Rap Sheet
Links on R&P from around the web
Insight: Mormon Church Made Wealthy by Donations
posted on August 14, 2012Writing for Reuters, Peter Henderson estimates that the LDS Church receives $6 billion in tithes from Americans alone, thought the church “appears to be decreasing transparency and member control of donations.” He cites University of Tampa sociologist Ryan Cragun, who says, “Most of the revenue of the religion is from the U.S., and a large percentage comes from an elite cadre of wealthy donors, like Mitt Romney.”
If the Sikh Temple Had Been a Mosque
posted on August 14, 2012At The New York Times, Samuel G. Freedman writes on the growing expectation of violence against Muslim Americans. The news coverage of the Wisconsin Sikh temple shootings “implies that somehow the public would have—even should have—reacted differently had Mr. Page turned his gun on Muslims attending a mosque,” Freedman writes. He quotes Reza Aslan, a religion scholar, who says, “Islamophobia has become so mainstream in this country that Americans have been trained to expect violence against Muslims.”
Adelson’s Ethics
posted on August 14, 2012The Jewish Daily Forward’s editors discuss the ethical position of Sheldon Adelson, the casino magnate who financially supports Mitt Romney. Adelson and his company are under investigation of “allegations of foreign bribery” and are “virulently against unions and organized labor.” The editors ask, “How can we reconcile the values of a participatory democracy with an election system that grants such an obscene amount of power to the very rich, no matter how their money was made?”
Read at The Jewish Daily Forward
Ryan as VP Pick Continues Election Year Focus on Catholicism
posted on August 13, 2012At CNN, Dan Gilgoff and Dan Merica write that the selection of Paul Ryan as the Republican vice presidential candidate means that Catholicism will continue to be in the spotlight this election cycle. “Catholics are considered the quintessential swing vote,” write Gilgoff and Merica, “and no presidential candidate has won the White House without winning Catholics since at least the early 1990s.”
Romney’s Mormon Story
posted on August 13, 2012The New York Times’ Ross Douthat notes the absence of references to Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith as part of his campaign’s effort to introduce the GOP presidential candidate to America. “If Romney were a Presbyterian, Methodist or Jew, this would be an obvious part of his campaign narrative,” writes Douthat. “Like George W. Bush’s midlife conversion or Barack Obama’s tale of ‘race and inheritance,’ Romney’s years as a bishop would be woven into a biography that emphasized his piety and decency.”
Nuns Reject Vatican Takeover but Seek Dialogue on Differences
posted on August 13, 2012Religion News Service’s David Gibson writes that during its meeting in St. Louis last week, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) “rejected Rome’s plans to recast the group in a more conservative mold, but declined–for now–to respond with an ultimatum that could have created an unprecedented schism between the sisters and the hierarchy.” In April, the Vatican chastised the LCWR for promoting what the Catholic hierarchy described as “radical feminism.” The Vatican also assigned a team of bishops with the task of making sure that the American Catholic nuns, as Gibson explains it, “hew more closely and publicly to orthodox teachings on sexuality and theology.”
Thomas Nelson Drops ‘The Jefferson Lies’ Book over Factual Errors
posted on August 13, 2012The Tennessean’s Bob Smietana reports that Thomas Nelson has ceased distribution of the newest book by conservative Christian author, David Barton. “Barton’s book, The Jefferson Lies, claims to expose liberal myths about Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and the nation’s third president,” writes Smietana. “But a group of conservative scholars says Barton’s take on Jefferson is factually untrue. And a group of ministers from Cincinnati called on Nelson to cancel the book.”
Paul Ryan and Liberal Glee
posted on August 13, 2012Commentary’s editor John Podhoretz notes that the selection of Paul Ryan as the GOP’s candidate for vice president has excited both conservatives and liberals alike. Podhoretz characterizes the response from the left as “liberal glee,” which he describes as “an ongoing liberal political-character flaw.” “So insulated are many, if not most, American liberals,” continues Podhoretz, “that they simply presume that which they despise is inherently despicable, and that what they fear is inherently fearful.”
Charges against Morton Grove Man in Connection with Shooting at Mosque
posted on August 13, 2012At The Chicago Tribune, Rosemary R. Sobol and Peter Nickeas report that felony charges have been filed against David Conrad, who allegedly used a “high-velocity air rifle” to shoot at a mosque located in Morton, Illinois. While Ramadan services were underway inside the mosque, “members of the Morton Grove mosque said someone took several shots with an air rifle Friday night at the building’s outer wall,” write Sobol and Nickeas.
Tea Party Takes Over Alabama Public TV
posted on August 13, 2012At Salon, Alex Seitz-Wald reports on the efforts of conservative members on the board of Alabama’s public television network to take control of the network’s programming. Over objections from the network’s staff, the public television network’s politically-appointed commission sought to air videos by the controversial historian, David Barton, whose claims about the religious commitments of America’s Founding Fathers have been roundly discredited, even by conservative historians. “Though the controversy has been largely missed by the national media thus far, it gets at the heart of key questions about religion in public life and government spending that have gripped the nation in the Obama era,” writes Seitz-Wald.