call for papers
The 15th Biennial Conference of the International Society of Religion, Literature and Culture will be taking place at the University of Oxford between 23-26 September 2010. This conference is on the topic of “Attending to the Other: Critical Theory and Spiritual Practice” and will, we hope, be building on many of the issues we have discussed in the postgraduate conferences of the past three years. To this end, there are panel sessions in ‘continental philosophy of religion’, ‘critical theory’ and ‘German Idealism and religion’ (as well as many others). Fur

papal visit to durham?
Everyone has their fingers crossed hoping that Pope Benedict XVI will accept Tom Wright & Co.’s invite to visit Durham. You can read more about it at the Centre for Catholic Studies website.

the principalities and powers of healthcare
One of the surprising things to me about going through enrollment at Durham University was the Medical Registration. April went with me and she stopped one lady to ask what sort of paperwork would be required and how much it would cost for school insurance. The lady smiled and said, “Nothing dear. Just go through the line and sign up for it.” My wife’s mouth hit the floor and said, “You mean we don’t have to write anything down about pre-existing conditions?” The lady didn’t skip a beat, “That’s right. It’s free. This is health-care.” Bill Moyers recently interviewed a former health insurance executive for CIGNA nam

is the evangelical sub-culture good for our society?
Francis Schaeffer’s son says no! New Study on Teen Pregnancy and Conservative Religion Who are these conservative evangelicals? They are people who suffer from: • Read the Bible only in the original version – the NIV, of course! – as if there were a neutral and stable position from which this library of a book could be translated, as if translations weren’t themselves interpretations, and as if our interpretations of these interpretations didn’t go all the way down and resist closure – they do