Rap Sheet
Links on R&P from around the web
The Fake ‘Holy War’ over Donald Trump’s ‘Get Even’ Advice
posted on October 5, 2012At Christianity Today, Karen Swallow Prior writes about the fallout from Donald Trump’s recent remarks at Liberty University. At the evangelical university founded by Jerry Falwell, Trump “hedgingly suggested to over 10,000 students in attendance to ‘get even’ in order to succeed.” Some have perceived Trump’s comments to be at odds with Liberty’s Christian teachings. However at Liberty, the reaction has been more subdued. Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. explained, “At Liberty we like to think we have a free exchange of ideas. It’s their job … to discern what is good advice and what is not. If you don’t learn that in college, when do you learn it?”
Romney Goes on Offense, Forcing Obama to Defend Record
posted on October 4, 2012The Washington Post‘s Dan Balz and Amy Gardner debrief on last night’s debate, calling Mitt Romney “energetic,” “well prepared and aggressive.” They note the debate was civil, substantive, and mostly focused on fiscal issues. They write, “The debate is likely to give Romney what he needed most, which is a fresh look from voters—at least those who are undecided or open to changing their minds—and will change the conversation about the campaign, which for the past two weeks has been tilted in the president’s favor.”
Shiite Muslims Quietly Establish a Foothold in U.S.
posted on October 4, 2012The number of Shiite Muslim mosques in the United States has steadily increased in the past two decades, reports Omar Sacirbey for Religion News Service. Chronicling the relationship between Sunnis and Shiites, Sacirbey believes this influx is a result of recent persecution abroad and in America, as well as financial success. “While American mosques once offered a reliable refuge from this persecution,” writes Sacirbey, “Shiite immigrants who have come more recently have found some mosques unwelcoming to their creed.”
Why “Pulpit Freedom Sunday” Misses the Point
posted on October 4, 2012For The Christian Century, Allan Bevere, a pastor, examines “Pulpit Freedom Sunday,” the movement on October 7 in which many pastors will endorse and oppose presidential candidates from their pulpits in violation of their tax exempt status. By bringing politics to the pulpit, Bevere argues that the protest movement “undermines and distorts the preaching of the gospel and the very character of the gospel itself.” Bevere concludes, “There are those who think candidates for political office are too important to ignore from the pulpit. I say they are not significant enough to mention.”
In Presidential Debates, Will Obama, Romney Address Matters of Faith?
posted on October 4, 2012The Washington Post’s Jacques Berlinerblau looks at the role of religion in the presidential campaigns, as well as possible scenarios for religion to surface in the presidential debates. Berlinerblau notes that both candidates have been “relatively muted” on religious issues this election cycle, indicating just “how tremendously combustible this faith and values business can be.”
Faith Leaders Sound Off on Role of Church in Public Education
posted on October 4, 2012Tomeka Jones of CNN reports on the Stand Up Education Policy Summit in Atlanta. The event is a “call for action for clergy to take part in the national movement to transform public education,” says Jones, who interviews prominent religious leaders in the African-American community to discover their views “on the role faith institutions should play in public education.” Bishop Charles Blake, a bishop and pastor in Los Angeles, stated, “I think churches should become acquainted [with] the schools that are in their community.”
What Do the Amish Think of a Mormon Presidential Candidate?
posted on October 4, 2012Amish political views are examined in The Economist’s Lexington notebook. Through a series of interviews and personal interactions, the investigation finds that the Amish wholeheartedly support Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, portraying Mormons as “fair and square businessmen.” However, despite a presidential visit by Bush in his 2004 campaign, the Amish in Pennsylvania will by no means be the swing vote: “Mr. Romney, who is trailing in the polls in Pennsylvania, should not perhaps pin too much hope on the Amish vote, though. Perhaps a thousand are registered to vote, I was told.”
Our Jerusalem
posted on October 4, 2012At The New York Times, Shmuel Rosner writes about Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ U.N. speech last week. Despite reports that Abbas promised Jewish-American leaders that he would show more sensitivity to Jewish claims to Jerusalem in his speech, Rosner finds Abbas’ speech to be a “disappointment.” Abbas only made a “subtle acknowledgement” of the importance of Jerusalem to Judaism. Rosner observes the implications of this “rhetorical trick” for future relations: “If after asking Jewish leaders to watch his speech, Abbas could only give them this meek acknowledgment of their ties to Israel, the long road to peace may be very long indeed.”
Who Closed the American Mind?
posted on October 4, 2012For The American Conservative, Patrick Deneen analyzes Allan Bloom’s 1987 book The Closing of the American Mind, placing it in a modern context, where Bloom’s worry that society was entering an “age of indifference” has been made manifest. Deneen finds the widespread label of Bloom as a conservative to be misguided. In fact, Deneen argues, the book “was, ultimately, more reckless than many of its readers realized at the time—not because it was conservative, but precisely because it rejected the conservative impulses to modesty, prudence, the genius of place, and tradition.”
Read at The American Conservative
Both Candidates Leave God Off the Campaign Trail
posted on October 3, 2012“Religion used to be everywhere in the presidential elections … What a difference a few years make,” reports NPR’s Barbara Bradley Hagerty. Both Mitt Romney and President Obama appear to be putting less emphasis on their faiths this election cycle; the shift is not surprising given religion has been “a minefield for both candidates.” While Romney may be able to rely on conservative religious voters, Obama, according to Hagerty’s sources, has a split among his advisors – those who want to court religious voters and those who see them as too demanding and uncertain. “And so it seems the energy is shifting to shoring up the base of women voters, and union voters and other kinds of voters that are a more reliable constituency,” says David Gushee, the director of Mercer University’s Center for Theology and Public Life.