Rap Sheet
Links on R&P from around the web
Catholic Church Closes London’s Gay-friendly “Soho Masses”
posted on January 3, 2013The Catholic Church plans to end gay-friendly masses in a central London church, reports Tom Heneghan at Reuters. The church, which has held the services since 2007, is located in Soho, a neighborhood at “the heart of London’s gay scene.” Heneghan writes, “Conservative Catholics in Britain have long complained to the Vatican about the Soho Masses, saying they flouted Church teaching on homosexuality, and small groups sometimes protested outside the church during the services.”
The Rise of DIY Abortions
posted on January 3, 2013Ada Calhoun at The New Republic considers the implications for U.S. abortion laws in light of the case of an Idaho woman who faced prosecution for her home abortion. With so few abortion clinics available in certain states, Calhoun notes that “while obtaining an abortion at a clinic is becoming harder, home abortion has never been easier or safer.” But risks remain. “Several states have recently passed or are considering legislation to limit access to abortion drugs online and off,” Calhoun writes. “Meanwhile, women continue to purchase abortion drugs on the Web without medical guidance, an undertaking that is more dangerous and fraught. Misuse or fraudulent pills could cause complications.”
Passage of Contraceptives Law in Philippines Shows Times Have Changed for Catholic Church
posted on January 3, 2013Jim Gomez and Teresa Cerojano at The Associated Press report on Filipino President Benigno Aquino III’s approval of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012, which provides state funding for contraceptives, a controversial decision in the highly Catholic country. Gomez and Cerojano believe the law indicates the diminishing influence of the Catholic Church. Giselle Labadan, a practicing Catholic in the Philippines, stated, “People today are more practical. In the old days, people feared that if you defy the church, it will be the end of the world.”
Protestors in the Pews
posted on January 3, 2013For The Christian Century, Kyle Childress writes about the effects of the Keystone XL Pipeline in East Texas on his congregation. Childress finds the situation ironic due to the fact that the construction of the pipeline has attracted young protestors from across the country to the congregation, after years of working and praying for a young adult ministry. Childress writes, “[We] prayed for a young adult ministry, and God sent us these young adults who have led us into a ministry of folly.”
Less, Please
posted on January 3, 2013At Commonweal, Gary Gutting reflects on the relationship of capitalism and happiness, advocating for a return to liberal education to restore “the good life” in modern society. Gutting writes, “But, in a democracy, an ideal of the good life has no force unless the people’s will sustains it. Liberally educated consumers—and voters—are our only hope of subordinating capitalism to a humane vision of the good life.”
The Law: 10 Days to Watch in 2013
posted on January 2, 2013At The Atlantic, Andrew Cohen compiles a list of ten key legal dates to note in the coming year, from the Supreme Court’s hearings on same-sex marriage to the anniversaries of the Birmingham church bombing and the federal siege on the Branch Davidians’ Waco compound.
The Black Orthodox: Double Consciousness and the Pursuit of G-d
posted on January 2, 2013With a photo essay in New York magazine, photographer Wayne Lawrence and writer Molly Langmuir document the lives of Black Orthodox Jews in New York City. Langmuir writes that Lawrence “became interested in photographing black Jews after he moved to Crown Heights, where memories still linger of the 1991 riots.” “It’s not that they identify as black Jews, but the fact that they identify as Orthodox,” Lawrence says. “What was surprising to me is that they’d want to be a part of something that didn’t necessarily want them there.”
The Emancipation of Abraham Lincoln
posted on January 2, 2013Columbia University’s Eric Foner pens an op-ed for The New York Times on the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s signing of the Emancipation Proclamation—which came on New Year’s Day. Foner writes, “The Emancipation Proclamation is perhaps the most misunderstood of the documents that have shaped American history. Contrary to legend, Lincoln did not free the nearly four million slaves with a stroke of his pen. … The proclamation did not end slavery in the United States on the day it was issued. … Nonetheless, the proclamation marked a dramatic transformation in the nature of the Civil War and in Lincoln’s own approach to the problem of slavery. No longer did he seek the consent of slave holders.”
At Home With Norman Podhoretz
posted on January 2, 2013In the latest issue of Moment magazine, Robert S. Greenberger profiles 83-year-old Norman Podhoretz, the Jewish and politically conservative editor and thinker. “He is virtually the last surviving member of the New York Family, a group of mostly Jewish intellectuals who were at the cutting edge of left-wing politics in the middle of the 20th century,” Greenberger writes. “In the 1970s, Podhoretz scandalized the group—and broke permanently with many of his closest friends—by abandoning his long-held leftist views and turning to the political right, taking Commentary, the influential magazine he edited for 35 years, along with him. Later, he became the proud patriarch of a neoconservative family.”
Pope Hopes for 2013 of Peace, Slams Unbridled Capitalism
posted on January 2, 2013At Reuters, Philip Pullella reports from Vatican City on Pope Benedict’s New Year’s message, in which the pontiff lamented “growing instances of inequality between rich and poor.” Pullella writes the Pope “also denounced the prevalence of a selfish and individualistic mindset which also finds expression in an unregulated capitalism, various forms of terrorism and criminality.”