Rap Sheet
Links on R&P from around the web
President Obama Draws on Spirituality to Comfort Connecticut Families
posted on December 17, 2012At an interfaith vigil in Newtown, Connecticut, President Obama “drew on Scripture and spirtuality to comfort grieving families,” writes Daniel Burke of Religion News Service, which reprinted the words of Obama’s speech. After reading the names of the children killed, the president said, “God has called them all home. For those of us who remain, let us find the strength to carry on, and make our country worthy of their memory.”
A Painful Duty: Consoling a Town Preparing to Bury Its Children
posted on December 17, 2012At The New York Times, Cara Buckley profiles Rabbi Shaul Praver, who leads Temple Adath Israel in Newtown and has provided spiritual counsel to his congregant Veronique Pozner, who lost her son Noah in the tragedy. “She found a lot of consolation in the idea that death doesn’t really exist—it’s just a transformation because we all come from God and everything in the world is from God,” Praver said.
National Cathedral Dean Rev. Gary Hall Advocates Gun Control
posted on December 17, 2012Christina Wilkie of Huffington Post writes about a vow from the dean of the Washington National Cathedral, the Very Rev. Gary Hall, to bring the religious lobby together in opposition to the gun lobby. “If we are truly America’s ‘National’ Cathedral, as we say we are, then we must become the focal point of faithful advocacy of gun control, calling our leaders to courageous action and supporting them as they take it,” Hall said in Sunday’s sermon.
Same-Sex Marriage Finds Allies in Conservatives of a Certain Age
posted on December 17, 2012Michael Winerip of The New York Times reports that many conservative baby boomers surprisingly support same-sex marriage. Much of the support seems to stem from an increase in the number of people who know gay men and lesbians. “Familiarity breeds contentment,” Winerip writes.
The Newtown Massacre and Mike Huckabee’s Offense
posted on December 17, 2012“We ask why there’s violence in our schools but we’ve systematically removed God from our schools. Should we be so surprised that schools would become a place of carnage?” said Mike Huckabee in an interview regarding the Newtown Massacre. Peter Wehner of Commentary criticizes Huckabee’s comments, writing that though the pastor “may have thought he was defending God,” the grief-stricken moment “called for some measure of grace, humility, and wisdom … Huckabee offered an explanation I found flippant and offensive.”
The Decline of Evangelical America
posted on December 17, 2012At The New York Times, John S. Dickerson, senior pastor of Cornerstone Church, writes an op-ed about the challenges that the evangelical movement currently faces. “We evangelicals must accept that our beliefs are now in conflict with the mainstream culture. We cannot change ancient doctrines to adapt to the currents of the day. But we can, and must, adapt the way we hold our beliefs—with grace and humility instead of superior hostility,” Dickerson writes.
Calif. School District Bends Over Backward to Avoid Religion Controversy in Kids’ Yoga Classes
posted on December 17, 2012In The Washington Post, an Associated Press article reports on a church-state controversy in Encinitas, California. The public school system has hired full-time yoga teachers as part of an overall wellness curriculum which is intended to relieve stress and help students focus. However, some parents find it problematic. One parent, Mary Eady, believes that yoga “will change the way you think. What they are teaching is inherently spiritual, it’s just inappropriate therefore in our public schools.”
The Animus of Antonin Scalia
posted on December 14, 2012For The New Yorker, Amy Davidson writes about Antonin Scalia’s strict stance on homosexuality and gay rights. In response to a recent question on the issue, Scalia stated, “If we cannot have moral feelings against homosexuality, can we have it against murder?” With Scalia’s argument in mind, Davidson considers the country’s changing position on the issue: “[What] [Scalia] is missing, though, is that an increasing number of Americans have found that when legal strictures and open discrimination are stripped away they are left not with the reprehensible, but with neighbors, friends, and family members whom they love, and see loving each other.”
Who Would Jesus Execute?
posted on December 14, 2012At Soujourners, Jim Wallis interviews Richard Viguerie, who has been called “the funding father of the conservative movement,” on the issue of the death penalty and prison reform. Viguerie, a devout Catholic, is morally opposed to the death penalty. He finds fault in both the Democratic and Republican stances on the “life issue”: “My position is you shouldn’t be killing anybody before or after they’re born. There are very few people on the Left or the Right who take that position.”
Paraphrased Quote on Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial to be Removed
posted on December 14, 2012Juju Kim at TIME looks at the U.S. Department of the Interior’s decision to eliminate a controversial paraphrased quote on the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in D.C. Many believe the truncated version to convey a different message than King’s intent. Ken Salazar, Interior Secretary, stated, “With a monument so powerful and timeless, it is especially important that all aspects of its words, design and meaning stay true to Dr. King’s life and legacy.”