Rap Sheet
Links on R&P from around the web
Conservative Leader Agrees to Visit Home of Married Gay Couple for First Time
posted on May 30, 2012At CNN, Dan Gilgoff reports on Tony Perkins’ decision to visit the home of a married same-sex couple. Perkins heads the socially conservative Family Research Council, which “has helped lead a national movement to ban same-sex marriage.” Jennifer Chrisler, executive director of Family Equality Council, invited Perkins to dinner with her and her wife, who have twin boys and a baby on the way. “While I recognize it may not change your mind, I hope that it might soften your heart,” Chrisler wrote in her invitation. “As Christians, I think we can both agree that ours is not to judge and that we must live by the golden rule.”
Straight People Are the Problem with Gay Marriage
posted on May 30, 2012An opponent of gay marriage, W. James Antle, associate editor of The American Spectator, sees straight people as the problem. Writing for Real Clear Policy, Antle states, “Ironically, gay marriage is conceivable precisely because heterosexuals have made such a hash out of traditional marriage.” Because heterosexual marriages have been marred by “astonishing divorce rates” and have “rested … on the tenuous bonds of human affection,” these unions allow same-sex marriage supporters to ask: “How is it fair to frustrate the ambitions of same-sex couples to preserve an ideal heterosexuals aren’t doing a very good job of upholding in the first place?”
Pro-Choice and Pro-Life? On Abortion, Americans say “It’s Complicated.”
posted on May 30, 2012Robert P. Jones at The Washington Post comments on how the abortion debate is not a binary choice, despite it’s pro-choice/pro-life rhetoric. Jones digs into Gallup’s most recent polling data and a national survey his own Public Religion Research Institute, finding: 43 percent of Americans describe themselves as “both ‘pro-choice’ and ‘pro-life.’” Arguing for more clarity in the debate on abortion, Jones sees Americans’ perspectives on abortion as complex and “nuanced.”
The Politics of Religion
posted on May 30, 2012Last Sunday, The New York Times published an editorial criticizing the lawsuit brought by 13 Catholic dioceses and other Catholic groups over Obama’s contraception-coverage mandate. Denouncing the lawsuit as “a dramatic stunt,” the editorial concludes: “This is a clear partisan play. The real threat to religious liberty comes from the effort to impose one church’s doctrine on everyone.”
Proposed Mosques Spark Opposition in Some U.S. Communities
posted on May 30, 2012Since 9/11, tensions have been strained over the proposed building of several mosques across America, Judy Keen reports for USA Today. While some oppose the constructions ostensibly for reasons like increased traffic and effects on property values, others see the opposition as “anti-mosque.” Kevin Vodak, director of litigation for the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, says, “The post-9/11 atmosphere has created a lot of fear and hysteria about Muslim institutions.”
Catholics Caught Between Bishops, Obama’s Birth Control Mandate
posted on May 30, 2012Lisa Miller at The Washington Post sees the debate over Obama’s birth control mandate as a tug-of-war, one in which most American Catholics are caught in the middle. Miller points out that of the 194 dioceses in the U.S., only 12 joined the lawsuit filed against the birth control mandate. Many Catholic groups have remained silent during this debate, a role Miller sees as the “silent and frustrated mother” in a fight between “mommy and daddy.”
Romney’s Run Evokes Pride, Fear in Mormons
posted on May 30, 2012“For Mormons, this is a potentially volatile moment,” writes Matt Viser for The Boston Globe. While Mitt Romney can become a champion of the Mormon faith, Viser reports how some Mormons “fear that their beliefs, often misunderstood, will again be subjected to scrutiny, even ridicule, on a national scale.” A faith that is no stranger to persecution, Viser writes how Mormons are guarded but excited for Romney’s presidential run.
Lady Gaga Cancels Indonesia Concert on Security Fears
posted on May 29, 2012Reuters reports that Lady Gaga canceled a concert planned for June 3 in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, following objections and protests from some Islamic groups. Certainly Gaga, whose now-canceled “Born This Way Ball” concert was sold out, has many fans in Indonesia. But Salim Alatas, the head of the Islamic Defender Front, is not one of them. Reuters reports that Alatas called Gaga a “vulgar singer who wears only panties and a bra when she sings and she stated she is the envoy of the devil’s child and that she will spread satanic teaching.”
The Latest on Vatican Scandals
posted on May 29, 2012The National Catholic Reporter keeps tabs on the unfolding turmoil at the Vatican. Last week, the board of the Vatican Bank forced out the bank’s president, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi. Less than 24 hours later, Vatican police arrested a longtime personal servant to the pope for allegedly leaking sensitive Vatican records to Italian reporters.
Read at National Catholic Reporter
Rudy Giuliani’s New Low
posted on May 29, 2012At Tablet, James Kirchick writes that in 1999, then New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani invoked the Holocaust to justify his calls for further intervention in Kosovo to stop the slaughter of Serbian Muslims at the hands of troops loyal to Slobadan Milosevic. Thirteen years later, Giuliani’s consulting firm now counts as clients two Serbian political candidates who were once allies of Milosevic. In April, Giuliani even traveled to Belgrade to meet with Aleksandar Vucic and Tomislav Nikolic, the Serbian Progressive Party’s (SNS) mayoral and presidential candidates. “From once righteously calling for American intervention to put a halt to murderous Serb nationalism,” writes Kirchick, “to standing alongside a pair of rebranded Serb nationalists, last month’s spectacle in Belgrade represents a new low for ‘America’s Mayor.'”