Rap Sheet
Links on R&P from around the web
Jewish Faith, Circumcision, and Religious Freedom
posted on July 4, 2012At First Things, Robert P. George encourages Christians to be “particularly outspoken in defending the rights of Jews and the Jewish people” in light of a recent German court decision that ruled circumcision inflicts bodily harm, and is therefore a punishable offense. According to George, “to prohibit [circumcision] is, in effect, to forbid Jews from being Jews.” George calls the ruling “an outrageous assault on the religious liberty and the rights of conscience of Jews” and other religious communities that practice circumcision.
Turkey’s ‘Islamists’ Remarkably Like Republicans
posted on July 4, 2012The Atlantic’s Robert Wright draws parallels between Turkey’s AKP political party and American Republican Party. Initially, Republicans were wary of the AKP, as some GOP leaders saw the AKP as “one more manifestation of the Islamic fundamentalism.” But Wright notes that both groups advocate banning abortion and believe that “the educational system should be more amenable to expressions of religiosity in the classroom.” According to Wright, the AKP and Republicans both rest “on two seemingly paradoxical pillars: the affluent commercial class and lower-income, religiously conservative voters.”
Egyptian Elections
posted on July 4, 2012At The Immanent Frame, a series of scholars respond to the question, “To what extent do current depictions of the Egyptian situation reproduce the simplistic narrative of the ‘Brotherhood’ versus the ‘Army’ as the only options worth discussing?” Offering one response, Mohammad Fadel, a law professor at the University of Toronto, notes that the Egyptian revolutionaries are a diverse and dynamic group of competing movements, and not just the secular and pro-western set most often depicted in the American media. With both Islamist and non-Islamist revolutionaries influencing their country’s future, “Egypt will continue to trod a path leading it to an era of ever increasing political pluralism and democratic politics.”
The Mormon Lens on American History
posted on July 4, 2012According to The New York Times’ Jennifer Schuessler, there is a “growing cadre of young scholars of Mormonism” who are capitalizing on the “Mormon moment,” sparked in part by Mitt Romney’s candidacy. “Books relating to Mormon history are appearing in the catalogs of top academic presses” while sociologists, philosophers and gender studies scholars are also studying the LDS Church. Patrick Mason, the chairman of Mormon studies at Claremont Graduate University in California, notes that “people are seeing right now that Mormonism is a great laboratory for studying all kinds of questions about religion and the modern world.”
Catholic Bishop Contradicts USCCB; Wishes Health Care Law Were Repealed
posted on July 4, 2012In an interview with the National Catholic Register, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia appears to break with the U.S. Catholic Bishops’ “official stance of not supporting repeal of the Affordable Care Act,” Nick Sementelli writes for Faith in Public Life. During the interview, Chaput stated, “There’s no declaration on the part of the Church that [healthcare] has to be accomplished through government intervention.” Sementelli criticizes the archbishop, writing that “Chaput’s argument sounds more like that of a Tea Party politician than a Catholic prelate.”
Culture Changers
posted on July 4, 2012The Christian Century’s Amy Frykholm interviews historian, David Hollinger, regarding “the contributions and successes of ecumenical Protestants in their mid-20th-century encounter with diversity.” Guided by the commitments to their “own theological tradition,” Protestant leaders in the 1950s and 1960s, Hollinger says, paved the way for America’s current reverence for cultural and racial diversity. The “ecumenical leaders took a series of risks, asking their constituency to follow them in antiracist, anti-imperialist, feminist and multicultural directions that were understandably resisted by large segments of the white public, especially in the Protestant-intensive southern states,” Hollinger notes.
Mormons’ Love-Hate Relationship with America
posted on July 4, 2012At Religion News Service, Peggy Fletcher Stack outlines the history of Mormonism in America, noting times of acceptance as well as conflict between Mormons and other Americans. Stack writes, “After Utah statehood in 1896 … Mormons became superpatriots to show the country their loyalty,” a sentiment seen today in the pro-American rhetoric of many Mormons, including Mitt Romney who “repeatedly lauds the crucial role this country has to play in human history.”
Why a President’s Faith May Not Matter
posted on July 3, 2012CNN’s John Blake analyzes the implications of a question posed by historian Darrin Grainder: “Does a president’s religious faith make any difference in how he governs?” Grainder doesn’t think so, saying, “If I asked George W. Bush what he thought about torture, I think outside the presidency he would say he hates it,” due to his religion, but would allow it for “American security.” However, Grainder admits it will be a long time before an atheist or agnostic is elected president because Americans “tie character and religious beliefs together.”
Nuns on the Bus Sister: Women Religious Respond to Real-World Struggles
posted on July 3, 2012At National Catholic Reporter, Sr. Simone Campbell writes about her journey with the Nuns on the Bus campaign that just ended after its two-week duration. The tour ended on Monday in Washington D.C., where Sr. Campbell and others lobbied “on Capitol Hill for the most vulnerable in our society.” She writes, “We need more prophetic leaders who can speak truth to power, challenge both parties and put the common good back at the center of our political debates.”
Read at National Catholic Reporter
With Health-Care Battle Not Yet Over, Obama Must Reach Out to Religious Leaders
posted on July 3, 2012At The Washington Post, Lisa Miller writes that Obama has failed to “create alliances with conservative religious leaders on health care.” She notes that over half of Americans think the Affordable Care Act should be repealed despite being upheld by the Supreme Court. She writes, “[O]n the level of stating unifying moral principles for the country, of conveying his deep feeling about our responsibility to care for the least of these, which knows no party, the president has failed.”