To say that the Kansas City Star missed the story is an understatement. The newspaper reported Thursday on a supposedly modest news conference about what appears to be, oh say, a handful of people who were upset by a teeny governmental thingie. The paper somehow failed to note the most important fact: For the first time in the history of Kansas and Missouri, mainstream clergy and people of faith have come together to battle the religious right.

Media criticism is important in the form of blog posts, letters to the editor, meetings with reporters and editors, and more.

Carlos has found a fascinating Christian right magazine article which seeks to answer the question: How are the Democrats doing copying the winning "religious" formula of the Republican party?

There is much to be learned from thoughtful critics from the right.

JoelP reports on the seminar he hosted in connection with a showing of his painting, American Fundamentalists at church in Detroit.

Showings of American Fundamentalists offers opportunities for people to seriously consider the implications of the many aspects of the religious right.

Isefire continues his series on what to do about the religious right:

Recently, I've suggested specific actions to counter the Religious Right in the arena of Electoral Politics, Training the Next Generation and The Judiciary.

Now a fourth arena: science education. Don't be fooled.The Religious Right in America has been for nearly a century trying different assaults on science education-the most recent one being their attempt to force teachers to articulate "Intelligent Design" concepts in the classroom-hoping that they will breach the wall of separation between church and state. That's why defending science education is not secondarily important but fundamentally important to countering the Religious Right.

This festering scandal promises to be one of the most important ever to hit the religious right. Will Democrats and anti-religious right activists seize the opportunity, or stick to business as usual?

There is much, much more, of course.

But it is useful from time-to-time, to take stock of some of the thinking we are doing about action.  It takes time for people to settle down and get accustomed to working in an authentically coalitional environment, in which highly parochial languages are set aside so we can actually talk with one another about the things that matter. There is also no need for hype here; we already have each other's attention.

There will also always need to be a balance to be struck between writing for a more advanced audience and for people who are newer to the subject.  The more our readership and active pool of participants grows, the more challenging this balance is likely to become. But it is up to those of us who are here now to be considering this as we write and think together, and prepare to incorporate others.

We have come a long way in a short time and we are ready to more profoundly inform the dynamic new movements gathering to revitalize democracy in America.