Rap Sheet
Links on R&P from around the web
Military Suicides ‘Out of Control’
posted on November 26, 2012At The News Herald, Randal Yakey profiles a few of the “causalities of war” who have died after they returned from the battlefield. “According to a Veterans Affairs report this spring, a veteran commits suicide every 80 minutes,” writes Yakey. “More than 6,500 suicides have occurred since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began. For every service member who dies in battle, 25 veterans die by their own hands.”
Hamas and Israel Agree to Cease-Fire, Clinton Says
posted on November 21, 2012On Wednesday, after eight days of fighting, Hamas and Israel agreed to a cease-fire, to go into effect at 2 p.m. EST, reports David D. Kirkpatrick, Ethan Bronner, and Rick Gladstone at The New York Times. Secretary Clinton announced the agreement at a press conference. “’This is a critical moment for the region,’ Mrs. Clinton … told reporters in Cairo. She thanked Egypt’s president, Mohamed Morsi, who played a pivotal role in the negotiations, for ‘assuming the leadership that has long made this country a cornerstone of regional stability and peace.'”
The Hell-Raiser: A Megachurch Pastor’s Search for a More Forgiving Faith
posted on November 21, 2012Rob Bell, the founder of Michigan’s Mars Hill Church, gets The New Yorker treatment this week in a profile from the magazine’s Kelefa Sanneh. Last year, Bell created controversy with his book Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived, which debated and questioned the nature and existence of Hell, and which Bell’s evangelical contemporaries accused of heretical universalism. Sanneh reports on what Bell is doing now, while weaving in the history of Christianity interpretation of Hell. Bonus: Kelefa Sanneh is the son of Yale Divinity School Professor Lamin Sanneh. He also delved into religion for the magazine in 2008, when he wrote “Project Trinity,” which profiled Obama’s former house of worship, Trinity Church of Christ.
All Eyez on Him
posted on November 21, 2012In an interview in the December issue of GQ, Marco Rubio touches on the creationism debate when reporter Michael Hainey asks him how old the Earth is. “I’m not a scientist. I don’t think I’m qualified to answer a question like that,” the Florida senator said. “At the end of the day, I think there are multiple theories out there on how the universe was created and I think this is a country where people should have the opportunity to teach them all. I think parents should be able to teach their kids what their faith says, what science says. Whether the Earth was created in 7 days, or 7 actual eras, I’m not sure we’ll ever be able to answer that. It’s one of the great mysteries.”
Church of England Rejects Women Bishops
posted on November 21, 2012On Tuesday, the Church of England voted against allowing women bishops, reports Religion News Service’s Trevor Grundy at The Washington Post. The vote was “a surprise move that shocked both sides of a years-long debate,” Grundy writes, and it kept the “church’s status as one of the last bastions of male privilege in the United Kingdom.” The measure failed by just five votes.
Buddhist ‘People of Color Sanghas’ Diversity Efforts Address Conflicts About Race Among Meditators
posted on November 21, 2012The Huffington Post‘s Jaweed Kaleem travels to Seattle to profile the emergence of “people of color sanghas,” exclusively non-white Buddhist groups, a rarity in the predominantly white Buddhist enclaves of the Pacific Northwest. Members believe that practicing away from whites has spiritually empowered them. “Being an American Indian woman, I am judged all the time. I just feel more accepted if it’s not white people telling me what to do, how to meditate,” Teresa Powers says. “It’s like I’m among my own.”
Let My Preachers Endorse: A Modest Church-State Proposal
posted on November 21, 2012At Religion Dispatches, Michael Leo Owens writes that the Freedom from Religion Foundation has filed a lawsuit against the IRS for their failure to crack down on churches that endorse political candidates from the pulpit, a move that is against IRS rules on tax-exempt status. Owens, however, offers a solution to the problem: allow churches that wish to endorse candidates to change their tax status from a charitable organization to a social welfare organization. “Since the electioneering ban isn’t a problem for the majority of congregations they should keep their conventional status as charitable. For others, allow them to change their status,” Owens writes.
A New Challenge for Andy Stanley
posted on November 21, 2012In the wake of a devastating loss for Christian conservatives during the presidential election, CNN’s John Blake profiles Andy Stanley, the pastor of North Point Community Church, a 33,000 member church in Atlanta. While, “Stanley is an apostle of change … [and] in many ways Stanley’s church is cutting-edge, its theological foundation is conservative,” Blake writes. However, he asks, “Can that message retain its appeal as the nation’s racial and religious makeup changes?”
The Temptation of Secular Conservatism
posted on November 21, 2012At First Things, William Doino, Jr. makes the argument that “the only kind of conservatism that counts is a Christ-centered one.” He believes that conservatives have strayed from Judeo-Christian values in order to win over moderate voters. However, “traditional conservatives should certainly seek to elect capable and morally responsible leaders and work with non-religious allies as far as conscience permits,” he writes. “But lines need to be drawn, and core values need to be preserved.”
The Latest Operation Pillar of Defense News
posted on November 19, 2012Adam Chandler at Tablet writes about the newest developments in “Operation Pillar of Defense,” the Israeli offensive against Hamas forces in Gaza. While some 800 rockets have been fired from Gaza, Chandler writes, “Israeli forces have taken aim at over 1,000 targets in Gaza, including rocket launchers, terrorist infrastructure, and Hamas leadership.”