Reading list for the day

Some items on my reading list this Tuesday morning:

Old-school seminary: Eric Gorski, a national religion reporter for the Associated Press, visits a Neocatechumenal Way seminary in Denver. The enticing lede: "The seminarians' wallets are empty, except for driver's licenses and insurance cards. To buy cigarettes or clothes or anything else, they must ask their superiors for money — an exercise in obedience and a reminder that material things are not important."

Gene Robinson in England: The Guardian newspaper has a lengthy interview with the Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire with lots of interesting personal detail, but the newsiest bit is his reaction to the idea of a two-tiered Anglican Communion: "I can't imagine anything that would be more abhorrent to Jesus than a two-tier church."

More on Protestants and homosexuality: On today's Globe op-ed page, scholars Wendy Cadge of Brandeis and Laura Olson of Clemson take a look at the battles over gay rights in Protestantism, and observe that, "Mainline Protestant denominations in particular are slowly, but deliberately, adopting more tolerant stances - leaving conservatives rather than liberals to split off from their churches."

Obama's faith office: Dan Gilgoff of U.S. News takes a look at how the Obama Administration's faith-based office differs from that of the Bush Administration and concludes that "President Obama's faith-based office has given religious figures a bigger role in influencing White House decisions."

Douthat on Kennedys: Ross Douthat's column in Sunday's New York Times about differences on abortion between siblings Ted and Eunice Kennedy, both of whom died last month, is occasioning a lot of chatter. He writes, "It’s worth pondering how the politics of abortion might have been different had Ted shared even some of his sister’s qualms about the practice."