Rap Sheet
Links on R&P from around the web
SC Bishop, A Same-Sex Blessing Opponent, Banned by Episcopal Church
posted on October 22, 2012Lindsay Street reports for the Goose Creek Patch that after the church suspended him, South Carolina’s Episcopal Bishop Mark Lawrence has announced that he plans on breaking with the Episcopal Church. Street writes, “The crux of the issue is over the national church’s more lenient stance on same-sex blessings, and the ordination of gay and female clergy,” stances that Lawrence has repeatedly failed to follow.
As Mitt Romney Moves to the Middle, Anti-Abortion Activists Try to Cover His Right Flank
posted on October 19, 2012David Gibson at Religion News Service writes about the conservative response to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s new moderate stance on abortion. Gibson finds that many anti-abortion leaders are not concerned by Romney’s recent statements, understanding the need for political pragmatism. Marjorie Dannenfelser, head of the Susan B. Anthony List, stated, “Politics isn’t a science; it is not the art of the perfect. It’s a tool.”
Obama, Romney Campaigns Target Evangelical Voters through Data Mining
posted on October 19, 2012At The Huffington Post, Jaweed Kaleem looks at new strategies by the Obama and Romney campaigns to focus on specific undecided voters, particularly evangelicals. Evangelicals comprised 26 percent of voters in 2008, making their vote particularly important. An Obama official stated, “What micro-targeting allows us to is find that ‘x percent’ of voters who may be swayed.”
Why We Need Feminist Theology: Romney and ‘Binders Full of Women’
posted on October 19, 2012For The Washington Post, Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite examines the religious undertones of Mitt Romney’s reference to “whole binders full of women” during Wednesday’s presidential debate. Thistlethwaite believes that Romney’s comment, as well as the larger “War on Women,” stems from the religious notion of God as male, and women as secondary. Thistlethwaite writes, “Unless and until we go deeper on why women are paid less, are told they don’t have the religious freedom to act on their own consciences in regard to their reproductive health choices, and why they are abused in their bodies, minds and spirits with little or no legal protections, then we will not get to the real problem and real and more permanent solutions will elude us.”
As Partners, Mormons and Scouts Turn Boys into Men
posted on October 19, 2012Erick Eckholm of The New York Times examines the close relationship between the Boy Scouts and Mormonism. Noting that nearly every Mormon church, or ward, has a scout troop, Eckholm finds that the two share parallel morals and goals. Eckholm writes, “With mutual exaltation of God and country and a shared aim of nurturing ‘morally straight’ men with leadership skills and a service ethic, the Mormons and the Boy Scouts seem made for each other, as entwined as a square knot.”
Obama, Romney Roast Each Other at Alfred E. Smith Dinner
posted on October 19, 2012Last night, the presidential candidates roasted each other at the annual Al Smith Dinner, a fundraiser for the Catholic Archdiocese of New York and a benefit named after the first Catholic presidential nominee. Coming just two days after the contentious presidential debate, The Washington Post reports that Romney joked, “It’s taken New York’s highest spiritual authority to get us back on our best behavior.”
Antiscience Beliefs Jeopardize U.S. Democracy
posted on October 19, 2012For Scientific American, Shawn Lawrence Otto investigates the roots of the “antiscience” movement in American politics. Otto finds that religious fundamentalism in the mid-19th century played a significant role in this process of scientific “denialism.” In the 20th century, just as science’s public presence was beginning to decline in the 1940s, “the voice of religious fundamentalism was resurging,” Otto notes.
Pope Sending Cardinal Dolan on Peace Mission to Syria
posted on October 19, 2012As tensions increase in Syria, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York will join a papal delegation to the war torn country, reports Kevin J. Jones at Catholic News Agency. Another member of the delegation, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, stated, “We must help those who are in charge of society and the general political landscape.”
On Florida’s Jewish Question
posted on October 19, 2012Shmuel Rosner of The New York Times questions the importance of the Jewish vote in Florida. Noting that Florida Jews consistently vote Democratic, Rosner believes that the implications of the Jewish vote, no matter how much it fluctuates, remain “generally minor.” Rosner states, “examining the Jewish vote with such passion is often more about the student than about the topic, which is hardly, or only rarely, as consequential as we make it seem.”
After Romney Meeting, Billy Graham Website Scrubs Mormon ‘Cult’ Reference
posted on October 18, 2012At Religion News Service, Daniel Burke reports that The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s (BGEA) has removed language labeling Mormonism a “cult” from its website. The removal comes after a meeting between Billy Graham and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney last week, during which Graham reportedly pledged to support Romney’s campaign. Ken Barun, the BGEA’s chief of staff, stated, “We removed the information from the website because we do not wish to participate in a theological debate about something that has become politicized during this campaign.”