Obama’s Private (Spiritual) Life
The greater privacy reflects not a slackening of devotion, but a desire to shield his spirituality from the maw of politics and strike an inclusive tone at a time of competing national priorities and continuing partisan division, according to people close to the White House on faith issues. (Ariel Sabar, The Boston Globe)

More Muslims Are Being Home Schooled
Although three-quarters of the nation’s estimated 2 million home-schoolers identify themselves as Christian, the number of Muslims is expanding “relatively quickly,” compared with other groups, said Brian Ray, president of the National Home Education Research Institute. They do so, he said, for the same reasons as non-Muslims: “Stronger academics, more family time, they want to guide social interaction, provide a safe place to learn, and … teach them [their] values, beliefs, and worldview.” (Tara Bahrampour, The Washington Post)

Should Hollywood Superheroes Have Only One Superpower?
Physicist Professor Sidney Perkowitz has suggested that every superhero and film should be allowed just one “major willing suspension of disbelief.” Speaking at AAAS, Perkowitz has come up with the code of conduct or set of ground rules. “I am not offended if they make one big scientific blunder in a given film,” he said. “You can have things move faster than the speed of light if you want, but after that I would like things developed in a coherent way.” (Richard Alleyne, Telegraph)

Tiger Woods’ Confession
Stephen Prothero: Though Tiger Woods spoke of religion, he did not mention Jesus or the Bible, sin or redemption. He gave us a Buddhist mea culpa instead. The key moment in Woods’ statement came at the end, when, in an effort to make sense of his behavior, he turned not to Christian theologies of sin but to Buddhist teachings about craving. (USA Today)

Outrage Over Top Education Official in Israel Who Wants to Teach Alternatives to Evolution
The Education Ministry’s chief scientist sparked a furor among environmental activists and scholars with remarks questioning the reliability of evolution and global warming theory. The comments from Gavriel Avital, the latest in a series of written and oral statements casting doubts on the fundamental tenets of modern science, led several environmentalists to call for his dismissal. (Or Kashti and Zafrir Rinat, Haaretz)

BOOKS
Good Value
In his book, Stephen Green, an ordained priest in the Church of England, proposes a “new capitalism” that brings good business and good ethics together. He says moral and spiritual values should take precedence over immediate profit. (Renee Montagne, NPR)