Rap Sheet
Links on R&P from around the web
A Vibrant, but Different, Future for Religion in the U.S.
posted on December 13, 2012For The Washington Post, Frank Newport, the editor-in-chief of Gallup, looks at the future of religion in the United States, as well as its political implications. While the religious makeup of the country is changing, Newport believes that religion will continue to play an important role: “Religion remains a fundamentally potent and prevalent force in American society today—and one that is likely to remain so in the years ahead.”
The Forever Wars of Frederick & Kimberly Kagan
posted on December 13, 2012For The American Conservative, Philip Giraldi advocates for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. He dispels the notion that the United States has any justification to stay in the country, an argument made by Kimberly and Fred Kagan in a recent op-ed piece. Giraldi writes, “But the op-ed also demonstrates that the Kagans continue to be clueless over the question they raise in their title: ‘why’ we Americans are in Afghanistan at all…”
Read at The American Conservative
Can God Save Egypt?
posted on December 13, 2012As the situation continues to deteriorate, Thomas Friedman at The New York Times considers the current unrest in Egypt. He believes that the conflict will not be settled until the opposition, who cares more than simply about religion, is completely satisfied. Friedman writes, “The real fight here is about freedom, not religion.”
Is There Such a Thing as the Female Conscience?
posted on December 12, 2012At The Virginia Quarterly Review, Jean Bethke Elshtain, professor of ethics at the University of Chicago, explores the evolution of the understanding of female conscience throughout history. Speaking of Plato, Aristotle, and ancient philosophy, Elshtain writes, “Every subsequent dispute or dialogue about gender and virtue and conscience owes something to these early formulations.” She continues, “This dispute about female conscience was repeated again and again in Western philosophy over the centuries, even as Christianity triumphed and Scripture declared that men and women were moral equals … But that did not mean women were deemed capable of serving universal truths in the way of men. The spirit of the age was too firmly oriented otherwise. Feminism itself fell victim to gendered categories laid down many centuries before. Indeed, when it came to virtue, even thinkers whose overriding concerns differed dramatically from the Greeks’ were unable to shake the stranglehold of their forefathers’ assumptions about gender.”
Read at The Virginia Quarterly Review
Religious Monument Gets a Sidekick: Bill of Rights
posted on December 12, 2012Fernanda Santos of The New York Times reports on the installment of a Bill of Rights monument, consisting of limestone slabs engraved with the amendments, which will overlook the Arizona State Capitol. Chris Bliss, a stand-up comedian, decided to spearhead the installment 10 years ago when he discovered a controversy over a monument of the Ten Commandments in the rotunda of Alabama’s state judicial building. “Instead of arguing over whether to leave up or take down these displays of the Ten Commandments,” read Bliss’s ensuing comedy routine, “my suggestion is to put up displays of the Bill of Rights next to them and let people comparison shop.”
“Choose Life” License Plate Ruled Unconstitutional in North Carolina
posted on December 12, 2012A federal judge has ruled that North Carolina’s “Choose Life” license plates are unconstitutional because no abortion rights equivalent is offered, reports Joe Sutton of CNN. “This is a great victory for the free speech rights of all North Carolinians, regardless of their point of view on reproductive freedom,” said Chris Brook of the ACLU. “The government cannot create an avenue of expression for one side of a contentious political issue while denying an equal opportunity to citizens with the opposite view.”
Despite Turmoil, Major Lending Effort Aims to Boost Egypt, Arab Neighbors
posted on December 12, 2012The Washington Post‘s Howard Schneider reports the United States and a coalition of international lenders are poised to give loans to Egypt and neighboring Arab states whose delicate economies desperately need monetary infusion. However, clashes between protestors and supporters of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi are bringing further uncertainty, creating more risk for the lenders. Schneider writes that creditors are left to decide if they should “[t]ake a chance on Morsi, or leave the country without a lifeline and surrender the ability to influence the government’s direction,”
Orrin Hatch on a Mission to Show Mormons Are Christians, Too
posted on December 12, 2012At U.S. News & World Report, Elizabeth Flock writes about Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch’s efforts to increase awareness and correct false assumptions that exist about Mormonism and the LDS Church. In his new book An American, A Mormon and A Christian, Hatch emphasizes that Mormons are Christians despite the key differences between Mormonism and mainstream Christian doctrine. In response to accustations that Mormonism is a cult, Hatch responded, “That’s totally wrong. [As a Mormon] you can hardly move without hearing the name of Jesus Christ. We’re fervent believers in Jesus Christ.”
Read at U.S. News & World Report
Queer Today, Gone Tomorrow
posted on December 12, 2012William Saletan of Slate chronicles the LDS Church’s evolving stance on gay marriage. In 2008, the church provided half of the money and 90 percent of the early campaign volunteers to pass California’s Proposition 8. Recently though, the church seems to be softening their position: they avoided fighting gay marriage laws in the 2012 election and unveiled a new website, mormonsandgays.org, which profiles gay Mormons. “Is it crazy to suppose that Mormons, the fiercest fighters against gay marriage, would yield to such a reversal? They’ve done it before,” Saletan writes. “In 1978, it scrapped its ban on blacks in the priesthood. Mormonism is a young, dynamic religion open to revelations in which broader cultural transformations suddenly appear in the voice of God.”
Nechemya Weberman Guilty of Sexually Abusing Girl He Was Counseling
posted on December 12, 2012At The Daily Beast, Allison Yarrow reports on the conviction of Nechemya Weberman, an unlicensed counselor within the ultraorthodox Satmar Jewish community, who was found guilty of sexual abuse. Many within the Satmar community are still supporting Weberman despite the scandal. Yarrow quotes Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum, a leader in the Satmar community, who earlier this week said in a public address, “A Jewish daughter has descended so low, terrible! Is our sister to be like a whore? When they go down, they go down to the ground.”