Washington, D.C.: not as godless as you’d think!

For this week’s issue, out today, Tim Parks writes that Benedict’s exit was a quiet act of subversion, one that may just save the church from the excesses of JPII - http://bit.ly/TjJF2y

We’ve got this shamefully clickable gallery of “when the mistress meets the mrs” moments that ends with this slide of Sarah and Hagar and Abraham, an (mrs-approved) affair well-chronicled by popular tabloid at the time the Book of Genesis.

Mother Mary Clare Millea submitted a report to a Cardinal that alleges the vast majority of American nuns are pushing “radical-feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith.” Gasp!

apoplecticskeptic:

“I think it’s disingenuous that magazines like “Newsweek” know that their circulation goes up at Christmas and Easter if they put a spiritual issue on the cover, but it’s always bait and switch. They never tell the stories, never tell the stories of what the good — what good the church is doing. Never. It’s always some obscure scholar, who’s debating something that kind of supposedly disproves this or that, or Andrew Sullivan — I don’t consider Andrew Sullivan to be a religious authority, okay? And so it is — they know they’re going to make money, every time you put Jesus on the cover of a magazine, it skyrockets. You go do the history. “Time” magazine, “Life” magazine, “U.S. News and World Report,” those are always the best issues. So they make money on it, but then it’s a bait and switch, and it’s always a disappointment. And I wish they would have a little bit more integrity than that, and tell the other side of the story, maybe just occasionally.” — Rick Warren, who knows a thing or two about exploiting religion for personal gain, to ABC news.  (Rick Warren: ‘Newsweek’ Exploiting Easter With Religious Cover)

Whenever the salesmen from within Christianity like to argue from a position of spiritual authority (or point out the lack thereof), I’m always gleefully reminded of their hero Jesus’ particular disdain for the Church’s authority in their very own stories.

We mean, It’s really no surprise that Rick Warren is upset with a story that says Christianity has been destroyed by politics, priests, and get-rich evangelists (see: Warren, Rick), and urges you follow the purer teachings of Jesus instead. That’s bad for business!

Hope some of you tumblr’s will join our live chat on America’s crisis in Christianity, hosted by cover story writer Andrew Sullivan. We’re accepting questions now, he joins us in ten minutes.

Jesus was a lone, wandering preacher with a small knot of followers. His message was radical. Leave your family, give away all you own, and devote yourself selflessly to God—which meant loving not only one’s neighbors, but also one’s enemies. He was adamantly apolitical, even to the point of refusing to defend himself at his own trial. He never spoke of homosexuality or abortion. And his only comments on marriage were confined to a condemnation of divorce and a forgiveness of adultery. So, how did we get to a point where the message of Christianity in America has drifted so far from Jesus?

Our editor Tina Brown’s editor’s letter in this week’s issue, introducing Andrew Sullivan’s piece on the crisis in Christianity. [Bonus! Chat live with Andrew at 2pm ET for a Q&A.]

nwkarchivist:

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR!

And Don’t Miss Andrew Sullivan’s Latest Cover Essay:

“Forget The Church, Follow Jesus“ [Christianity In Chrisis]

Andrew Sullivan writes this week’s cover story on the crisis in Christianity in America, which has been overrun and destroyed by politics, priests, and get-rich evangelists. Sullivan’s argument? Ditch all that and just follow Jesus. Here’s an excerpt:

We inhabit a polity now saturated with religion. On one side, the Republican base is made up of evangelical Protestants who believe that religion must consume and influence every aspect of public life. On the other side, the last Democratic primary had candidates profess their faith in public forums, and more recently President Obama appeared at the National Prayer Breakfast, invoking Jesus to defend his plan for universal health care. The crisis of Christianity is perhaps best captured in the new meaning of the word “secular.” It once meant belief in separating the spheres of faith and politics; it now means, for many, simply atheism. The ability to be faithful in a religious space and reasonable in a political one has atrophied before our eyes.

Keep reading!

[Photo: Brooks Kraft / Corbis]