Barry Blitt, for The New York Times

Martin Marty, frequent commenter on things publicly religious, wrote this week of “the decline of the culture wars.” His Sightings column was citing Frank Rich’s New York Times op-ed on the same subject.

This isn’t the first time people have tried to bring a stalemate to the “culture wars.” But I was reminded of the subject at President Obama’s press conference this week, in an exchange between President Obama and John Ward of the Washington Times. Ward asked the President about stem-cell research (from the Washington Post transcript):

QUESTION: In your remarks on stem cell research earlier this month, you talked about a majority consensus in determining whether or not this is the right thing to do, to federally fund embryonic stem cell research.

I’m just wondering, though, how much you personally wrestled with the morality or ethics of federally funding this kind of research, especially given the fact that science…

From The Barna Research Group:

(Ventura, California) - For much of America’s history, the assumption was that if you were born in America, you would affiliate with the Christian faith. A new nationwide survey by The Barna Group, however, indicates that people’s views have changed. The study discovered that half of all adults now contend that Christianity is just one of many options that Americans choose from and that a huge majority of adults pick and choose what they believe rather than adopt a church or denomination’s slate of beliefs. Still, most people say their faith is becoming increasingly important as a source of personal moral guidance.

Two-thirds of evangelical Christians (64%) and three out of every five Hispanics (60%) embraced that position, making them the groups most convinced of the shift in America’s default faith. The study also showed that residents of the Northeast and West were much more likely than…

Waiting in line for the Apollo's first worship service. (Hiroko Masuike for The New York Times)

The House that James Brown built has had a new first. It hosted its first worship service: “Harlem Hallelujah.”

The event was led by the prominent New York City minister, Rev. Dr. Suzan D. Johnson Cook (known as “Dr. Sujay”), pastor of the Bronx Christian Fellowship Baptist Church. It packed the house. And it is the first in a series of worship services at the hallowed Harlem landmark.

I’ve been wondering how (or if) something like this would translate in St. Louis. Where would it be held? The Fox? Who would have the civic gravitas to take the lead on it? Could it cross racial/demographic/denominational lines? Would it pack the house?

President George W. Bush winks before speaking at the United Nations, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2008. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Hot off the Associated Press: President Bush spoke on faith this morning at a United Nations conference “designed to bridge differences between religions and cultures.”

It would be interesting to hear more about how and why his faith has sustained him. Kind of like saying Jesus is your favorite philosopher…sounds good but doesn’t say much. I’ve been rooting around the Internet but haven’t found anything.

Don’t know what to do with that wink, though. I’ll assume he’s getting the speck out of his own eye.

Update: here’s the full text of President Bush’s address to the UN. I found it to be a decent brief exposition of public/civil religion.

Wally Bronner, 81, died this past week.

Who’s Wally Bronner? If you’ve ever been to that little slice of Bavaria called Frankenmuth, Michigan, you’ve probably visited his life’s work, Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland. The man basically took what was a sign-painting business and turned it into the “world’s largest” year-round Christmas store. I don’t know if it’s still there, but if you’ve driven I-55 north from Cape Girardeau to St. Louis, there’s been a billboard for the Wonderland along the interstate for years.

I happened to visit the store a few years ago. Part religious shrine, part multimedia spectacle, part commercial entrepreneurship, with just enough kitsch to make it cool, it was quite the experience in Americana. But before you dismiss it as just one more example of the over-commercialization of something sacred, permit me to get a little philosophical.

We tend to think of “public religion” in terms of religion and politics, all…