There it was, plain as day. Monday’s edition of USA Today included an opinion column by a Muslim woman that argued–quite straightforwardly–that the United States government should force a nondiscrimination policy on gender in all places of worship.

Asra Q. Nomani, a former reporter for The Wall Street Journal, argues that the Internal Revenue Service should move to deny tax-exempt status to any place of worship that holds to different roles for men and women. In “End Gender Apartheid in U.S. Mosques,” Nomani writes, “I’ve come to the difficult decision that women must use the legal system to restore rights in places of worship…”

Nomani writes out of her own experience as a Muslim woman in the United States. As she relates in her article, she has joined with a movement that has launched “Pray Ins” at several mosques in the Washington, D.C. area, protesting the practice of separating Muslim men and women for prayers. more >>

“FREE YOUR BREASTS! FREE YOUR MIND!” reads the GoTopless website, an organization that claims women have the same constitutional right that men have to go bare-chested in public.

Women across the country may have a perfect excuse to do just that on August 21. GoTopless has scheduled marches in various cities throughout the U.S. in order to honor National Women’s Equality Day. Women in the marches are expected to go topless, while men are asked to wear bikini tops, to symbolize the need for gender equality. Several cities where marches will take place include: Washington DC, New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

“The ultimate goal is for the laws to change on the national level so that women have the same rights as men,” said Lara Terstenjak to the Daily Caller, spokesperson for GoTopless. “As long as men are allowed to be topless in public, women should have the same constitutional right or men should have to cover up in public.” more >>

Senior evangelical preacher John MacArthur had the audience of a conference in California burst into laughter Saturday evening as he narrated how he met his wife under extraordinary circumstances, a story that compelled Reformed theologian C.J. Mahaney to follow suit.

It was a question and answer session with the distinguished speakers of the 2011 Resolved Conference in Palm Springs, but the first query on discovering God’s will in choosing a life partner became the theme of the evening.

Soon after R. Albert Mohler, Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., advised Christian adolescents to hang around “where the right kind of people find each other within the communion and fellowship of the local church…,” MacArthur, pastor of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, Calif., was asked to tell his story. more >>

More Americans prefer having a boy rather than a girl if they were to have only one child, a new poll reveals.

Forty percent of Americans surveyed by Gallup said they'd want a boy if they could only have one child. Twenty-eight percent chose a girl.

The preference for boys has long been the trend in America. Gallup began asking the question – with slightly different wordings over the years – since 1941. During that year, 38 percent said they preferred a boy. more >>

Political leaders seeking re-election may have lost a bundle of financial support for the next election cycle despite the victory songs being sung by proponents of New York’s historic vote to legalize same-sex marriage this week.

Religious groups, individuals and the clergy contributed more than $3.1 million to political candidates and their campaigns in 2008, according to a report by the Center for Responsive Politics.

Despite stereotypes that people of faith are often conservative and frequently Republicans, 58 percent of these contributions actually went to Democrats. During the last two decades, contributions have actually been evenly split between the two major parties. more >>

The New York gay marriage law, passed for the first time by a Republican-controlled senate late Friday, is being seen as gay activists’ biggest-ever victory which may lead to a greater push for similar laws in other states. But Christian groups say they will continue to fight.

“Keep up the momentum. With your victory in New York, the momentum for marriage is growing. Help us win more states,” says a bold red-colored message appearing on the website of gay rights group Freedom to Marry, urging supporters to “Donate Now.”

“This unprecedented support from Republicans, corporations, and even pro athletes demonstrates how mainstream ending the exclusion of gay and lesbian couples from marriage has become,” the group’s founder and president, Evan Wolfson, said in a statement early Saturday, providing the list of donors and supporters. more >>