"Rauch was not alone, as a young person, in believing that if he acknowledged his sexual orientation, then all hope for a 'normal' life of love would be lost to him. I wonder what other possibilities might have seemed viable to Rauch if he had heard the Church clearly saying—and showing—that friendship, not just marriage and parenthood, is a recognized, honored form of love too."

Read more: Wesley Hill, First Thoughts, First Things

"Today’s hearing on IRS abuses had a lot of 'are you kidding me?' moments, but this one stands out."

Read more: Jim Geraghty, The Campaign Spot, National Review Online

(H/T Glenn Sunshine)

"But for the most part, we’ve assumed that it’s acceptable for men to sacrifice marriage and family for career. Christian men need to stop making that assumption and count the cost of having the mindset of Christ."

Read more: Branson Parler, Think Christian

"In the introduction to her new book, How the West Really Lost God: A New Theory of Secularization, Eberstadt does not shy away from asking the big questions about life in the west in the first decades of a new millennium."

Read more: Ed Driscoll, PJ Media

"Control is what science seems to have wrangled for us in the area of human fertility. Once considered the mysterious purview of the gods, human conception is now something we (almost) successfully manage. I am not here to defend or accuse our technological achievements in the area of human fertility, only to say that they have the potential for driving deeper our will for sovereignty. We want to decide when to have children. We want to decide how many to have. When pregnancy (or conversely, the inability to have children) comes as a surprise, we respond not only with incredulity, but with anger. It shatters the notion of human control."

Read more: Jen Pollock Michel, Her.meneutics, Christianity Today

"The idea of a book that would lead women closer to Jesus during their expectant journeys, but also provide a space to include memories, prayers, and special love notes to their baby just sort of struck me and then wouldn’t go away until I did something about it."

Read more: Catherine Claire Larson, interviewed by Alisha Michael, HJ Live!, Hollywood Jesus

"Blame the voting citizenry for most of it. Lazy, incurious voters content to glean their information from mere headlines, 30-second soundbites, and stand-up routines made it easy for the press to not do their jobs. And — not to harp on the theme — an element of idolatry has been running through our politics, for too long." (Emphasis in original.)

Read more: Elizabeth Scalia, The Anchoress, Patheos

"So when someone talks about Gosnell and says things like, 'murderers and people like him don’t deserve to breathe the same air as I do,' or 'I hope he burns in hell,' it hurts a little. Because that was me. But I am still here . . . breathing that same air . . . and trying to spend my life righting my wrongs."

Read more: Abby Johnson, AbbyJohnson.org

"The Bible miniseries has been one of cable television's top performers of the year, averaging more than 11 million viewers per episode. That success has sparked both enthusiasm and skepticism among Christian media watchers."

Read more: Ken Walker, Christianity Today

"So now that the trial is over, reporters should ask if President Obama still opposes laws that protect infants that survive abortions. After the school massacre in Newtown, President Obama suggested reforms to the country's gun laws, saying, 'If there is even one step we can take to save another child . . . then surely we have an obligation to try.' So let's find out the specifics of his proposed abortion reforms post-Gosnell."

Read more: Mollie Ziegler Hemingway, USA Today

"It's not clear which two counts have divided jurors. Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Minehart asked the panel to try to reach a unanimous verdict. The jury has been weighing the more than 200 counts in the case for 10 days."

Read more: AP/Fox News

"Singer-songwriter Josh Ritter announced on Facebook Friday that he would not perform at Messiah College again unless the school changed its policy against homosexual behavior."

Read more: Angela Lu, WORLD on Campus