Read an essay by beliefnet.com columnist Frederica Mathewes-Green about how cosmetic surgery can move people further away from the idea of being made in God’s image.

The Rev. Sheron Patterson is known for her books and her radio program, The Love Clinic. They focus on Christian relationships, particularly of African-American women. She is senior pastor of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Dallas.

Madeline Crabb is a Christian and self-proclaimed “modesty consultant” who believes that many Christian women need a dose of restraint in their appearance. Crabb is the author of Dressing to Please God: Clothing the Mind, Body, and Spirit, a Training Manual, which offers biblical guidelines for female fashion and personal care. She lives in Bloomington, Ind.

Richard Viladesau is author of Theological Aesthetics: God in Imagination, Beauty and Art (Oxford University Press, 1999), in which he discusses how beauty can reveal the divine. He is a professor of theology at Fordham University, a Catholic institution in New York, N.Y.

Lilian Calles Barger is an independent historian and the author of Eve’s Revenge: Women and a Spirituality of the Body, an examination of women’s relationships with their bodies and how that affects their Christianity. Contact via her website.

Mark Weldon Whitten is the author of The Myth of Christian America: What You Need to Know About the Separation of Church and State. He teaches religion and philosophy at Lone Star College – Montgomery in Texas. He says new research has shown that the founders had mixed opinions on the role of religion in the […]

Bob Kobielush is president of the Christian Camp and Conference Association in Colorado Springs, which has regional contacts.

Peg Smith is chief executive officer of the American Camp Association, which includes Christian and Jewish as well as secular camps among its 7,000 members. The mission of her camp experiences is to enrich the lives of children and adults.  

John Eidsmoe is an Alabama constitutional lawyer, retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and author of Christianity and the Constitution: The Faith of Our Founding Fathers. He has advised former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore. Contact [email protected].