Rap Sheet
Links on R&P from around the web
The Supreme Court and Same-Sex Marriage Cases
posted on September 21, 2012For The New Yorker, Jeffrey Toobin examines the possible same-sex marriage cases that the Supreme Court might choose to hear in the upcoming year. The court’s choice of which case to take on will dictate the greater implications of their ensuing decision. Toobin explains, “[H]ow the justices decide to approach the issue … may make all the difference in the result.”
Colorado’s ‘Deeply Spiritual’ Chimney Rock to be a National Monument
posted on September 21, 2012At NPR, Mark Emmot reports that the 4,700-acre Chimney Rock Archaeological Area in southwestern Colorado will be designated a national monument. Approximately 1,000 years ago, the area was inhabited by the ancestors of the modern Pueblo Indians, and still remains culturally and spiritually important to these tribes. Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet calls Chimney Rock “a rare combination of a spectacular geologic formation with extraordinary cultural, historical and archaeological significance.”
Religion and the Campaign, According to Pew
posted on September 21, 2012Mark Silk of Religion News Service examines the religious angle of a series of new election polls conducted by Pew, indicating that President Obama has strengthened his lead. Silk breaks down the shifts in support among the major Christian religious dominations. The results “cast some interesting light on how religion is factoring into the electorate’s preferences,” writes Silk.
Obama’s Religious Freedom Ad Points to Issue’s Significance
posted on September 21, 2012At EWTN News, Michelle Bauman reports on President Obama’s new advertisement in which he stresses the importance of religious freedom. In the new ad, Obama claims that his “commitment to protecting religious liberty is and always will be unwavering.” Eric Scheidler, executive director of the Pro-Life Action League and co-director of the nationwide Stand Up for Religious Freedom rallies, remains skeptical. “[The ad is] nothing but empty words,” Scheidler said. “I don’t think anyone’s going to buy it.”
Some Religious Leaders See a Threat as Europe Grows More Secular
posted on September 21, 2012For The New York Times, Jack Ewing chronicles the growing debate over circumcision in Germany, and its larger implications for religious freedom in Europe. Ewing profiles Rabbi David Goldberg, “a jovial 64-year-old Israeli” who performs circumcisions in Germany where the religious rite has recently been outlawed. Ewing observes that the tensions between the religious and the secular have become ingrained in European society. “The dispute reflects the ever deeper secularization of European life that, in the eyes of some religious leaders, had mutated into a form of intolerance,” writes Ewing.
The End of WASP-Dominated Politics
posted on September 20, 2012At NPR, Allan Greenblatt writes about the historical significance of the 2012 presidential race in which neither political party has a “WASP” on the ticket. According to Greenblatt, this is especially notable for the GOP. “Just looking at Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, you might not think of them as cultural pioneers,” writes Greenblatt. “But the Republicans make up the first presidential ticket in history not to feature a Protestant.”
Free Speech in the Muslim World? Ask the Egyptian TV Station That First Aired the Anti-Islam Movie
posted on September 20, 2012At The Atlantic, Steve Inskeep writes, “For all the damage that mobs and armed groups have done in majority-Muslim nations in the past week, there is one target that they missed.” Inskeep suggests, “[I]t’s more illuminating to focus on Al Nas TV,” which first broadcast the Film in Egypt, than to study the filmmakers of the controversial film. “The station’s story even suggests one possible answer to the problem of offensive speech in a number of volatile majority-Muslim societies,” writes Inskeep.
Review: ‘Notes on a Century: Reflections of a Middle East Historian’
posted on September 20, 2012Warren Bass reviews Bernard Lewis’ memoir, Notes on a Century: Reflections of a Middle East Historian. Bass, who studied in the office of the acclaimed historian, praises all that Lewis has contributed to the development of the Middle East and its history. “[W]e will not find anyone to fill his chair,” writes Bass.
Jewish Numbers in Congress Set to Plunge
posted on September 20, 2012Current Congressional election polls suggest that the number of Jewish members of Congress could drop to the lowest level in decades, reports Josh Nathan-Kazis for The Jewish Daily Forward. This decline may be the result of population shifts away from Northeastern states, which elect the most Jewish members. However, Nathan-Kazis also notes that the drop in Jewish congressional members may be nothing more than coincidence, a result of “fluke incidents and retirements.”
Read at The Jewish Daily Forward
Free Speech or Incitement? French Magazine Runs Cartoons of Mohammed
posted on September 20, 2012At CNN, Jim Bittermann, Pierre Meilhan and Holly Yan report that after a week of protests in the Middle East over an anti-Muslim film, the French magazine Charlie Hebdo has published an inflammatory cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed. Stephane Charbonnier, director of the magazine known for its “outrageous humor,” stated that the cartoon was meant to simply “comment (on) the news in a satirical way.” The head of the Grand Mosque in Paris, Dalil Boubakeur, has denounced the cartoons “in the strongest possible terms.”