Rap Sheet
Links on R&P from around the web
Why Is NCAA Taking Sex Abuse More Seriously than Catholic Church?
posted on July 26, 2012At CNN, Stephen Prothero discusses the different ways that the Catholic Church and the NCAA have responded to their respective child abuse scandals. Prothero approves of the NCAA’s discipline of Penn State University, writing that the NCAA “sided quickly and definitively with the victims.” Prothero also criticizes the Catholic Church, which he writes “did not respond to its crisis with either the speed or the firmness of the NCAA.”
Young Evangelicals Stepping Up on Climate Action
posted on July 26, 2012Ben Lowe reports for Sojourners that Young Evangelicals for Climate Action (YECA), an advocacy group founded “by a core group of evangelical students and young professionals,” launched this week. The group seeks to reduce pollution by appealing to religious and political leaders. Lowe writes, “YECA has come to see the climate crisis … as a pressing challenge to justice and freedom.”
Tony Blair: ‘The West is Asleep on the Issue of Islamist Extremism’
posted on July 26, 2012At The Telegraph, Charles Moore interviews former English Prime Minister Tony Blair on religion and its interaction with politics. A Catholic convert, Blair is “interestingly discreet” about his personal religious experiences. Instead, Moore writes, “What interests [Blair] is that, as ‘a person of faith,’ he has ‘a connection with people of faith.’ He sees himself as their interpreter.” Blair is also worried about the implications of the revolutionary changes in the Arab world, which has brought the Muslim Brotherhood into increased power. ”[T]he people without the loudest voices are desperate for our leadership,’’ Blair explains.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Stephen Colbert to Star in Catholic Comedy Slam
posted on July 26, 2012New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert will host “a panel on faith and humor this September at Fordham University in the Bronx, N.Y.,” reports Religion News Service’s David Gibson. Both men are known for their humor, and Colbert is a lifelong Catholic who teaches Sunday school, “a far cry from the right-wing blunderbuss he portrays on his popular cable show,” writes Gibson. Cardinal Dolan says the purpose of the event is to challenge “the caricature of the Catholic Church as crabby, nay-saying, [and] down in the dumps.” “I’m thinking if there is anything that should be upbeat, affirming, positive, joyful, it should be people of faith,” explains the Cardinal.
Scientology Did Not Violate Forced Labor Law, Appeals Court Rules
posted on July 26, 2012A federal appeals court has ruled that “Scientology did not violate a labor law by failing to pay for the work of two former members of the church’s Sea Organization,” Maura Dolan reports for the Los Angeles Times. According to the ruling, the plaintiffs, Marc and Claire Headley, were aware that the organization required unpaid labor. Writing for the court, Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain stated that the plaintiffs worked for Sea Organization “because they believed that it was the right thing to do.”
Speaking Up for Birth Control
posted on July 26, 2012At Inside Higher Ed, Libby A. Nelson reports on the three philosophy graduate students at the University of Notre Dame who have formed a petition opposing Notre Dame’s lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Notre Dame is suing HHS over the Affordable Care Act’s mandate requiring that employers “cover birth control at no charge as part of their health insurance plans,” writes Nelson. The petitioners state, “By requiring its employees to purchase additional insurance or to pay out of pocket … Notre Dame is effectively utilizing indirect coercion and imposing its religious beliefs and practices on its employees.”
CRS Says Funding for Humanitarian Aid Did Not Violate Church Teaching
posted on July 26, 2012Catholic Relief Services (CRS) has affirmed that its $5.3 million funding of the humanitarian organization CARE in 2010 did not violate Catholic doctrine, Dennis Sadowski reports for Catholic News Service. Sadowski writes that questions arose after online reports claimed that CARE “provides contraceptives to women and other family planning services.” CRS stated that the funding for the program has “strict restrictions on its use,” which prevents the funding from being used to pay for contraceptives.
Msgr. Lynn Sentenced to Three to Six Years in Prison
posted on July 25, 2012After being convicted of child endangerment for his role in covering up clerical sex abuse, Msgr. William J. Lynn has been sentenced to three to six years in prison by a Philadelphia court, reports John P. Martin and Joseph A. Slobodzian for the Philadelphia Inquirer. “The punishment capped a two-hour hearing and a landmark trial, the first for a Catholic church official accused of enabling child-sex abuse,” write Marin and Slobodzian. Judge M. Teresa Sarmina, who handed down the unprecedented sentence, chastised Lynn. “You knew full well what was right, Monsignor, but you chose wrong,” Sarmina said during the hearing.
Read at The Philadelphia Inquirer
Court: School Grads in WI Church Crossed Line
posted on July 25, 2012On Monday, a federal appeals court ruled that a Wisconsin high school, which had been holding its graduation ceremonies in a church, violated the Constitution’s ban on government endorsement of religion, Todd Richmond reports for The Associated Press. Richmond writes that the court ruled “7-3 that symbols in the church, including a giant cross on the wall, conveyed a message that government was endorsing a particular religion.” The school’s attorney, Lori Lubinsky, may appeal to the Supreme Court. “Given the conflict in judicial opinions and given the significance of the decision and the impact on schools nationwide, this case should be reviewed by the highest court in the land,” says Lubinsky.
Politics of Religious Freedom in South Africa
posted on July 25, 2012At The Immanent Frame Waheeda Amien, a senior lecturer in Law at the University of Cape Town, discusses the difference between religious freedom in the U.S. and South Africa. Amien writes that in America, discussions of religious freedom center on “the extent to which religion can be excluded from the public domain,” whereas in South Africa, the debate is over “the extent to which [religion] can be accommodated.”