The Christian Century

c. 2012 Religion News Service (RNS) Snoop Dogg scored a huge hit with the hip-hop anthem "What's My Name?" back in 1993. Announcing his conversion to Rastafarianism on Monday (July 30), the rapper unveiled a new answer to that lyrical question.

"I want to bury Snoop Dogg and become Snoop Lion," he said at a press conference.

c. 2012 Religion News Service WASHINGTON (RNS) A new poll shows that American Catholics tend to agree with their bishops' concerns that religious liberties are at risk in the U.S.

c. 2012 Religion News Service (RNS) Richard Land, the man who became the public face of the Southern Baptist Convention on ethical and political issues for nearly 25 years, has announced plans to retire in 2013 after a rough-and-tumble spring.

Of all the controversies that have followed in the bloody wake of the July 20 shooting rampage in Aurora, Colorado, few have provided such clarifying insight into the moral tensions and contradictions in American culture as the argument over whether gun control is a religious issue.

c. 2012 Religion News Service (RNS) The Obama administration's policy requiring most employers to provide free birth control coverage in their health insurance policies takes effect on Wednesday (Aug. 1) -- a deadline that has sparked apocalyptic warnings from conservative activists and some faith groups.

c. 2012 Religion News Service (RNS) Americans cheered when Aly Raisman of Needham, Mass., won a gold medal on Tuesday (July 31) in the women's all-around gymnastics competition, but at least some American Jews likely cheered a little louder.