Welcome to the Morning Buzz, PRRI’s morning dose of religion-related news with a shot of data – because what doesn’t liven up a morning round-up like some public opinion numbers? It perplexes me that no one else has ever thought of this, but someone (if not Kurt Vonnegut) should write a book about a slot machine lost in the desert.

One distance runner for the American Olympic team doesn’t run with a trainer – instead, he says God is his coach. Although putting it this way may strike some as a little odd, this attitude toward God is quite common among Americans, 70% of whom say that God is a person with whom they can have a relationship.

Wheaton College, a prominent evangelical school, joined the Catholic institutions of higher education who are suing the Obama administration for requiring religiously affiliated organizations to provide birth control to their employees at no cost. Evangelicals do not have the same theological opposition to contraception as Catholics. However, white evangelical Protestants are more likely than Catholics to say that religiously affiliated organizations should be exempted from the requirement.

Dahlia Lithwick outlines yet another looming showdown on abortion in Virginia. A slim majority (53%) of Americans agree that laws about abortion should be decided at the national level, while over one-third (36%) believe that laws about abortion should be left to the states.

Michele Bachmann is under fire for her claims that State Department official Huma Abedin is part of a Muslim Brotherhood conspiracy to infiltrate the government. Six-in-ten Americans believe that too many of their fellow countrymen believe that all Muslims are terrorists.

Rumors about Romney’s VP choice have been abounded since Romney clinched the nomination, but we should probably hold our horses – a new poll reveals that only 25% of voters say the vice presidential selection matters a great deal to their decision in November.

Clearly, the menu for the mission to Mars is a top national priority.

Want to receive the Morning Buzz as a daily email? Sign up here. For updates and coverage throughout the day, follow us on Facebook or Twitter.