Rap Sheet
Links on R&P from around the web
On Gay Marriage, Is Illinois Next?
posted on January 2, 2013The New Yorker’s Richard Socarides writes that this week Illinois may become the 10th state to legalize same-sex marriage. If so, he reports, more than 20 percent of the U.S. population will live in states where same-sex marriage is legal. Socarides notes that over the weekend, Chicago’s Catholic Cardinal Francis George sent a letter to his followers, “urging them to contact their state legislators to oppose the marriage bill.” The Cardinal wrote, “Civil laws that establish ‘same sex marriage’ create a legal fiction. The State has no power to create something that nature itself tells us is impossible.”
My Take: 5 things I Learned Editing the Belief Blog
posted on January 2, 2013CNN’s Dan Gilgoff writes his final post for the Belief Blog he helped create in 2010 (he is moving on to work for National Geographic). Looking back on the big stories of 2012, he writes that “understanding forces of faith and faithlessness were crucial to understanding the nominees for president, reactions to July’s deadly Aurora, Colorado, shooting and Whitney Houston’s funeral. You don’t have to be religious to think religion stories matter; you just have to be curious about the way the world works. I believe that more now than I did when we launched the Belief Blog.”
US Judge Temporarily Halts Contraceptive Mandate for Domino’s Founder’s Property Mgmt. Company
posted on January 2, 2013From Detroit, the Associated Press reports that a “federal judge has ruled a property management company owned by the founder of Domino’s Pizza doesn’t have to immediately implement mandatory contraception coverage in the health care law.” The pizza magnate, Tom Monaghan, is Roman Catholic and has called contraception “gravely immoral.”
Religious Leaders Push Congregants on Gun Control, Sensing a Watershed Moment
posted on December 20, 2012At The New York Times, Laurie Goodstein looks at religious leaders’ calls for gun control in the wake of the Sandy Hook tragedy. A group of clergy members, who have long called for stricter gun regulation, plan to campaign in front of the Washington National Cathedral on Friday to mark the moment of last week’s shootings. In a sermon on Sunday, Very Rev. Gary Hall, dean of the Washington National Cathedral, said, “Everyone in this city seems to be in terror of the gun lobby. But I believe the gun lobby is no match for the cross lobby.”
In Sandy Hook Debate over Gun Control vs. Mental Health, Evangelicals Diverge from Rest of Nation
posted on December 20, 2012Jeremy Weber at Christianity Today examines the divided responses among religious groups to the problems presented by last week’s shootings in Connecticut. Weber writes that “two main subjects have emerged: better gun control vs. better treatment of mental illness.” While more than 40 percent of minority Christians support stricter gun control, Weber reports that only 8 percent of white evangelical Protestants believe that new gun laws are necessary.
China Detains 1,000 in Doomsday Crackdown
posted on December 20, 2012Nearly 1,000 members of a doomsday cult called “Almighty God” have been detained by Chinese authorities, reports Ben Blanchard at Reuters. The group has been predicting that the world will end on Friday, December 21. Blanchard writes, “The government says it is a cult calling for a ‘decisive battle’ to slay the ‘Red Dragon’ Communist Party.”
Israel Relies on Evangelicals at its Moral and Political Peril
posted on December 20, 2012Citing a recent op-ed piece that suggests the number of evangelicals in the U.S. to be decreasing, Jeffrey Goldberg at The Atlantic argues that Israel cannot continue to rely on evangelical support. He considers Israeli trust in evangelicals to be unfounded religiously, as well as politically: “Evangelical support always struck me as a narrow reed on which to rest Israel’s fortunes in America, and not only because many evangelicals, in my experience, have no love for Jews as autonomous people, but merely as vehicles for the Christian redemption.”
Ireland to Legalise Abortions Where Woman’s Life is at Risk
posted on December 20, 2012Henry McDonald at The Guardian reports that abortions will now be allowed in Ireland in cases where a woman’s life is endangered. The decision, a result of increasing international scrutiny following the death of a pregnant woman, has sparked debate in the predominantly Catholic country. Irish Health Minister James Reilly stated, “I know that most people have personal views on this matter. However, the government is committed to ensuring that the safety of pregnant women in Ireland is maintained and strengthened.”
Is a Showdown Brewing between Israel and the U.S.?
posted on December 20, 2012While President Obama continues to publicly maintain support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Ira Chernus at TomDispatch believes that 2013 could prove contentious for the two leaders. Chernus examines the relationship of Obama and Netanyahu, as well as the political situations of Israel and the United States. Chernus writes, “In fact, unlikely as it may seem, a showdown could be brewing between the two countries. If so, the outcome will depend on a complicated interplay between private diplomacy and public theater.”
The Church and the Mandate
posted on December 20, 2012For the National Review, George Weigel reviews the contentious history of the HHS mandate, which requires religious institutions to provide contraceptive services. Weigel looks at the Catholic Church’s response to the mandate, as well as the prospects for the issues’ resolution. Weigel calls the debate “the most serious confrontation between the Church and the federal government in U.S. history.”