Rap Sheet
Links on R&P from around the web
Scarlet ‘A’ is for ‘Anti-Semitism
posted on November 16, 2012For The Jewish Daily Forward, Eva Illouz discusses why she has been cast aside as anti-Semitic by other Jews. In a recent article, Illouz questioned Israeli policy towards Palestine. Illouz writes, “Finally, in calling any critic of Israel anti-Semitic, some Jews are acting irresponsibly: they make the fight against real anti-Semitism less effective. Surely, there is a difference between moral critique and racial hatred? Between the will to dominate a group and the desire of justice for all?”
Read at The Jewish Daily Forward
Humanists Attempt to Halt ‘Back-door’ Spread of State-funded Religious Schools
posted on November 16, 2012For The Guardian, Peter Walker considers the importance of a new court case in England that could stop the spread of state-funded religious schools without the option for other institutions in the area. Andrew Copson, chief executive of the British Humanist Association, believes that the schools are a reaction to the declining role of religion in the country: “It’s not difficult to see why churches want to have them – they can continue to get their message across. If people aren’t going to come voluntarily to their churches, they can get people in schools, where they have to be.”
What’s the Status of Egypt’s Christians
posted on November 16, 2012With the selection of Tawadros II, the new pope of Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Church, Kirsten Chick of The Christian Science Monitor provides an overview of Christianity in Egypt. Chick looks at the history of the religion in the country, as well as its importance to a budding, but Muslim-dominated democracy. Chick states, “How Christians fare in Egypt could resonate with an embattled population throughout the region.”
Read at The Christian Science Monitor
What is the Biggest Change Evangelical Seminaries Need to Make Right Now?
posted on November 16, 2012For Christianity Today, Dan Kimball, Cheryl Sanders, and Winfield Bevins offer their views on the future of evangelical seminary schools. Cheryl Sanders, a professor of Christian ethics at Howard University, notes, “Nearly 25 percent of schools connected with the Association of Theological Schools are revising their curricula this fall.” Sanders emphasizes the importance of diversity: “By emphasizing diversity and making curricula more flexible and available to a broader range of students, seminaries will be well situated to deal with the diverse churches of America’s future.”
Whose City? Which Hill?
posted on November 16, 2012At The American Conservative, Thomas E. Woods Jr. reviews Richard Gamble’s new book In Search of the City on a Hill, which challenges the assumption about why and how Americans have used the notion of a “city on a hill” as representative of our national identity. In doing so, Woods believes that Gamble’s work opens the debate “between exceptionalists of all sorts on one side and skeptics on the other, that is, between those who believe that the United States is somehow exempt from human finitude, the lust for dominion, and the limits of resources and power, and those who do not.”
Read at The American Conservative
A Mormon Reporter on the Romney Bus
posted on November 15, 2012For BuzzFeed, McKay Coppins, a Mormon, discusses his experiences as a reporter following Mitt Romney’s campaign. Coppins examines the evolution of Romney’s relationship to his Mormon faith, and what his campaign means for the religion. Coppins writes, “[After] a year of crisscrossing the country with Romney—pestering his campaign for answers about his faith, and writing countless Mormonism-for-dummies primers along the way—I couldn’t deny that Romney’s career had provided a national education on his young, American-born faith.”
Would You Vote for an Atheist? Tell the Truth
posted on November 15, 2012Tania Lombrozo of NPR considers the lack of atheist politicians in the United States. Lombrozo finds that many people “distrust” atheism. To combat this, atheist politicians, such as newly-elected Representative Kyrsten Sinema, must be willing to speak openly about it: “Gaining trust often involves disclosure—revealing something about who you are, not just who you aren’t,” Lombrozo writes.
Liberal Catholics Use Elections Results to Battle Bishops
posted on November 15, 2012Citing the results of last Tuesday’s elections, liberal Catholics accuse America’s Catholic bishops of being “out of touch with Catholic laypeople,” reports Dan Merica for CNN. These criticisms are part of an ongoing dispute between the liberal and conservative factions of the church. In a statement, Catholics for Choice President Jon O’Brien wrote, “The bishops had a miserable return on investment of Catholic people’s money and we demand an accounting of how they spent it campaigning on measures that Catholics clearly did not support.”
Arab Upheaval Reaches Israel
posted on November 15, 2012At Tablet, Jonathan Spyer examines the recent uptick in violence on Israel’s borders, with rockets and missiles coming from both Gaza and Syria. Spyer accounts for this “increasing chaos” to “the replacement of rotting secular Arab regimes by an energized Sunni Islamism.” Spyer writes that this situation is producing “renewed disorder and the challenging task facing the [Israeli Defense Force] of building renewed deterrence.”
Archbishop of Canterbury: ‘You Have No Future in the Church’
posted on November 15, 2012For The Telegraph, Cole Moreton profiles Justin Welby, the next Archbishop of Canterbury. Moreton looks at Welby’s fast rise in the Anglican world, as well as how Welby will fare as Archbishop. “Anglicans will know their Archbishop is a man who understands poverty and suffering, understands how money and power work, and knows that he must provide clear, strong leadership,” writes Moreton.