Rap Sheet
Links on R&P from around the web
Brazil’s Banknotes Still Praise God, for Now
posted on November 15, 2012Jefferson Aparecido Dias, a federal prosecutor in Brazil, is attempting to remove the phrase “God Be Praised” from the nation’s paper currency, report Robert Mackey and Taylor Barnes for The New York Times. Dias argues, “The Brazilian state is secular and, as such, should be completely detached from any religious manifestation.” The Brazilian government responded to Dias, stating that because Brazil is “not … atheist, anticlerical or antireligious…,” the country “can legitimately make a reference to the existence of a higher being, a divinity, as long as, in doing so, it does not make an allusion to a specific religious doctrine.”
At OkCupid, Being an Atheist Is a Date-maker, Not a Deal-breaker
posted on November 15, 2012For Religion News Service, Kimberly Winston writes about the dating website OkCupid, which has attracted a large number of atheist members. Winston looks at why atheists find the site–the founders of which recently won Harvard’s “Humanist of the Year” award–to be appealing. Harvard’s humanist chaplain Greg Epstein said, “I don’t think there has ever been a place with a mixed environment of people from religious and nonreligious backgrounds where it is more comfortable and respected to be an atheist, an agnostic or a humanist.”
Death of Bulgarian Orthodox Leader Could End Communism Church Split
posted on November 15, 2012At Christianity Today, Mellissa Steffan reports on the significance of the death of Patriach Maxim, former leader of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. After the fall of Communism, attempts to oust Maxim, “an alleged Communist spy,” failed, which caused “a schism and lawsuits over church property.” Steffan writes, “With Maxim’s death, however, the schism may finally come to an end.”
Tulsi Gabbard, First Hindu in Congress, To Take Oath Over Bhagavad Gita: Report
posted on November 14, 2012At the Huffington Post, Dominique Mosbergen reports on Democrat Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, the first Hindu elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, who will take her oath of office over the Bhagavad Gita instead of a Bible. “On my last trip to the mainland, I met a man who told me that his teenage daughter felt embarrassed about her faith, but after meeting me, she’s no longer feeling that way,” Gabbard said. “He was so happy that my being elected to Congress would give hope to hundreds and thousands of young Hindus in America, that they can be open about their faith and even run for office, without fear of being discriminated against or attacked because of their religion.”
Election 2012 Marks the End of Evangelical Dominance in Politics
posted on November 14, 2012At The Atlantic, Jonathan Merritt discusses the decline in the influence of the white evangelical vote. Although evangelical leaders attempted to play a huge part in this election and succeeded in securing the same amount of evangelicals to vote for Mitt Romney as President Bush, the evangelical vote is no longer a big enough percentage of the electorate to change the fate of an election. “Evangelicals once presided like chairmen in America’s political boardroom, but they must now sit down with others at a common table to dialogue and search for common ground,” Merritt writes.
Samuel Rodriguez Will Not Solve the GOP’s Latino Problem
posted on November 14, 2012Mark Silk of Religion News Service profiles Reverend Samuel Rodriguez, who is seen by some as key to garner Latino support for Republican candidates. As president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, Rodriguez influences many evangelical Latinos. However, Silk believes that statistically his influence is questionable. “Rodriguez and company could argue that the evangelical segment of the Latino population is growing, but that’s not the case. The big proportional growth came from the Latino Nones.”
Statement by the President on the Observance of Diwali
posted on November 14, 2012In a statement from the White House, President Obama wished that all Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and Buddhists who are celebrating Diwali enjoy gathering with their family and friends in celebration. He emphasized that this festival of lights must be a reminder that many are still facing darkness. “Earlier this year, we were reminded of the evil that exists in the world when a gunman walked into the Sikh gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin and opened fire,” he said. “In the wake of that horrible tragedy, we saw the resilience of a community that drew strength from their faith and a sense of solidarity with their neighbors, Sikh and non-Sikh alike.”
Chastened Catholic Bishops Told They Have to Reform Themselves
posted on November 14, 2012At Religion News Service, David Gibson reports on the annual meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The bishops now face a challenge of repairing their relationship with the Obama administration after criticizing him during the election, as well as fighting the administration’s mandate which requires employers to provide free contraception insurance coverage. “We have always maintained an openness to dialogue and that will continue,” says Baltimore Archbishop William Lori.
Reductio Ad Antichristum
posted on November 14, 2012“I want you to hear me tonight, I am not saying that President Obama is the Antichrist, I am not saying that at all. One reason I know he’s not the Antichrist is the Antichrist is going to have much higher poll numbers when he comes,” said Robert Jeffress, to First Baptist Church, a large church in Dallas. Rod Dreher of The American Conservative believes that politically charged statements such as this, “make it so easy for young people to consider church nothing more than the Republican Party at prayer. Because that’s what you do when you give a sermon saying that people who vote for the Democratic presidential candidate are casting their lot with Satan.”
Read at The American Conservative
Jewish Groups and the LGBT Community
posted on November 14, 2012At Tablet, Adam Chandler reports on the interaction between Jewish organizations and the LGBT community. The Jewish Organziation Equality Index found that half of Jewish communal organizations are welcoming towards gays. However, two thirds of Jewish organizations do not reach out specificially to the LGBT community. “Organizations are free to do what they want and I think the subtext here is that some Jewish organizations are, for a variety of reasons, still not willing or ready to embrace gay and lesbian members. But I believe they do so are their own peril,” Chandler writes.