Well, at least that's what the cover seems to promise, anyway. If, as it seems, Doctor Who is a symbol of both religion and science, perhaps we've finally found a solution to the age-old conflict.

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- Surreal God Saves, originally uploaded by Elisha Cook Jr..

Street art at Grand & Crosby in New York City's SoHo.

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Banksy's beaten up Buddha, originally uploaded by greenwood100.

Apparently a comment on the Tibet situation.

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Death Tarot Card Glass Pendant, originally uploaded by telula68.

From Cave Light Bazaar

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Perfect for the devout Russian parent who wants to keep their kid entertained in a devout way through two-to-three hour--standing up!--church services. Via GetReligion.

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Three of Diamonds, originally uploaded by trexfiles23.

The card is Marshall McLuhan's; the essay, by Angela Zito:

Does the deep investment in the mediated details (where, we are assured, God himself resides) in fact, actually tend itself to produce an effect (and affect) of religiosity? And is this why even denominational religions are turning ever more often to art practices of dance, poetry, music to engage their practitioners more deeply?

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Lakshmi Pendant in Glass, originally uploaded by SpiritMama.

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The Resistance is a fundamentalist Christian group in the news for its attack on the revived classic Starbucks mermaid logo:

The Starbucks logo has a naked woman on it with her legs spread like a prostitute, explains Mark Dice, founder of the group. Need I say more? It's extremely poor taste, and the company might as well call themselves, Slutbucks.

The all-brown logo is a replica of the one the chain used when it opened its first store in Pike Place in Seattle in 1971. The woman is actually a siren, not a mermaid, which in Greek mythology lures people to them with their beautiful songs, and then kills them, explains Dice.

The Resistance . . . also demanded that Duke University change the name of their Blue Devils sports team to something not offensive to the Christian community.

If this rigorous standard of moral purity appeals to you, you might not want to purchase this official The Resistance tank top from the group's Cafe Press shop. After all, it's bringing sexy back!

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Part of the Sheila Satin Collection on Etsy:

Each piece will arrive boxed/pouched, cleaned from negativity, charged in the sun, with a positive affirmation for you to program yourself!

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All this and more in No Regrets, featured in Needled.

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a medieval comic book, originally uploaded by mdj.

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Suicide in Union Square, originally uploaded by trexfiles23.

Should I have been arrested for taking this picture?

This is the first of a series of photos I took following a suicide on Union Square, on Broadway just south of the Virgin Records store. It was an incredibly poignant scene--a life reduced to a makeshift memorial that it would itself soon be washed away.

But that's not how a police officer saw it. He ordered me to stop taking pictures, growing so adamant and vociferous that I diffused the situation only by calmly inviting him to arrest me.

One of the officer's statements particularly stands out: he said that I had to stop because he--the officer--was going to see his grandchildren later today. Even here, it seems, an appeal to the children seemed to be a powerful argument--and no doubt for the officer it was.

The standoff spoke volumes about our relation to death and personal identity. I started to take these photos for my Blingdom of God and Uncivil Society blogs as a meditation on life, death and memory--this was a truly moving scene, a life of despair marked by detritus and blood on the sidewalk, and then washed away.

The officer's response reflects our all too human desire not to acknowledge the reality of death in daily life. This was a street, a sidewalk, a place where people pass through as they live their daily lives--we should not remember death here; we should not memorialize the willful end of one's own existence; we should not expose our children to all that this scene may imply--not least of all lest they, mimetic as they are, begin to see despair and death as viable options.

Which is more respectful to the memory of the person lost here in so many ways? To remember & reflect or to wash it away?

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Via The Light Stuff

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Social enterprise as a movement trends toward the secular, but the big money has always been in religion. Via Libby Purves, check out the $30 million investment on $150 million valuation for GodTube, the YouTube knockoff that sports a full-on CSR agenda:

The great God Internet bubble rises and rises...Religion is probably as big as pornography on the net, if not bigger. Godtube - the minivideo site for the religiously minded - has raised $30 million at a $150 million valuation from GLG Partners, a hedge fund. The site started with $ 300 and last September became one of the top thousand sites worldwide. Its mission statement, incidentally, is strict: it gives a platform, so it claims, only to socially responsible faith-based organizations . . . 'Security and moral integrity are exceptionally important to the family at GodTube, and we take great pains to protect you and your loved ones. GodTube is family-friendly and is great for all Christians alike, including Christian children.'

To illustrate what a difference a social mission makes, one family has attracted millions of viewers by filming two versions of their daughter and placing one on each site. Here's the girl on GodTube:

And in her secular YouTube incarnation:

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Osocio is a blog that is essential reading for folks interested in do-gooder design. Above: a brilliant (literally) ad from India featuring the ten-headed Ravana. The tag line:

"Unfortunately, you have only one head. Please use a helmet."

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Jewish-Catholic Necklace, originally uploaded by Pictorial Life.

The designer's poignant tale:

Three-years-ago I had designed this charm. My Mom is Jewish and my Dad is Catholic, so I had the idea of combining the two religious symbols together. My original idea was to have the Cross intertwine within the Star of David, but no jeweler would make this pendant, let alone with such intricate workmanship. I finally found a jeweler who was willing to make it in this style. The Star of David is 14 karat gold and the Cross is Sterling Silver.

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ASTRAL TOTEM - WORLD BURNS MOTHER STORMS, originally uploaded by twas brillig.

At least that's what the person who posted this image insinuates. Memorialized for posterity:

As the world burns, Mother Earth will react accordingly. Or should it be entitled, Meet Lilith, our new Mother Earth. Forgive me for sounding overdramatic and/or paranoid, but I hope we can collectively wake up to the reality that we are being systematically enslaved and destroyed along with the living planet.

Might be interesting to note that as I was reading this information, jet aircraft were flying constantly over my home for about 5 minutes one after the next, one after the next after the next, as if to antagonize me. Earlier in the day a helicopter had buzzed the house. Not like it hasn't happened to me before, but it's been a while. I intend to endeavor for the truth until the very end of me.

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Kabyle Khamsa, originally uploaded by Mernas.

From the Flickr post: "khamsa" or "Fatima's hand". is used in North Africa and parts of the Middle East as a protective amulet from 'the bad eye', although nowadays used more as a jewellery item.

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Via

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The beer can coffin reminds me of this classic from 2004--the Doctor Who-inspired TARDIS coffin designed for artist Tim Haws, a fan who died of cancer at age 43.

And according to this recent conference in the UK, having more Doctor Who references in church could be a path toward spiritual revival. From the London Telegraph, here's The Church is Ailing--Send for Dr. Who:

The number of under-16s attending Church of England services fell by almost 20 per cent between 2000 and 2006, but the Church believes that improving communication can reverse that trend.

Andrew Wooding, a spokesman for the Church Army, which organised the conference, said that its intention was to give vicars new ideas for conveying their message.

"There are countless examples of Christian symbolism in Doctor Who, which we can use to get across ideas that can otherwise be difficult to explain."

"Clergy shouldn't be afraid to engage with popular culture as for many young people television plays a large role in their thinking," he said.

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