Phil Haslanger, 06/06/12

Pastor; Columnist, The (Madison) Capital Times

As the tears and the cheers from Wisconsin's vote on Tuesday to keep Scott Walker as governor fade into history, a small group of us gather in a sanctuary near Madison thinking about the words of Micah, that Hebrew prophet who challenged the marketplace and the rulers of his time.

Rev. Debra Haffner, 06/05/12

Executive Director, The Religious Institute

I am hopeful that the Sisters going to Rome will let the Vatican know that it is way past time for the male hierarchy to cease seeking to control Roman Catholic women, either lay or religious.

Rev. Emily C. Heath, 06/05/12

Clergy, United Church of Christ

It sounds cliche to say that being a pastor is the hardest thing I've ever done, but it's true. And yet, I can't imagine doing anything else.

Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, 06/06/12

Dean, Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, American Jewish University

The Bible that you hear preached by some is a bible of rules, a bible of rigidity; occasionally, a bible of fear. This is not what draws me to the Bible, and it is important that somebody publicly present a different take.

Sarah O'Leary, 06/05/12

Author, marketing expert, public speaker, licensed minister, issues-focused independent

Rather than publicly chastising nuns, the Catholic Church should be thanking God for every single compassionate, thought-filled and selfless one of them.

Rabbi Ben Greenberg, 06/05/12

Rabbi of BMH-BJ Congregation in the Mile High City

His move away from his religious observance, and thus his role as a cultural icon and leader for religious Jewry, took another dramatic step today.

Lorna Byrne, 06/06/12

Author, 'Angels in My Hair'

God and the angels have shown me different futures for humanity. What happens will depend on how we play our part and the decisions that we all make.

Jeanne Flavin, 06/05/12

Professor of Sociology, Fordham University

I find it increasingly difficult to listen to what some Catholic leaders have to say on the subject of morality when their silence on Project Prevention and many other matters of significant moral import has been nothing short of deafening.

Dr. Joel Hoffman, 06/05/12

Speaker, author and Bible scholar

I believe you have been promoting bigotry and helping to perpetrate a fraud. During both of your interviews with Pastor Joel Osteen, you let the religious leader tell your audience that Scripture calls homosexuality a sin. But you didn't ask him where the Bible says that.

Lavaille Lavette, 06/05/12

86400movement.com

As a journalist and author, he is candid and meticulous, and faith plays a major part in his success at making the most of his God-given time.

Gary Nelson, 06/05/12

Retired School Counselor, writer, blogger, now walking barefoot

Always one to tell others that religion has been a crutch for the weak and the cause of everything abhorrent, I had to eat a little crow. I found something I was looking for in the most unlikely of places.

Brad Reid, 06/05/12

Managing Director, Dean Institute for Corporate Governance and Integrity, Lipscomb University

These examples demonstrate that emotional factors, as well as having incomplete facts and short-term thinking, will result in disaster. These mistakes have been repeated throughout recorded history and likely will continue into the future.

Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, 06/05/12

Senior Religion Editor, The Huffington Post

It has been a rough spring for American nuns. They've been thinking unapproved thoughts and talking out of turn, and the male hierarchy of the church is not happy. And they are doing something about it.

Rev. Mary M. Brown, 06/04/12

Lutheran pastor

"Singing the song of our neighbor is not a token kind of thing," says Lange. "It should be an exercise into getting to know who the neighbor is. Why do they sing this song? And how will it open up our vision of God's kingdom?"

Kerry Weber, 06/04/12

Author, 'Keeping the Faith: Prayers for College Students'

It is said that when making polite small talk, one does not discuss religion, sex or politics. But that becomes more than a bit difficult when you work for a church whose keen interest in all three of these topics has been widely discussed of late.

Greg Damhorst, 06/04/12

Interfaith activist

The face of Christianity that many see today is not an accurate picture of a compassionate Christ. If I and other Christians want to better represent our faith, we can only do so in a world where opinions are based on real relationships, not viral bigotry.

Bert Montgomery, 06/04/12

Author, 'Psychic Pancakes & Communion Pizza'

It's been a journey for all of us and we did kind of "grow up in public" as has been said of us before. A few punches in the gut in the course of one's life will have a tendency to do that