Rap Sheet
Links on R&P from around the web
Holy See Forges Consensus around Human Dignity at Rio+20
posted on June 22, 2012At the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, The Holy See “has taken a strong stance against reproductive-rights language,” writes The National Review’s Elyssa Koren. While the Vatican was “a lone voice in a sea of silence [on this issue]” during the conference, Koren notes that many “states were willing to join forces with the Holy See in the affirmation of the value of human life.”
Southern Baptists Elect Fred Luter as First Black President
posted on June 21, 2012On Tuesday, the Southern Baptist Convention elected Rev. Fred Luter as the organization’s first black president, reports Adelle M. Banks for Religion News Service. After Hurricane Katrina, Luter turned a struggling New Orleans church into one of the denomination’s largest. Banks writes, “Many have tied Luter’s election to the need for greater evangelism among racial and ethnic minorities as the denomination suffered its fifth consecutive year of membership decline.”
What If Mitt Romney Were Jewish?
posted on June 21, 2012At Bloomberg, Jeffrey Goldberg challenges the claim made by Romney spokeswoman, Andrea Saul, that if Mitt Romney were Jewish, reporters wouldn’t describe his religion as strange. Goldberg notes that when Joseph Lieberman, a self-described “observant” Jew, was Al Gore’s running mate in 2000, “the newspapers were filled with tales of his religious practices,” including his morning prayer ritual. “The practices and origin stories of most religions, when viewed by outsiders, all seem fairly strange,” Goldberg writes.
Buddhism and the Brain
posted on June 21, 2012At Seed, David Weisman describes the intersection between neuroscience and Buddhism. “Neuroscience tells us the thing we take as our unified mind is an illusion, that our mind is not unified and can barely be said to ‘exist’ at all.” Weisman writes that Buddhist thought echoes this axiom of neuroscience: “[Buddhists] believe in an impermanent and illusory self made of shifting parts.”
Q&A: Marco Rubio on His Faith of Many Colors
posted on June 21, 2012At Christianity Today, Sarah Bailey interviews Florida Senator, Marco Rubio, on the variety of his religious experiences, including “his brief time in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, his baptism into the Roman Catholic Church, and his ties to an evangelical church.” When asked about those who suggest President Obama isn’t a “real Christian,” Rubio responded, “One key thing about Christianity is that it requires voluntary acceptance of faith. If someone says he is a Christian, it is a sign of Christianity in and of itself.”
West Bank Mosque Is Set Ablaze and Vandalized
posted on June 21, 2012A mosque in the West Bank was burned and vandalized on Tuesday, reports Jodi Rudoren and Khaled Abu Aker for The New York Times. Many suspect that “radical” Israeli settlers committed the arson, an act that highlights the growing tension in the disputed territory among the settlers, local Palestinians, and the Israeli government. Earlier this year, Israel’s Supreme Court ordered that settlers evacuate the settlement of Ulpana by July 1, a ruling that made the village “a flash point in the larger debate over settlements.”
Belief in Hell Lowers Crime Rate
posted on June 21, 2012A new international study by University of Oregon psychologist, Azim F. Shariff, found that believing in heaven and hell correlates to a country’s crime rate, reports The Huffington Post. According to Shariff, “a nation’s rate of belief in hell predicts lower crime rates, but the nation’s rate of belief in heaven predicts higher crime rates.” Based on his findings, Shariff speculates that, “it’s possible that people who don’t believe in the possibility of punishment in the afterlife feel like they can get away with unethical behavior. There is less of a divine deterrent.”
Trials of Jerry Sandusky and William Lynn: Coaches, Cardinals, Cowardice and Courage in Pennsylvania
posted on June 21, 2012Writing for The Washington Post, Mathew N. Schmalz examines the trials of Jerry Sandusky and Monsignor William Lynn, both of which involve child abuse. Schmalz raises questions about the moral responsibility of those who witness such abuse. “[H]onestly acknowledging moral cowardice can lead us to a fuller understanding of what moral courage can and does mean–both in extreme circumstances and in the normal, often unexamined, course of our daily lives.”
Justice for Holocaust Survivors
posted on June 21, 2012At Politico, Annette Lantos, widow of Holocaust survivor, Rep. Tom Lantos, criticizes Jewish groups that oppose a bill to allow America’s Holocaust survivors “to seek justice in U.S. courts” from European insurance companies that have failed to pay out policies bought before World War II. According to Lantos, “half the Holocaust survivors in this country live in poverty and can’t afford sufficient health care, nutrition, shelter, home care and other basic necessities.” Allowing them to litigate, Lantos argues, will give “closure and justice” to the victims.
Who Are the Copts?
posted on June 20, 2012The recent political strife in Egypt has brought that nation’s Christians closer together, reports Jayson Casper for Christianity Today. While 90 percent of the country’s Christian population is Coptic Orthodox, Egypt also has “Protestants and Catholics [who] have had an up-and-down relationship with the dominant Orthodox Church,” writes Casper. However the country’s turmoil has led to new, trans-denominational alliances, says Atef Gendy, president of Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo. “After the revolution, there is a different spirit due to the Islamist pressures.”