Roundup: Gay marriage, the dole, online faith, gospel visions

Gay marriage push

Tasmania could become the first Australian state to legalise same sex marriage.

Inclusion chief’s push to increase dole

Australia’s new social inclusion board chairwoman Lin Hatfield Dodds has called for an increase in the unemployment allowance and warned a generation of women on the verge of retirement are at risk of homelessness because they have little in the way of savings, superannuation and do not own their own homes.

Survey: most Americans keep faith private online

A new survey finds that Americans, while mostly religious, generally do not use social media to supplement worship and mostly keep their faith private online. The results seem to defy the familiar story of prominent religious leaders using social media to build a following — and a brand.

How God became King

N. T. Wright describes his most recent book as a solution to the problem that “we have all forgotten what the four gospels are about,” namely a revolutionary new vision of God’s mission in the world. The gospels share this vision, Wright contends, despite their many differences and despite the various critical approaches that might overlook it. In a nutshell, it is the vision of God becoming king over Israel and, therefore, king over all creation.