Tea Cup Browsing

• Can a family, or an individual for that matter, live on $10,150 per year?  That's the net income of a minimum wage earner, about two hundred bucks a week.  That's why Faith Leaders urge support of federal minimum wage legislation.  Related, Seattle mayorplans to raise minimum wage to $15 over three to seven years

•  Jesus’ ahem, on again, off again marriage — now off again. 

•  On April 28th, the Pope tweeted something that has some "conservatives" (I hate those dualist distinctions, but that's the way it's being reported) all a twitter.  “Seriously, though, what was up with that tweet by @Pontifex? Has he traded the writings of Peter and Paul for Piketty?” tweeted Joe Carter of the Acton Institute, a Catholic-run, libertarian think tank.  Over at Catholic Culture, a conservative news site, editor Phil Lawler called the pope’s tweet “a fairly radical statement”  So, what was Francis' social media faux pas?  The text read, "Iniquitas radix malorum."  Which means, “Inequality is the root of social evil,”   Well, duh!  

•  Faith movies abound.  Now Oprah Winfrey, Forrest Whittaker and Idris Elba to star in movie  NYT best selling book, "The Shack" and Mark Burnett and Roma Downey have signed with Paramount to direct the remake of Ben Hur.  Fox has also announced that it will do a series on the lost years of Jesus.

•  55% of Americans say they pray ever day.

•  Oklahoma’s botched execution of Clayton D. Lockett is focusing attention on the application of the death penalty in the United States. Americans remain supportive of the death penalty, but this support has dropped dramaticallyover the past fifteen years.  Research suggests that the Oklahoma incident will likely accelerate growing opposition to capital punishment. 

•  First amendment trumps second amendment for Episcopalians and Roman Catholics in Georgia.

•  One blogger's reasoned take on married Roman Catholic clergy.  Marriage is, of course, permitted in Eastern Rite Catholic Churches..

•  Evangelicals push for immigration reform at Capitol Hill.