Rap Sheet
Links on R&P from around the web
A Duggar Revisits Her Religious Upbringing
posted on February 14, 2023Ruth Graham of The New York Times profiles Jinger Duggar Vuolo, a member of the reality TV Duggar family who has distanced herself from the fundamentalist teachings of her parents. Graham writes that “her declaration of independence is being closely watched as a high-profile example of re-examining one’s own religious upbringing.” Vuolo’s new book, Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear, is the most in-depth account of the Duggar family’s internal dynamics and religious beliefs to date. “Even though you’re told your life is going to fall apart if you leave, it’s not,” Vuolo said. “You don’t have to even lose your faith in God.”
Republicans Clash with Prosecutors Over Enforcement of Abortion Bans
posted on February 14, 2023Alice Miranda Ollstein and Megan Messerly of Politico report, “GOP lawmakers see a major flaw in their states’ near-total abortion bans: Some local prosecutors won’t enforce them.” Republican legislators in states with abortion bans have introduced bills to reprimand or remove progressive prosecutors who fail to file charges. Other anti-abortion lawmakers have introduced bills that would give state rather than local prosecutors the power to file abortion-related charges, thereby circumventing district attorneys unwilling to pursue the cases.
These Black and White Churches Began Worshipping Together During the Pandemic and Haven’t Stopped
posted on February 14, 2023For The Washington Post, Rona Kobell reports that three United Methodist Churches, two majority-white and one majority-black, have continued their pandemic-era tradition of gathering for Sunday services. She writes, “A spur-of-the-moment idea to bring the faithful together during the pandemic has become a once-a-month gathering where hundreds of worshipers honk along to a boisterous service that offers a mix of polemics, politics and preaching.” Pastor Deangelo Antonius “Tony” Johnson, the minister of Macedonia United Methodist Church, said, “For years we were separate, but when 2020 came around, we found there was a better way.”
Psychedelic Churches in U.S. Pushing Boundaries of Religion
posted on February 7, 2023Michael Casey of the Associated Press reports that a growing number of people are participating in psychedelic churches that use the hallucinogenic drug ayahuasca for spiritual rituals. Courtney Close, the founder of one of the churches, said, “We just try to create a spiritual experience without any dogma and just let people experience God for themselves.” The psychedelic communities have come under scrutiny in recent years because of safety concerns as well as federal prohibitions against the drug. Participants claim, however, that they have a right to use the drug under the religious freedom protections afforded to them by the First Amendment.
Man Is Charged with Firebombing a New Jersey Synagogue
posted on February 7, 2023Tracey Tully of The New York Times reports, “The police arrested a 26-year-old man on Wednesday and charged him with firebombing a large synagogue in Bloomfield, N.J., days after a Molotov cocktail was hurled at the building’s glass door, federal officials said.” The alleged perpetrator, Nicholas Malindretos, was ultimately unsuccessful in burning down the synagogue. The attack is the latest in a string of antisemitic incidents at Jewish houses of worship across the nation and the globe. Philip R. Sellinger, the United States Attorney for New Jersey, said in a statement announcing the arrest, “No one should find that their lives are at risk by exercising their faith.”
Pope Accuses Critics of Exploiting Pope Benedict XVI’s Death
posted on February 7, 2023Nicole Winfield of the Associated Press reports, “Pope Francis accused some of his critics Sunday of taking advantage of retired Pope Benedict XVI’s death to score ideological points in the latest salvo in the partisan divide of the Catholic Church.” Benedict’s former employees and conservative allies in the Church have criticized Francis’ progressive pontificate following Benedict’s death. Francis said, “I think Benedict’s death was instrumentalized. People wanted to score points for their own side.”
Biden Tells Dueling Prayer Breakfast That “Diversity Is One of Our Greatest Strengths”
posted on February 7, 2023Adelle M. Banks of Religion News Service reports, “Speaking to a refashioned National Prayer Breakfast gathered at the Capitol with a new board and in a new location, President Joe Biden encouraged leaders of Congress to find ways to unify despite their political and religious differences.” Biden said, “Differences express infinite creativity of G-d, who is able to see his reflection in countless ways in different people. It’s also an expression of American conviction that our diversity is one of our greatest strengths.” The new prayer breakfast at the Capitol where Biden spoke occurred simultaneously with the prayer breakfast run by the Fellowship Foundation, otherwise known as “the Family,” which has been held at the Washington Hilton since the 1980s.
Allan A. Ryan, Who Hunted Down Nazis Hiding in America, Dies at 77
posted on February 7, 2023Michael S. Rosenwald of The Washington Post writes an obituary for Allan A. Ryan, a former Department of Justice employee charged with hunting down Nazis hiding in the United States in the 1980s. He initiated 25 deportation proceedings against former Nazis during his tenure. Rosenwald writes, “The presence of collaborators in the United States was ignored for years, Mr. Ryan maintained, because of antisemitism and general apathy toward the plight of Jews during the war.” Ryan died of a heart attack last month at the age of 77.
Returning From Africa, Pope Francis and Christian Leaders Condemn Anti-Gay Laws
posted on February 7, 2023Jason Horowitz of The New York Times reports that Pope Francis criticized laws criminalizing homosexuality on his flight home from stops in the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan. He said, “It is not just.” Horowitz writes, “Francis made the comments in a remarkable joint in-flight news conference with the head of the Anglican Communion and Scotland’s top Presbyterian minister.”
The Rise of Spirit Warriors on the Christian Right
posted on January 28, 2023For The New Republic, Katherine Stuart profiles “Spirit Warrior Christianity,” a largely Pentecostal movement that often embraces Christian authoritarianism. She writes, “It is an easy fit for those who wish to dismantle democracy and entrench minority rule. Election denialism and other conspiracies find a comfortable home in the paranoid mindset of spiritual warfare in a demon-haunted world.” She continues, “Broadly speaking, this style of religion is not necessarily about a fixed set of doctrines or denominations. It is more of an attitude, a set of frameworks, and a shared language.”