Rap Sheet
Links on R&P from around the web
Cherokee Nation Is Fighting for a Seat in Congress
posted on November 1, 2022For The New Republic, Gabriel Pietorazio reports that the Cherokee Nation is asking Congress to authorize its appointment of a non-voting House delegate in Congress. The Treaty of New Echota, signed by the United States and the Cherokee Nation in 1835 in the lead-up to the Trail of Tears, promised the Nation a delegate in the House of Representatives if Congress approved the measure. Chuck Hoskins Jr., the chief of the Cherokee nation, said, “My inspiration comes from trying to get a measure of justice for our ancestors, looking back at a treaty that did so much injury to the Cherokee people. To be able to reach back and find something as powerful as representation in the House of Representatives is very important to me.”
“We Need to Make America Godly Again.” The Growing Political Influence of Latino Evangelicals
posted on November 1, 2022Nicole Chavez of CNN reports that Latino evangelicals are increasingly getting involved in politics, often identifying as independent given the confluence of their conservative religious values and liberal policy beliefs. Joshua Navarrete, a Pentecostal pastor who is the senior faith director for the conservative Hispanic outreach organization Bienvenido, said, “What we say is: you vote your faith. You vote what your Bible says, what biblical values and principles, all those things you’ve learned through your relationship with God. You take those things to the polls.”
Five States to Vote on Abortion Rights This Election Day
posted on November 1, 2022Megan Flower of Christianity Today reports that a record five states will have abortion measures on their ballots this midterm election. She writes, “While some states could bolster the legal rights of the unborn and infants born alive at any stage of development, voters in other states could codify a woman’s right to reproductive choice in the state constitution and allow abortion at any stage of pregnancy.” Michigan, Vermont, and California will vote on measures to expand abortion access while Montana and Kentucky will vote on measures to restrict or modify abortion access.
Black Church Tradition Survives Georgia’s Voting Changes
posted on November 1, 2022Sudhin Thanawala and Gary Fields of the Associated Press report, “Black church leaders and activists in Georgia rallied Sunday in a push to get congregants to vote – a longstanding tradition known as ‘souls to the polls’ that is taking on greater meaning this year amid new obstacles to casting a ballot in the midterm elections.” The Georgia legislature has restricted early and mail-in voting this election cycle. Franklyn Richardson, the chairman of the board of trustees of the Conference of National Black Churches, said, “It’s the cumulative accomplishment of our people that is being challenged and threatened that makes this such an urgent election.”
Antisemitic Campaign Tries to Capitalize on Elon Musk’s Twitter Takeover
posted on November 1, 2022Stuart A. Thomson of The New York Times reports, “A coordinated campaign to spread antisemitic memes and images on Twitter resulted in more than 1,200 tweets and retweets featuring the offensive content, according to an analysis by the Anti-Defamation League.” The campaign came in the wake of Elon Musk’s takeover of the platform just hours earlier. Musk has promised looser content restrictions on Twitter to promote free speech. Oren Segal, the vice president of the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism, said in an email, “We hope Musk will take the necessary technical and policy measures to assure Twitter does not become a hellscape and haven for antisemitism, extremism and hate.”
The Rev. Calvin O. Butts III, Pastor of Iconic Harlem Church, Dies at 73
posted on November 1, 2022Michael S. Rosenwald of The Washington Post reports, “The Rev. Calvin O. Butts III, who for three decades pressed for social change with political savvy and occasionally combative tactics as leader of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, died on Oct. 28 in New York City. He was 73.” Butts regularly worked with politicians on both sides of the aisle who supported his civil rights initiatives and economic development goals for Harlem. He told the New York Times in 1995, “I think the Republicans are in an excellent position to make the argument and demonstrate that you can do as much through economic development as you can through social welfare programs — in fact more.”
This Group Might Save Your LGBTQ Kid’s Life
posted on October 27, 2022For The Washington Post Magazine, Britt Peterson reports that Mama Bears, a support group for Christian mothers of LGBTQ children, has grown from a small organization to 35,000 members worldwide. Peterson spoke to Marie Griffith, the editor of Religion & Politics and the director of the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics, which publishes this journal. “Evangelicals aren’t a monolith, of course,” Griffith said.“You’ve got those folks that have very strong anti-gay views, and then a rising number of people who say this is just not a big issue.” The group is meant to serve both as a support network as well as a space in which members can challenge other members to be more accepting of their LGBTQ children.
Read at The Washington Post Magazine
In Pa. Governor’s Race, Faith Surfaces in Contrasting Ways
posted on October 27, 2022Peter Smith of the Associated Press reports, “In one of the most closely watched races in one of the most contested of battleground states, both gubernatorial candidates bring up religion. But in starkly different ways.” Doug Mastriano, the Republican candidate, often invokes his Christian identity and his belief that the United States should be a Christian nation. Josh Shapiro, the Democratic candidate, draws on his Jewish faith as an inspiration of why he chose to work in government. Shapiro said, “My faith grounds me and calls me to do public service. I don’t use my faith to make policy decisions or to exclude others the way my opponent does.”
Overt U.S. Antisemitism Returns with Trump, Ye: “Something Is Different”
posted on October 27, 2022Michelle Boorstein and Isaac Arnsdorf of The Washington Post report that antisemitic comments by former President Trump and musician Ye are in line with the long history of antisemitism in the U.S. and around the globe. They write, “What has struck some experts is how blatant the comments about Jews are at a time when incidents of harassment, vandalism and violence against them have been at their highest levels since at least the 1970s.” Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, said, “While at a generalized level, antisemitic attitudes have dropped, the incidents have risen because there is less shame. People feel they can say and do anything.”
Cal State Banned Caste Discrimination. Two Hindu Professors Sued.
posted on October 27, 2022Marisa Iati of The Washington Post reports that two Hindu professors are suing the head of their university system after it banned discrimination based on caste, a form of social hierarchy that originates in South Asia. Iati writes, “The California State University System professors argue that naming caste as a protected characteristic unfairly targets Hindus and wrongly suggests that oppression and discrimination are among Hinduism’s core tenets.” Suhag Shukla, the executive director of the Hindu American Foundation, which is representing the professors, said in an email, “CSU has turned non-discrimination on its head by adding a category that it defines as inherent to an already minoritized community and exclusively polices only that community — Indian and Hindu students and faculty.”