Rap Sheet
Links on R&P from around the web
Beyond Twitter: The Vatican’s Other Communications Revolution
posted on December 6, 2012David Gibson of Religion News Service examines the Vatican’s attempt to modernize its communication with the public. While the Pope recently launched a Twitter feed, Gibson believes that the process will be long and difficult, due to the ingrained culture of the Vatican. Greg Burke, a Fox News reporter hired by the Church to address its media problems, said, “Anyone with extensive dealings in the Vatican knows that things take time here. I’m learning quite a bit, but I think my superiors are as well.”
“Gay Conversion” and the First Amendment
posted on December 6, 2012At The Atlantic, Garrett Epps considers a recent ruling in California that puts on hold a law outlawing “sexual orientation change efforts” (SOCE) by licensed therapists for patients under the age of 18. The new ruling states that the original law violated the First Amendment. Despite the fact public opinion is against the use of this therapy, Epps believes that opponents should have to prove their case: “His opinion, however, did not say that SOCE isn’t harmful. It said that the government has to prove the level of harm before it can ban it.”
Marco Rubio Explains Comments on Age of Earth
posted on December 6, 2012Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) clarified his recent statement that the Earth’s age remains “one of the great mysteries,” Rachel Weiner of The Washington Post writes. In an interview this week, Rubio said that while “God created the Earth,” “scientific advances have given us insight into how he did it and when he did it.”
My Take: The Religious Roots of Our Political Gridlock
posted on December 6, 2012At CNN, Mark Osler examines the current political divide with a religious perspective. Osler argues that the deeply ingrained values of many politicians, originating in their religious beliefs, are a major reason for the divisive nature of the fiscal cliff debates. Nonetheless, Osler is hopeful that recent talks between the parties may prove successful: “This opening may be tinged with a blessed uncertainty, the faint hint that the complexity of politics may be as messy and glorious and private as the complexity of our faiths.”
Women, Immigrants on the Rise in Merkel’s Conservative Makeover
posted on December 6, 2012For Reuters, Stephen Brown and Noah Barkin write about German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s efforts to modernize the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), a traditionally conservative party. Merkel has appointed many women to leadership positions in the German government. On Merkel’s actions, Brown and Barkin write, “Her goal is to avoid the mistakes of conservative parties outside of Germany which have lost power because they failed to mobilise women and immigrants.”
Rick Warren’s Resurrection
posted on December 5, 2012It’s been ten years since the publication of megachurch pastor Rick Warren’s bestselling The Purpose Driven Life. As an anniversary edition comes out, The Daily Beast’s Michelle Cottle profiles Warren, who believes the country is still “in desperate need of some direction and purpose and meaning.” Though he is set to “reboot” with a publicity tour and church campaign, Cottle notes, “It is a tall order—and one that some in the evangelical community doubt Warren still has the juice to pull off. In the past couple of years, Warren’s star has unquestionably dimmed a bit.”
Pakistan Reels With Violence Against Shiites
posted on December 5, 2012Declan Walsh of The New York Times reports that in Pakistan, Sunni gunmen have been attacking and killing Hazaras—Persian-speaking Shiites who emigrated from Afghanistan more than a century ago. While the Pakistani government states they take the threats seriously, Walsh writes, “many analysts see … a fatal ambivalence inside the police and military toward jihadi groups.”
Poll: Most Americans Say Employers Should Cover Contraception
posted on December 5, 2012Religion News Service’s Daniel Burke reports on a new poll from LifeWay Research, which found that “almost two-thirds of Americans (63 percent) believe businesses should be required to provide [birth control] coverage for free, even if contraception conflicts with the owner’s religious ethics.” The Affordable Care Act includes requirements that most employers must provide the coverage, but many Catholic institutions, Christian colleges, and business owners are suing to block the mandate.
The Man Behind Iron Dome
posted on December 5, 2012At Tablet, Eetta Prince-Gibson profiles Amir Peretz, the man behind the development of the Iron Dome defense system, a “paradigmatic shift in Israeli military thinking.” Many of Israeli’s military and political leaders had reservations about creating a defense system. “We call our army, the Israel Defense Forces, but our military strategy has always been built on offensive capabilities,” Peretz told Prince-Gibson. “The military was concerned that defensive strategies would make our enemies think that we are weak.”
The End of the Forty-Year Peace Between Israel and Arab States
posted on December 5, 2012At The New Republic, Robert Satloff writes that the recent conflict in Gaza may mark “the beginning of a new era in the Middle East—one defined by the end of the region’s forty-year peace.” Satloff argues that since 1973, Israel’s threats have come primarily from within rather than from Arab states in the region—a fact that may be changing. Satloff writes, “With Hamas’s strong political backing from regional states, future historians might very well view the Gaza conflict as the first episode of a new era of renewed inter-state competition and, potentially, inter-state conflict in the Arab-Israeli arena.”