Now might be a great time to talk about the afterlife.

After four years of spirited conversation, news and adventures from Cambridge, England, to little Barack Obama's school in Indonesia, Faith & Reason and its accompanying reader-led Faith & Reason Forum are shutting down.

USA TODAY is celebrating 30 years with a massive redesign of all publishing platforms.

First, the important thing that's not changing: I still cover religion -- the best beat on the print/Web/smartphones/tablets-you know-what-I-mean. Many great stories lie ahead.

However, how and where you find my work -- and top wire stories and the best of Gannett's religion correspondents such as Bob Smietana at The Tennessean -- will change.

Several digital subject-area pages, including the online religion page, will vanish as stories are mainstreamed into News. If you read on a smartphone or tablet, you won't notice any change. But if you read religion coverage at USATODAY.com on your laptop, these stories will be running in News, Nation and Politics, just as they already do in print.

So this is not good-bye. It's more of a change-of-address notice.

You can find my stories with a Google alert on my byline (don't forget that pesky Lynn in the middle) or as my friend on Facebook. My new Twitter handle is @CLGrossman. You can also e-mail me at cgrossman@usatoday with your ideas and thoughts.

Don't I sound chipper? Well, sure, I'm a little sad. This has been exhausting, glorious fun !

Readers by the thousands chimed in on controversial posts here. Remember Sarah Palin's invention of "death panels" or the atheist "Woodstock" -- the Reason Rally on the National Mall?

And so many posted at the Faith & Reason Forum it became the most successful forum at USATODAY.com by a mile.

Many of you became sources for stories. Some of you have been with me since early 2008 when I wrote the Idea Club, the question-of-the-week blog that led to Faith & Reason's launch in November 2008.

Still, USA TODAY is about today -- and tomorrow.

Our redesign will offer you the best of the past with the look of the future. It's exciting to be a part of the changes.

Finally, I've ended almost every post with a question to draw you in. Here's one more: Will you please stay in touch?

The American Atheists group that posted billboards mocking Mormon and Christian beliefs to greet Democratic National Convention-goers in Charlotte next week have waved the white flag.

The signs slap at the mainline Protestant Christian faith of President Obama, the Mormon faith of GOP candidate Mitt Romney and their running mates' Catholicism.

Now, however, the billboards are down after an onslaught of threats, according to CNN's Belief Blog.

Amanda Knief, American Atheists' managing director, said in a statement quoted by CNN:

No subject, no idea should be above scrutiny -- and this includes religion in all forms. ... We are saddened that by choosing to express our rights as atheists through questioning the religious beliefs of the men who want to be our president that our fellow citizens have responded with vitriol, threats and hate speech...

One sign calls God "sadistic" and Jesus "useless" as a savior (his image is shown as toast, literally) and conclude that atheism, by contrast, is "simply reasonable."

The other derides the Mormon concept of God as a "space alien" and notes that Mormons offer a proxy baptism to dead relatives.

Vitriol, evidently, can be directed only against believers.

You can see the full signs at Belief Blog. I don't feel comfortable turning F&R into a billboard for the atheists -- or anyone else.

After Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York and head of the U.S. bishops, gives the closing prayer for the Republican National Convention in Tampa this week, he'll head to Charlotte for a repeat performance for the Democrats.

And today, another religious figure was named to a speaking slot at the DNC: Sister Simone Campbell, head of a group of nuns and sisters known as NETWORK, according to an Obama campaign staffer who declined to be named because information was not yet public.

Back when the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops was fighting the Obama health overhaul drive, the Affordable Care Act, on abortion and contraception, NETWORK, a Washington-based social justice advocacy group, and other Catholic women religious came out in favor of it.

This summer, while the Catholic bishops orchestrated a national campaign to fight a mandate that birth control be included in insurance plans without exemptions for faith-based schools, hospitals and charities, NETWORK was also out on the public relations trail. Campbell led the nine-state Nuns on the Bus tour to focus attention on Catholic social teachings to care for the poor.

According to The Washington Post, Campbell said she agrees with bishops on abortion and artificial contraception. But, she told a church audience in Charlotte,

... reclaiming the full spectrum of life issues to include hunger, homelessness, racism, immigration, capital punishment, war and more. "I am pro-life, all of life."

Last week, when Dolan's office announced he accepted the RNC invite, spokesman Joseph Zwilling was careful to note this was absolutely not an endorsement in shepherd's clothing. He also noted Dolan's offer to close out the Democrats' meeting with a blessing as well.

This, despite Dolan pounding the Obama administration relentlessly for the past six months on what the Catholic Church and many conservative evangelicals see as offenses to religious liberty.

Today, Zwilling announced Dolan has accepted an invitation from the DNC, noting ...

It was made clear to the Democratic Convention organizers, as it was to the Republicans, that the Cardinal was coming solely as a pastor, only to pray, not to endorse any party, platform, or candidate ...

Yesterday, Dolan was in the news asking both President Obama and Mitt Romney to sign a civility pledge to stay off personalities (bye-bye birther and dog-on-car wisecracks) to campaign on their policy proposals.

DO YOU THINK... bipartisan blessings make a difference to convention delegates or voters? Should they?

The deeply traditionalist Catholic Knights of Columbus want GOP contender Mitt Romney, President Obama and their running mates to all sign a civility pledge. Handing out the invite: Cardinal Timothy Dolan.

Dolan, archbishop of New York and president of the U.S. bishops, who will give the closing prayer for the RNC and has offered/pushed the DNC to invite him as well, says the goal is...

so that the upcoming campaign will remain focused on the critical issues facing our nation, and not on personal attacks.

The pledge says:

We, the undersigned citizens of the United States of America, respectfully request that candidates, the media and other advocates and commentators involved in the public policy arena employ a more civil tone in public discourse on political and social issues, focusing on policies rather than on individual personalities.

For our part, we pledge to make these principles our own.

The Knights say America wants this because, polls show...

78 percent of the American people are frustrated with the tone in politics today, and that 66 percent believe that candidates spend more time attacking their opponents than discussing the issues.

Clearly, this pledge would nix birther wisecracks and dog-on-car allusions.

But given that the election is all about which ticket you trust to deliver what you care about, the candidates' veracity and their character under fire are very much a matter of personality, not policy.

To a great extent, the candidate IS the issue. Can you trust this person to deliver on their idea and ideals?

But civility is a tough road to hoe these days.

Just ask evangelical activist/pr strategist and Romney supporter Mark DeMoss. He helped lead an interfaith group that sent 585 letters to every governor and member of Congress, asking them to agree to respectful discourse and behavior.

Zip.

The only signatures came from Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, I-Conn.; Rep. Frank Wolfe, R-Va.; and Rep. Sue Myrick, R-N.C.

According to Laurie Goodstein at the New York Times,  DeMoss shut down the Civility Project in January after spending two years and $30,000 in expenses and finding his inbox tattooed with hostile emails full of "just unbelievable language" from fellow conservatives.

DeMoss told her:

This political divide has become so sharp that everything is black and white, and too many conservatives can see no redeeming value in any liberal or Democrat. That would probably be true about some liberals going the other direction, but I didn't hear from them.

Another question, raised by David Gibson's analysis of the Knights' efforts is whether the group considers Democrats' policies as inherently uncivil.

Supreme Knight Carl Anderson...

has blasted Obama and (Vice President Joseph) Biden, who is Catholic, for their support for abortion rights. Just last week in the conservative journal National Review, Anderson penned a blistering critique of Obama for what he said was the president's decision "to make unrestricted access to abortion a key component of his campaign."

More importantly, Gibson notes:

The Knights of Columbus can deploy huge sums for -- or against -- causes they support or oppose.

CatholicVote, by the way, once branded Gibson as a shill for the Obama White House so there's a lot of pushing and shoving on the civility front.

DO YOU THINK ... pointing out that the opposition is lying in an ad is not civil -- as long as you don't call him or her an unprincipled snake?

UPDATE: 5 P.M.

Since the word went out into the land that the top U.S. Catholic Cardinal will give the closing prayer for the RNC meeting in Tampa, Catholic experts have plenty to say.

Chiefly, liberals blast it as an endorsement in shepherd's clothing while conservatives cheer.

David Gibson at Religion News Service checked in with America magazine, the Jesuit weekly, which editorialized,

Cardinal Dolan's appearance in Tampa will damage the church's ability to be a moral and legitimate voice for voiceless, as those who view the Catholic Church as being a shill for the GOP have just a bit more evidence to prove their case.

Then, Gibson looked to Thomas Peters, who writes for CatholicVote.org, which has endorsed Romney and his Catholic running mate, Paul Ryan. Peters says:

I now predict that if Mitt Romney wins the White House in 2012 there will be a very healthy relationship between a Romney administration and the U.S. Bishops, led by a close working relationship between Cardinal Dolan and President Romney.

ORIGINAL POST: The Republican National Convention next week will close with a prayer by top Catholic Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Is this a GOP signal: Heads-up Catholics, we're your party? Not if the Democrats invite Dolan, too.

Dolan will not endorse the Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan ticket or specifically bless the platform that takes a very Catholic pro-life stance on banning abortion, with no exceptions for rape or incest.

His spokesman, Joseph Zwilling, was quite clear in a press release Thursday saying:

... the Cardinal was coming only to pray not to endorse, and that he would be willing to accept a similar offer from the Democratic Party as well. That same sentiment was conveyed to the Democratic National Committee.

What are the chances of an invite from the DNC?

Hard to say given that the U.S.C.C.B. has spent the last six months pounding the Obama administration for what it sees as offenses against religious liberty, particularly the mandate for employers to provide birth control coverage in their health insurance plans with no exemption for many faith-based institutions.

The Catholic web site Busted Halo looked at the Catholic vote and concluded it's still up for grabs. It cites a Pew Forum poll on Catholic attitudes toward religious freedom, social issues that finds...

most Catholics, 64%, have at least heard of the bishops' complaints against the Obama administration. Among those who know of the concerns, 56% generally agree.

However, their story says,

...Obama holds a wide lead over Romney when Catholics are asked which individual more closely mirrors their social issue concerns, 50-36% (though the numbers flip for weekly church-going Catholics). When asked whom they will vote for in November, Catholic voters have tended to express support for Obama over Romney, with the margin this month of 51-42%.

DO YOU THINK ... a convention blessing will translate to a bump in votes?

What does a candidate's faith tell you about that person? And why does it matter?

President Obama and GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney answer those e-mailed questions for Rev. Francis Wade, interim dean of the Washington National Cathedral, that great church on a city hill where the nation has mourned for and prayed with national leaders for nearly a century.

In the newest issue of the quarterly magazine, Cathedral Age, both candidates say their faith in God sustains and guides them, that faith has a role to play in the American public square, and that service to others -- motivated by faith -- is one of the great contributions of religious groups to the life of the nation.

Despite numerous times that Obama has spoken of his committed Christian faith, some Americans still doubt his religion or, incorrectly, view him as a Muslim. Obama's answer to that is frank:

I have a job to do as president, and that does not involve convincing folks that my faith in Jesus is legitimate and real. Faith can express itself in people in many ways, and I think it is important that we not make faith alone a barometer of a person's worth, value, or character.

And Romney, a former bishop in his Mormon church, used the questions to reiterate his Christian faith in Jesus -- just in case any conservative evangelicals are still thrown off by the very different understanding of the Trinity that Mormons hold.

Romney says that more important than a religious label is whether someone seeking office,

"... shares these American values: the equality of human kind, the obligation to serve one another, and a steadfast commitment to liberty. They are not unique to any one denomination."

Neither men take faith as a trivial personal matter, "like collecting stamps or riding bikes," says Wade.

For our nation to pretend that the beliefs of our president are a matter of indifference is an absurdity that ill serves us.

Neither do they confine their understanding of religious orthodoxy to those who "agree with me," he says.

Wade writes in an introductory essay:

Long-standing issues of contraception, abortion, sexuality, re-distribution of wealth, stewardship of the environment, and health care, as well as public and private debt, combine to produce a nearly perfect storm of fear, judgment, and negativity.

And we appear all to willing, Wade writes, to set ourselves up as "the jury on judgment day"

The candidates' answers are variations on the same themes.

Favorite Scriptures? Isaiah 40:31 and Psalm 46 for Obama; Matthew 25:35-36 for Romney, who has yet to cite the Book of Mormon directly in this campaign.

And both agree, the commitment to love and to serve transcends denominations and that is faith's gift to public life.

Obama:

Faith motivates people to do incredibly compassionate and good work that helps our nation thrive.

Romney:

Words and symbols of faith "should be welcome in public spaces."

However, each does veer a tad to potentially controversial areas.

Romney says "Our greatness would not long endure without judges who respect the foundation of faith upon which our Constitution rests." (Take that to Americans United for Separation of Church and State.)

Romney also says:

Clearly, the boundaries between church and state must be respected, but there is a large space in which faith-based organizations can do good for the community in which they serve. In recent years, the notion of the separation of church and state has been taken by some well beyond its original meaning.

And Obama, after touting the accomplishments of his Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnership, and linkups with non-profits and private sector groups to see best practices for service, mentions working with faith communities to fight human trafficking and care for survivors.

Hmmm. The Catholic Church is still riled because the Obama administration, backed by the courts, cut off funding to a Catholic group with a long history of working with trafficking survivors because the Church would not provide access or information on abortion or contraception to victims.

DO YOU THINK ... it matters for a candidate to take religion seriously?

The prophet loves show tunes.

So Broadway came to Salt Lake City Friday night when followers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints threw an early 85th birthday bash for their president, Thomas Monson.

Mormons believe the leader of the faith is a "modern prophet who receives revelation directly from God," writes Brian Passey, who reports for The Spectrum in St. George, Utah. Passey attended the tuneful concert for Monson Friday night at the LDS Conference Center.

He says Monson, known for his "jovial nature" and love of Broadway sounds, was serenaded with songs from Cats, Annie, Phantom of the Opera, Brigadoon and Les Miserables and praised with tributes from celebrities.

After Memories, former NFL quarterback Steve Young told Monson,

The memories that you share with us show us what happiness is.

Monson will not actually turn 85 until Tuesday, but nearly 21,000 Latter-Day Saints came to the party. According to Passey:

Monson's birthday program followed the course of his life, from childhood to his days of worldwide service for the church. Monson became an apostle for the church at the abnormally young age of 36 and was instrumental in helping the church grow in communist eastern Europe during the Cold War years.

Prior to becoming president of the church in 2008, Monson had served as a counselor to three previous presidents since 1985 and in the church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles since 1963, Passey writes..

Hundreds of yellow roses decorated the massive auditorium, symbolizing one of Monson's favorite quotes by author James Barrie: "God gave us memories that we might have June roses in the December of our lives."

Some Wisconsin Catholics are praying both Catholic vice presidential candidates will have a religious epiphany. They want GOP Rep. Paul Ryan to change his mind and heart about his deep-cuts budget and Vice President Biden to turn against abortion rights.

Two Franciscans, Rhett Engelking, a layman, and the Rev. Michael Crosby have launched a website Pray for Paul's Change of Heart with a special Rosary prayer to St. Paul -- the most famous of converts who once condemned Christ until he saw the light on the road to Damascas.

While praising the congressman's sincere faith, they say they want Ryan to have that road-to-Damascus moment and see the light that the Ryan budget goes against Catholic Church teaching on the poor.

Their press release Thursday highlights the U.S. Catholic bishops's stance that the deep budget slashes fail to meet Catholic moral criteria to protect the poor and promoted common good.

This has notably not worked with Ryan. The "Nuns on the Bus" nine-state tour this summer paused at his office to talk up the vision of a just and compassionate budget. Ryan didn't meet them there but later had a "cordial" private conversation with the leader of the tour. Sister Simone Campbell, director of a Catholic advocacy group, Network, told The Daily Beast,

We agreed to disagree. Actually, we both agreed that we care passionately about the future of this country. So we did find some common ground.

Ryan, however, is not the only contender to be the Catholic vice president. The Franciscan duo also calls for prayers for Biden that he will shift to oppose abortion and protect "the born and preborn." They back up their plea with links to the U.S. bishops.

DO YOU THINK... you prayers could influence the federal budget?

Evangelist Billy Graham, whose doctor calls him "remarkably healthy" for age 93, checked out of an Asheville, N.C., hospital Tuesday after two days of treatment for bronchitis.

He returned to his home in Montreat, N.C., after checking into Mission Hospital Saturday evening with a fever. According to a press release from his long-time spokesman, A. Larry Ross, Graham's pulmonologist, Dr. Daniel Fertel, said

"Mr. Graham had a quick recovery and responded very well to his treatment. Catching these types of pulmonary infections early is crucial for a fast recovery, as was the case for Mr. Graham. Despite this illness he remains remarkably healthy for a 93-year-old man."

Graham was in good spirits and, Ross says, he praised the hospital staff, while admiting, "It is never easy going to the hospital."

He also thanked all who sent him prayers and letters, saying

Such an outpouring of love and support is always a blessing but was especially appreciated during my hospitalization.

Once back to his mountaintop log cabin, Graham is expected to resume physical therapy and carry on with his ministry and writing projects.

Hey, President Obama and contender Mitt Romney, the American Atheists want your attention. They're unveiling a new in-your-face-to-the-faithful billboard campaign, timed to the national presidential nominating conventions.

Today's press conference revealed signs that call God "sadistic" and Jesus "useless" as a savior (his image is show as toast, literally) and conclude that Atheism, by contrast, is "simply reasonable."

Presumably, Catholics such as Vice President Biden and Romney's running mate choice Paul Ryan, are covered in this hit on Christians such as Obama, a mainline Protestant.

But evidently the American Atheists don't consider Mormons to be Christians, since they prepared a separate billboard attack on their faith. It derides their idea of God as a "space alien" and notes that Mormons offer a proxy baptism to dead relatives -- a practice the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints acknowledges has gotten out of hand with some believers inappropriately baptizing Holocaust victims and others not related to their own families.

But GOP delegates won't see the attack on their faith on their way to nominate Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan in Tampa. Spokeswoman Teresa MacBain says no one in Tampa would rent them billboard space. So watch for both texts in Charlotte, N.C., where the Democrats will gather in September.

American Atheists is the group that created and produced the Reason Rally in March on the National Mall -- an event president David Silverman billed as a fun gathering starring raging atheists such as Richard Dawkins.

But Silverman's idea of "fun" may not align with that of the faithful his group loves to jab. As he said then,

We're not the softies. We are proud to be the Marines of free thought, proud to be the edge of the sword.

The same group flew a banner over New York City on the Fourth of July proclaiming, "Atheism is patriotic."

Now, MacBain says, the billboards are aimed at mocking the "silliness" of religion. In an email before today's press conference, she wrote that questioning the religious views of men who want to lead the free world is essential because,

If a person believes stupid things, then we have every right to question his or her judgment, and that directly impacts how the non-religious voter votes.

More demands -- like non-religious people to be appointed to the Cabinet and the Supreme Court -- are at their website.

Interestingly, for all the increasing public presence of unbelievers -- billboards, rallies, conventions, etc. -- the attention has not boosted their percentage of the U.S. population significantly in the last decade.

Most people who say they have no religious identity also call themselves spiritual but not religious, and many give the entire topic a big "so what" shrug.

But the billboards planned for Charlotte, N.C., may not be well received. In 2010, when free thinkers posted an edited version of the line from the Pledge of Allegiance without the phrase "under God," vandals added it with spray paint.

DO YOU THINK ... the billboards will convert anyone away from religion? Is it "simply reasonable" to mock belief?