The Briefing 10-22-13

1. Constitutional Crisis: judges legalizing same-sex marriage with no provisions for religious organizations 

New Jersey court agrees to allow same-sex marriage Monday, Washington Times (Cheryl Wetzstein)

4 same-sex couples file lawsuit in Tennessee, Associated Press (Lucas L. Johnson II)

Pastors to jointly officiate at same-sex marriage, Philadelphia Inquirer (Tricia L. Nadolny)

2. If you can’t beat em, join em: Secular alternative to being Jewish is  “Israeliness” 

‘Israeliness’ may be the answer for secular American Jews, Religion News Service (Miri Belsky)

3. Oprah may have misunderstood atheism, but she far more grievously misunderstood theism 

Oprah interview stirs debate: What is an atheist?, Religion News Service (Kimberly Winston)

4. Safe sex is not safe: one-in-four college freshman students in UK contract sexually transmitted infection 

One In Four Students Contract Sexually Transmitted Infection in First Year of University, Huffington Post (Lucy Sherriff)