Rap Sheet
Links on R&P from around the web
Mitt Romney Sides with Rahm Emanuel
posted on September 12, 2012At Commentary, Bethany Mandel writes about the ongoing Chicago Teachers Union strike. According to Chicago’s Mayor, and former Obama administration Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, the work stoppage “is totally unnecessary. It’s avoidable and our kids don’t deserve this.” In what Mandel calls “a surprising turn of events,” Mitt Romney has backed Emanuel. “Teachers unions have too often made plain that their interests conflict with those of our children, and today we are seeing one of the clearest examples yet,” Romney said in a statement to the press.
Faith Leaders to GOP Governors: Don’t Reject Medicaid Funds
posted on September 12, 2012Nick Sementelli of Faith in Public Life writes about a group of religious leaders who are urging Republican governors to accept the expansions to Medicaid that are part of the Affordable Care Act. The religious leaders argue that, if the governors accept this money, it will save their states billions of dollars in uncompensated care costs. “My strong support of Medicaid expansion comes out of my pro-life stance because it is the right and moral thing to do,” says Sister Simone Campbell of NETWORK.
Christian Pastor Freed from Iranian Prison after Three Years Spent Waiting for Execution
posted on September 11, 2012Snejana Farberov reports for The Daily Mail Online about the release of an Iranian Christian pastor who had been sentenced to death for attempting to register a home-based church. Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani garnered the support of the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), President Obama, the European Union, and more than 3 million Twitter users who voiced their support through the “Tweet for Youcef” Twitter campaign. “Pastor Youcef’s story is an example of how the world can join together to ensure that justice is served and freedom preserved,” said Jordan Sekulow, ACLJ’s executive director.
Forget the Economy—Romney Campaigns on God, NASCAR, and Conservative Values
posted on September 11, 2012At Buzzfeed, McKay Coppins writes that the Romney campaign has appeared to shift its focus from the economy to so-called “culture war” issues. Though the campaign denies these topics will be central, the candidate has recently appeared alongside prominent social conservatives. At a rally in rural Virginia with Pat Robertson, Romney said, “I will not take God out of the name of our platform, I will not take God off our coins, and I will not take God out of my heart!”
Among the Believers
posted on September 11, 2012At The New Republic, Mark Noll, a member of R&P’s editorial advisory board, reviews T.M. Luhrmann’s book When God Talks Back: Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship with God. In order to explore evangelical Christians’ prayer life and beliefs, Luhrmann went “native” by doing ethnographic work in Vineyard churches. Noll praises Luhrmann’s empathetic yet in-depth account. He writes , “The triumph of When God Talks Back is its virtuosic display of sophisticated social scientific expertise combined with an unusual degree of interpretive modesty that allows both skeptics and believers to read the book as reinforcing their own views.”
GOP Has Rare Shot of Winning House Seat in Mass.
posted on September 11, 2012NPR’s Curt Nickisch reports on an unusual Massachusetts congressional race between an openly gay Republican and an incumbent Democrat whose reputation has been tainted by a family scandal. Richard Tisei, the GOP candidate, has served in the state legislature for 26 years and has a record of working across the aisle. “When Gov. Romney was here, I voted with him half the time, and I voted against him half the time. … I have no problem working with Nancy Pelosi,” Tisei says. “Just because she’s in the opposition, I’m not gonna poke her in the eye.”
Christian Believers Called on to Vote with Faith
posted on September 11, 2012Gavin Off of the Charlotte Observer reports that this past Sunday, following the Democratic National Convention, an area church held a simulcast to encourage voters to elect Christians this November. Co-hosted by the Family Research Council and American Family Association, “iPledge Sunday: A Call to Faith, Family and Freedom” was held at Charlotte’s First Baptist Church and “broadcast to some 2,500 churches and groups.” Former GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum was a featured speaker.
Gabriel Vahanian, Professor, Dies at 85; Was Linked to ‘Death of God’ Movement
posted on September 11, 2012The New York Times’ Paul Vitello reports on the death of Gabriel Vahanian who was one of the leaders of the “Death of God” movement. Mr. Vahanian’s religious thinking was often misunderstood as a Nietzsche-like announcement of God’s death. However, Mr. Vahanian was a churchgoing Presbyterian throughout his life. He believed that “[i]t is easier to understand oneself without God than with God … The existence of God, no longer questioned, has become useless to man’s predicament and its resolution.”
Altar Calls in Charlotte
posted on September 11, 2012Jeffrey Weiss writes for Real Clear Religion about the contrasting role religion played at the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. Weiss asserts that the DNC made some attempt to include non-believers and those of faiths other than Christianity while the Republican convention made no effort to include any faith other than Christianity. Weiss points out the diversity of speakers at the DNC, which included representatives from the African Methodist Episcopal Church and Conservative Judaism. “I wonder what the reaction would have been in Tampa if the GOP had invited, say, a bishop from the Episcopal Church in America to offer a prayer,” Weiss writes.
Cardinal Carlo Martini: The Last Liberal Catholic Bishop?
posted on September 11, 2012At the Huffington Post, Alessandro Speciale writes about the recent death of Cardinal Carlo Martini and the void that his death has left within the liberal wing of the Catholic Church. Cardinal Martini called for church reform on issues that many within the Vatican shied away from, such as homosexuality and priestly celibacy. Martini’s unique stance “allowed him to be an independent voice in the church that prizes conformity to tradition” writes Speciale.