Rap Sheet
Links on R&P from around the web
Mormon Apologists Gather, But Not to Apologize
posted on August 6, 2012The Deseret News’ Joseph Walker reports on the annual conference of the Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research (FAIR), held last week in Sandy, Utah. While the organization is not directly owned by the LDS Church, FAIR’s mission is to “address the charges leveled at the doctrines, practices and leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with documented responses that are written in an easily understandable style.” “Members of the church are facing a more pressing need to defend the church and to explain difficult issues,” says FAIR’s public relations director, Steve Densley Jr. “FAIR helps meet those needs.”
Bishops Winning Support, Obama Winning Votes in Fight for Catholics
posted on August 3, 2012“The intersection of politics and religion can sometimes resemble one of those spaghetti freeway interchanges,” writes Mitchell Landsberg for the Los Angeles Times. While a majority of Catholics agree with the bishops, that the controversial contraceptive health insurance mandate presents a threat to religious liberty, “Catholic support for Obama has been steadily rising for the last several months,” Landsberg writes.
U.S. and Israel Intensify Talks on Iran Options
posted on August 3, 2012“Israel might be preparing a unilateral military strike on Iran, perhaps as early as this fall,” Elisabeth Bumiller and Jodi Rudoren report for The New York Times. Talk of such an attack has increased in the past month. Bumiller and Rudoren write, “If Iran retaliated by launching missiles at Tel Aviv that killed thousands of Israelis, administration officials say the United States would be under enormous pressure to defend Israel and respond.”
Inside The Abortion Clinic Battle
posted on August 3, 2012At the Jackson Free Press, R.L. Nave profiles Diane Derzis, the owner of the Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Mississippi’s last operating abortion provider. Nave explores Derzis’ struggle for abortion rights in the Deep South. “Derzis is loud, flamboyant and can be brash, making her a perfect target for the forces that wish to end the practice of abortion in America,” Nave writes.
An Icon of Mormon Christianity
posted on August 3, 2012At Patheos, John Turner discusses the Mormon “Christus,” an “eleven-foot statue of the resurrected Jesus,” replicas of which adorn “a large number of Latter-day Saint visitor centers around the world.” Historian Ed Blum has recently called the Christus “an icon of white supremacy.” Turner thinks the statue is better described as “an assertion of Mormon Christianness.”
Ted Cruz’s Deceptive Triumph
posted on August 3, 2012The American Prospect’s Abby Rapoport chronicles the rise of Ted Cruz, the insurgent candidate who won the Republican U.S. Senate primary in Texas, defeating Rick Perry’s lieutenant governor, David Dewhurt. While many pundits have called it a win for the Tea Party, Rapoport argues that Cruz’s success is better understood as a shift away from Rick Perry’s dominance over the Republican Party in Texas. “Cruz’s victory paves the way for other Texas conservatives to emerge,” writes Rapoport.
Jews, Sikhs, Hindus Root for Fellow Believers in Olympics
posted on August 3, 2012At Religion News Service, Omar Sacirbey writes about how Olympic spectators often root for their co-religionists, regardless of nationality. Sacirbey finds that this is especially true for religious minorities. “To see one of your own have this international recognition gives you enormous satisfaction and pride,” says Rabbi Keith Stern of Temple Beth Avodah in Newton Centre, Massachusetts, where U.S. gymnast Aly Raisman worships.
Should Religion be a Factor in Romney’s Veep Pick?
posted on August 3, 2012The Daily Caller’s Matt K. Lewis notes that the 2012 Republican presidential ticket could be the first in history without a Protestant. Of the “five candidates on most vice presidential short-lists,” three are Catholics, Lewis writes. But Thomas Kidd, Senior Fellow at Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion, thinks the religion of Romney’s running mate won’t be “particularly important in this election.”
Buddhists Monks Against Humanitarian Aid?
posted on August 3, 2012Burmese Buddhist monks are “actively preventing humanitarian aid from reaching” the often persecuted “Rohingya Muslims,” an ethnic minority who reside in a western Burmese state, writes Krystina Friedlander for The Huffington Post. Friedlander notes that the common view in “American culture … [is] that Buddhists are, and can only be, nonviolent actors at the mercy of their oppressors.” The situation in Burma shows that like all religions, “[t]he history of Buddhism is bloody, too,” writes Friedlander.
Baptists’ Top Ethics Official Announces Retirement
posted on August 2, 2012Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) has announced that he will retire next year, reports Travis Loller for The Associated Press. The president of the SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberties Commission (ERLC) for almost 25 years, “Land has become the most visible spokesman for the nation’s largest Protestant denomination,” writes Loller. However just months ago, Land was forced to apologize and end his popular radioshow after he made what the board of the ERLC called “hurtful, irresponsible, insensitive, and racially charged’’ comments regarding the Trayvon Martin case.