Rap Sheet
Links on R&P from around the web
Close-knit Mosque Community Shaken by Fire
posted on August 8, 2012A fire destroyed a Muslim mosque in southwest Missouri on Monday, CNN reports. While some suspect arson, community members “are sad and shaken, but resolute in their plans to stay in the area.” Fauzia Iqbal, a member of the mosque, says, “[T]here is a lot of shock and disbelief … because we don’t expect this kind of behavior from our fellow citizens.”
Exclusive: Brigham Young’s Great-Great-Granddaughter on Mormonism and Mitt Romney
posted on August 8, 2012The Daily Beast’s Jamie Reno profiles Sue Emmett, the great-great-granddaughter of Brigham Young. Emmett left the LDS Church in 1999 and now is president of the Exmormon Foundation, “which was organized to give support and understanding to those who leave Mormonism.” “The church has astutely created a very benign image to the world,” Emmett says. “But there are things that go on inside the church that are hurtful to women.”
What is Cardinal Dolan Up To?
posted on August 8, 2012Controversy surrounds Cardinal Timothy Dolan inviting President Obama to the annual Al Smith dinner, Charlie Spiering writes for Crisis Magazine. The invitation comes at a time when religious organizations, including the Archdiocese of New York where Dolan is the Archbishop, are suing the Obama administration over the HHS mandate. Spiering asks, “Should the Archbishop associate a fundraiser for Catholic Charities with a leader whose administration remains defiantly opposed to Church moral teachings?”
The Rite of Michelle
posted on August 8, 2012Writing for Real Clear Religion, Maureen Ferguson argues Michelle and Barack Obama have differing views on religious freedom. In a conference last month of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Michelle Obama said, “Our faith journey isn’t just about showing up on Sunday.” Ferguson writes, “President Obama’s Administration was arguing exactly the opposite in the brief it filed in U.S. District Court in Colorado in Newland v. Sebelius.”
I, Nephi
posted on August 8, 2012At The New Yorker, Adam Gopnik chronicles the history of Mormonism and its interactions with American society. According to him, the Book of Mormon is more than a holy text; it is a sacred object “meant to be venerated.” However, “It isn’t the truth of the Book, or the legends of Nephi, that undergird Mormon solidarity even among lapsed or wavering believers,” Gopnik writes, “it’s the memories of what other people were prepared to do in order to prevent your parents from believing.”
Wisconsin Shooter Identified as U.S. Army Veteran
posted on August 7, 2012Law enforcement officials announced that the suspect of the Oak Creek, Wisconsin shooting is Wade Michael Page, a U.S. Army veteran, report Steven Yaccino, Jennifer Preston and Marc Santora for The New York Times. On Sunday, Page engaged in a “shooting rampage that left six people dead and three wounded at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin.” Oak Creek Police Chief John Edwards has not speculated on a motive, but did announce that the incident is being treated as an act of “domestic terrorism.”
Supporters Adopt Mormon Slogan to Campaign for Romney
posted on August 7, 2012Romney supporters in Utah have adopted the Mormon slogan, “Choose The Right,” reports BuzzFeed’s McKay Coppins. The slogan, which is “the functional equivalent of the Christian saying, ‘What would Jesus do?,’” is ubiquitous in Mormon culture, notes Coppins. “We sought a slogan that would simply but directly capture our message and be the focus of our cause,” says Stephen Steele, a leader of the “Choose the Right” group backing Romney’s presidential campaign.
America: Christian or Post-Christian?
posted on August 7, 2012At The American Spectator, Mark Tooley discusses whether the United States is still a “Christian Nation.” A new survey of board members of the National Association of Evangelicals (NEA) found that around “68 percent agreed America is not Christian.” Tooley argues, “Too many religious Americans romanticize America’s religious past while obsessing over the deficiencies of the present.” Tooley cites the late Catholic theologian, Richard John Neuhaus, who famously declared, “America is, as it always has been, an incorrigibly, confusedly, and conflictedly Christian society.”
Read at The American Spectator
Why Obama’s Support for Same-Sex Marriage Won’t Hurt Him among African Americans
posted on August 7, 2012“[T]here is no indication that Obama’s position on same-sex marriage will significantly influence black voters’ decision this November,” writes Robert P. Jones for The Washington Post. A group of black pastors recently announced their plans to campaign against Obama because of his stance on gay marriage. Nevertheless, Jones writes, “There is no evidence that Obama’s support has slipped among the black community since his announcement [backing same-sex marriage].”
French Catholic Church ‘Prayer For France’ Updated to Be against Gay Marriage and Euthanasia
posted on August 7, 2012On August 15, Catholic churches in France will unite in prayer to oppose “the same-sex marriage and euthanasia reforms planned by the new Socialist government,” Tom Heneghan reports for Reuters. Once an annual event, which “fell into disuse after World War Two,” Heneghan writes that church recently decided to revive the “centuries-old custom next week with an updated national ‘prayer for France.'” The prayer’s text includes an admonition to France’s elected officials, “so that their sense of the common good will overcome special demands.”