recent suicide brings to light the priority of healing the abused over restoring the offender. (April 30, 2012)

Why Nancy Sleeth Wants You to Be a Bit More Amish | The message of Almost Amish is, fittingly, simple: How we live matters. (April 10, 2012)

Is It a Sin to Look Your Age? | How 'old is cold' stifles true beauty. (March 26, 2012)

Learning the Spiritual Disciplines from a Mormon Blogger | Jana Riess's Mormon background does not detract from Flunking Sainthood's message. (February 1, 2012)

When Higher Education Is Neither: Why Should I Earn a Degree? | Thoughts for adults considering returning to college in 2012. (January 9, 2012)

Stop Turning Thanksgiving into a Facebook Like | Biblical gratitude is far more than an attitude. (November 23, 2011)

Holy Hot Flashes! A Spiritual Take on Menopause | How the mysterious life stage changes a woman's capacity to nurture others. (October 28, 2011)

Taking a Break from Your Spouse | Research and experience confirm that time away from one's spouse actually strengthens the marital bond. (October 6, 2011)

When A Midlife Crisis Becomes Serious | And how the church can turn midlife into prime time for the entire community. (October 3, 2011)

Christ And My Curly Hair | Attempts to undo my wiry hairdo had grown to idolatrous proportions - and taken up three whole months of my life. (August 30, 2011)

My Father Was A Porn Addict |The Playboys lying on the coffee table were the tip of the iceberg in our home. (July 25, 2011)

Would Jesus Walk Away From A Mortgage? | Reflections from an underwater home owner. (July 11, 2011)

Raising Yeshua-Followers In the West Bank | Ariella, a Messianic Jew, raises four children amid violence in the Holy Land.

A Christian Woman’s Midlife Crisis | With the guidance of older, wiser mentors, women can face the existential angst of midlife hoping for a new identity in Christ, one stripped of status and comfort. (April 19, 2011)

Where Are All the Women City Leaders? | The way the Christian city-renewal movement is being narrated, one would assume all the leaders driving the movement are megachurch pastors. (March 25, 2011)

‘Happy Holidays’ In Church? | While some Christian groups continue the battle over seasons-greetings language, I wonder if many churches are forsaking the reason for the season. (December 14, 2010)

The Best Christian Halloween Party | Along with hell houses and harvest fests, might evangelicals consider celebrating All Saints' Day? (October 29, 2010)

The Trouble with Confessing in Church | As blogger Anne Jackson's new book makes clear, our church culture will need to change before individual confession won't turn into gossip. (September 29, 2010)

Church Volunteers: An Oxymoron | Why I've stopped using the word volunteer to describe those who serve. (July 13, 2010)

The Hutterites: Beyond Buggies and Bonnets | A review of I Am Hutterite, Mary Ann Kirkby's memoir of growing up in a radical Anabaptist community. (June 7, 2010)

Why Boys Are Failing In the Classroom | The author of Why Boys Fail says females now have an unfair academic advantage in most schools — and that the pendulum needs to swing back. (February 25, 2010)

Rachel Marie Stone

Rachel Marie Stone has written for Christianity Today, Flourish, catapult/*cino, and Creation Care magazine, and also for her local newspaper, The Suffolk Times. She blogs daily about food, family, faith, joyful justice (and the Bread of Life) from her home in Greenport, New York, with her husband, two sons, extended family, and assorted cats.

Why Marilynne Robinson, Narrative Calvinist, Doesn't Fear Fox News | Our current political and religious climate betrays a fear of other people and impending threat, says the author of Gilead. (May 1, 2012)

Channeling the Mama Bear Effect to Fight Child Abuse | Blue Sunday is an opportunity for the church to take a stand. (April 23, 2012)

Kay Warren Talks to CT about Her Battle with Depression | Why the Saddleback Church co-founder's newest book says happiness isn't enough. (April 16, 2012)

Shaming Children for Eating Snacks: How Not to Fight Childhood Obesity | The Bible suggests food is a gift from God--even when we're trying to lose weight. (April 4, 2012)

Five-Senses Spirituality: Why Our Whole Bodies Need God | Awaken Your Senses teaches Christians to know the Father through our flesh. (March 20, 2012)

Breastfeeding in Church, and Other Petty Crimes | The act of breastfeeding is a picture of the care God gives us. (March 2, 2012)

Why a Funeral Is Not the Time to Rejoice | We can let this season of Lent be Lent, so that Easter can be Easter. (February 29, 2012)

John Piper and the Rise of Biblical Masculinity | Why many church leaders are tempted to confuse cultural norms with biblical truth. (February 9, 2012)

How We Can Harness the New Domesticity Without Diminishing Women | Keeping house is part of God's work, too. (January 12, 2012)

A Word to Michelle Duggar's Critics: What It Means to Publicly Grieve a Miscarriage | In a culture that doesn't have rituals for mourning a miscarriage, the Duggars' memorial service may become a helpful model. (December 15, 2011)

Should Christians Take Antidepressants? A Response | I've never heard Christians protest relieving the pain of childbirth. So why would they protest relieving major depression? (December 6, 2011)

Why My Kids (Mostly) Don't Watch TV | Children need to interact with creation, not just observe it. (November 10, 2011)

Adoption: A Long and Winding Journey | Like our adoption into God's family, earthly adoption can be complex and costly. (November 1, 2011)

When Child Discipline Becomes Abuse | Inside the book that has recently been cited in three cases of child murder. (October 17, 2011)

The Saving Grace of a Shared Meal | Recovering a lost tradition in Jesus' name. (September 29, 2011)

Spanking in the Spirit? | In Corporal Punishment in the Bible, William Webb says pro-spankers like James Dobson and Wayne Grudem are less jot-and-tittle than they realize. (September 23, 2011)

Inviting Christ to the Dinner Table | A conversation with theologian Norman Wirzba, author of Food and Faith: A Theology of Eating. (September 14, 2011)

Are Evangelical Women Primarily Interested in Parenthood? | Maybe many are, but there is so much more to the story. Welcome to Her.meneutics. (September 9, 2011)

The Her.meneutics Gender Debates (Part 2) | We talk to theologian Russell Moore about Bachmann, the divorce culture, and why a feminist reading of Scripture would often be easier than a complementarian one. (August 23, 2011)

The Gender Debates Come to Her.meneutics | In the first of a two-part series, we hear from egalitarian theologian William Webb on Michele Bachmann, slavery, and his 'redemptive-movement' reading of Scripture. (August 22, 2011)

Why Gratitude Is Not Enough | Ann Voskamp's book One Thousand Gifts threatens to turn thanksgiving into the key to our salvation. (August 8, 2011)

A Daughter's Grief Observed | Meghan O'Rourke's luminous The Long Goodbye traces the final months as her mother succumbs to cancer. (July 7, 2011)

Reading Scripture with Sex Abuse Survivors | Elaine Heath's We Were the Least of These offers a healing balm, but should be read alongside more traditional interpretations of Scripture. (June 30, 2011)

Taste and Smell That the Lord Is Good | Molly Birnbaum's book Season to Taste reveals how our sense of smell connects us to places and people. (June 14, 2011)

A Horror Film about Childbirth | In aiming to spotlight infant and maternal mortality rates worldwide, Christy Turlington Burns's No Woman No Cry relies on fear instead of facts. (May 24, 2011)

Churning Butter in Bonnets with Laura Ingalls Wilder | Wendy McClure's The Wilder Life answers why we all wanted to live the pioneer life of Little House on the Prairie. (May 4, 2011)

Keeping Kids Junk-Food Free | What Christian communities might learn from Amelia Brown, the Philadelphia principal who sees childhood obesity as the next urban crisis. (April 1, 2011)

The Newest Gnostic Christian Diet | Lysa TerKeurst's Made to Crave comes dangerously close to suggesting that food is bad. (March 15, 2011)

The King's Speech and Doulas | What King George VI's speech therapist, Lionel Logue, and I have in common. (March 10, 2011)

Why I Don't Keep a Mommy Blog | In a world that’s as impersonal and voyeuristic as ours, I want the things I do at home to be just for the people I see and touch daily. (January 21, 2011)

'Hallelujah' Comes to the Food Court | Why one performance of Handel's Messiah has attracted an audience of over 7 million. (December 3, 2010)

In the Shadow of Miscarriage | Elise Erikson Barrett's What Was Lost aims to help women who have suffered miscarriage reconnect with God. (November 15, 2010)

Anorexia and the Body of Christ | Harriet Brown's success story using family based treatment for her daughter's eating disorder suggests we all could stand to share meals.

News Flash: Dads Are Nurturing | More fathers want an active role in caring for their children. Will U.S. employers be able to adjust? (July 28, 2010)

Marlena Graves

Marlena Graves is a writer who received her Master of Divinity from Northeastern Seminary in Rochester, New York. She is married to her best friend, Shawn, a philosopher. Together, they have an energetic and fun-loving little girl, Iliana. Marlena is currently employed as a resident director at Cedarville University. She enjoys God, creation, hiking, good conversations, reading, and writing. She regularly speaks to college students and congregations about spiritual formation. In addition, Marlena is working on two manuscripts she hopes will soon see the light of day. She blogs at His Path through the Wilderness and tweets @marlenagraves.

The Trayvon Martin Case: A Moment for Evangelical Reflection | The tragedy underscores how far white churches have come on race relations—and how much farther we have to go. (April 20, 2012)

Owning Redemptive Grief after the Ohio School Shooting | Instead of speculating on why T.J. Lane killed three of his classmates, we are better off asking how to grieve the tragedy rightly. (March 1, 2012)

Role Reversal: The Problem of the Increasing Marginalization of Men | Men and women should find balance, not switch dominance. (February 24, 2012)

Getting to the Root of Female Masturbation | And the surprising role the church can play in helping women curb addiction to it. (January 5, 2012)

Adderall Arrives at Christian Colleges | Are well-meaning evangelical faculty and administration in part to blame? (August 29, 2011)

How to Avoid Marrying the Wrong Christian | Why "he's a really great, godly guy" is not enough. (August 24, 2011)

The War on Chores: Who Should Do More? | How husbands and wives can think about divvying up the responsibilities. (August 5, 2011)

Why Divorce Devastates Children | Divorce pulls the rug out from under a child's sense of self, contends Andrew Root in The Children of Divorce. (May 18, 2011)

Obese and Beautiful | As the West exports its fat stigma to developing countries, the church might export its welcome embrace to those on all ends of the body mass index. (April 14, 2011)

Christian Dating Do-Over | If a new website and college event are any indication, a better "Define the Relationship" talk is afoot among young evangelicals. (February 18, 2011)

Virtual Flirting Comes to Christian Colleges | Is LikeaLittle.com, the newest fad in Internet dating, a fun diversion or an impediment to healthy community? (December 8, 2010)

When Doubt Comes to Church | How should we respond to intellectual challenges to Christianity from inside the flock? (October 6, 2010)

My Encounter with Mental Illness | College is a seedbed for depression. Here's what Christian campuses can do to help. (August 26, 2010)

The 'D Word' at U.S. Christian Colleges | At my Christian university, we are working toward reconciliation across ethnic and racial lines. We have a ways to go. (July 6, 2010)

Toying with Adultery? | 'Runaway mom' Tiffany Tehan's story reminds us that no one is immune from the temptation of infidelity. (May 10, 2010)

Mixed-Gender Housing, and Mixed-Gender Friendship | Christian colleges likely won't let men and women room together anytime soon. Will they teach men and women how to be friends? (March 25, 2010)

Is Self-Promotion Sinful? | A lesson in soul care from J. D. Salinger, who lived in seclusion for a half-century. (February 4, 2010)

Stanton Jones, CedarvilleOUT Come to Campus | As a resident director mentoring struggling students, I welcome open conversation about same-sex attraction. (November 13, 2009)

Caryn Rivadeneira

Caryn Dahlstrand Rivadeneira is a writer, speaker, and founding member and managing partner of Redbud Writers Guild. She’s the author of Grumble Hallelujah: Learning to Love Life When It Lets You DownMama’s Got a Fake I.D.: How to Reveal the Real You Behind All that Mom (Tyndale House, 2011) and (Waterbrook, 2009), as well as many, many Google pages of blog posts and magazine articles. Caryn has served as editor of Marriage Partnership, Christian Parenting Today, and Gifted for Leadership. Caryn lives outside of Chicago with her husband, three kids, and one pit bull. Visit her at www.carynrivadeneira.com. Find her on Facebook at facebook.com/carynrivadeneira and on Twitter @CarynRivadeneir.

No Girls Allowed: Why the Church Shouldn't Follow Augusta National Golf Club's Membership Policy | Categories can serve a purpose, but we should be careful to avoid exclusivity. (April 12, 2012)

When Christian Bookstores Ban Female Body Parts | Unpacking the Rachel Held Evans-Thomas Nelson dust-up over the ‘v-word.’ (March 27, 2012)

The Best Naked Pregnant Woman on a Magazine Cover | Why Jessica Simpson’s recent Elle cover is worth celebrating. (March 15, 2012)

Duke It Out for Them: Why Kids Need to See Their Parents Fight | Seeing parents fight—and resolve it—can teach kids how to love despite disagreements. (February 28, 2012)

The Problem with Westminster Kennel Club's View of Pet Adoption | The annual dog show could have served as an imperfect model of the love the Church could offer. (February 15, 2012)

Etiquette Isn't for Dummies: How Manners and Ministry Relate | Proper etiquette is less about rigid rules and more about loving others. (December 19, 2011)

The Co-Sleeping Controversy and Enduring 'Bad Mom' Glares | If the City of Milwaukee is really concerned about protecting infants, they should use information, not shame, to inform parents. (December 9, 2011)

Halloween and the Werewolf Within | Two new Christian books embrace monster stories as ways to understand the human heart. (October 31, 2011)

Grumble Hallelujah on the Kitchen Floor | Why lamenting needs to be part of our Christian lives and our churchy conversations. (October 10, 2011)

The Battle for Bert and Ernie | As Change.org asks Sesame Street to 'marry' the roommates, our culture risks losing another archetype of non-erotic male friendship. (August 16, 2011)

Kids' Diets: Why We Need Immovable Love, Not ‘Let’s Move’ | Where Michelle Obama’s anti-obesity campaign falls short. (August 10, 2011)

Bachmann, Palin, and the Trouble with 'Evangelical Feminism' | Feminists say Bachmann and other conservative women can't join their club. I say the club needs some new ground rules. (July 8, 2011)

Why Romance Novels Aren't Emotional Porn | Just because such novels are about escape doesn't mean they are destructive. (June 7, 2011)

Sin, Grace, and the Royal Wedding | What I'll tell my 6-year-old daughter about marriage as we watch the festivities together. (April 28, 2011)

The Argument for Boy-Girl Wrestling | Joel Northrup cited his Christian faith for refusing to wrestle Cassy Herkelman in last week's Iowa state championship. I say his Christian faith should have taken him to the mat. (February 22, 2011)

When Gender-Based Parenting Goes Too Far | A review of Glenn Stanton's Secure Daughters, Confident Sons: How Parents Guide Their Children into Authentic Masculinity and Femininity. (February 1, 2011)

Why I Boycotted Amazon This Week | When it comes to how-to books for pedophiles, defending the defenseless is more important than defending free speech. (November 12, 2010)

Why Should the Devil Get Halloween? | The holiday, one of my favorites, reminds me why I became a Christian in the first place. (October 29, 2010)

Burqa Watching in Great America | Some Muslim American women say wearing the burqa keeps others from objectifying them. But must women hide their bodies to be taken seriously? (September 1, 2010)

What a Father Remembers | Sometimes the most meaningful moments get lost in the busyness of life. (June 17, 2010)

Pregnant Olympians Are Not 'Selfish' | Women like Kristie Moore show that parenting well and taking healthy risks are not mutually exclusive — especially when taking risks means obeying God. (February 23, 2010)

Saved by Spanking | Reconsidering the controversial form of discipline in light of a new study — and timeless Scripture. (January 20, 2010)

It's a Not-So-Happy But Wonderful Life | God doesn't call us to be happy. (October 28, 2009)

Enuma Okoro

Enuma Okoro was born in the United States and raised in Nigeria, Ivory Coast, and England. She holds a Master of Divinity degree from Duke University Divinity School where she served as Director for the Center for Theological Writing. She is a spiritual director and has served as a Spiritual Formation Leader for seminarians. Okoro is an author, speaker, and she continues to lead workshops and retreats on varied topics engaging the arts, and spiritual disciplines.

Okoro's spiritual memoir, Reluctant Pilgrim: A Moody Somewhat Self-Indulgent Introvert's Search for Spiritual Community was a winning finalist in the 2010 USA Best Books Award and received the 2011 National Indie Excellent Book Awards Winning Finalist in “Spirituality and African-American Non-Fiction.”

She is co-author with Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove of Common Prayer: Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals (Zondervan Publishers, 2010). She is also co-author with Susan Briehl and Don Richter of a companion study guide for On Our Way: Christian Practices for Leading a Whole Life, ed. by Dorothy C. Bass and Susan R. Briehl.

Okoro’s poetry is featured in At the Still Point: A Literary Guide to Prayer in Ordinary Time compiled by Sarah Arthur (Paraclete Press, 2011)

She writes a biweekly online column at Patheos called “Cornering God,” about women’s ways of knowing and engaging the holy.

In addition, her writing has been featured in:

ABC News' Good Morning America online
Burnside Writers’ Collective
The Christian Century
Christianity Today’s Her.meneutics
Neue: The Magazine for Leaders Shaping the Future of the Church
Weavings: Journal of the Spiritual Life
Red Letter Christians (Tony Campolo and Friends)
DaySpring’s (in)Courage for Christian Women
The Cry: A Word Made Flesh Advocacy Publication
Faith and Leadership
Horizons Magazine for Presbyterian Women
Conspire Magazine: Plotting Goodness
The Journal of Student Ministries
The UpperRoom Disciplines
Boundless Webzine for Young Adults (Focus on the Family)

Visit her website www.enumaokoro.com and follow her on twitter at @Tweetenuma.

Why Margaret Feinberg Bypasses the 'Gender Wars' | The popular writer and Bible teacher says her personality informs her spirituality 'more than gender ever could.' (April 3, 2012)

We're Just Friends. No, Really. | Our culture - and church's - obsession with romance has crowded out the chance for real friendship between men and women. (October 24, 2011)

Obama's Visit Challenges 'African Woman' Stereotype | The Young African Women Leaders Forum demonstrated that not all African women are victims and in need of Western help. (July 13, 2011)

Should Christians Pursue External Beauty? | A controversial Psychology Today article arguing that black women are less attractive than others got me thinking about real beauty. (June 24, 2011)

Why 'Happy' Isn't a Christian Word | How to practice hope during the happiest season of the Christian year. (June 1, 2011)