FPL Daily News Reel: July 20, 2012
The FPL News Reel is a daily round-up of the top faith and politics stories in the news. You can sign up for the email version of the News Reel here, subscribe to the RSS feed here, and follow it on twitter at @FPLNewsreel.
LCWR president says Vatican inquiry raises questions of conscience
By Catholic News Service
Conflict between the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith over the reform of LCWR boils down to whether one can “be a Catholic and have a questioning mind,” the conference’s president said in an interview…
We’re a country that lets kids go homeless
By Tana Ganeva — AlterNet
Nationally, kids and families made up less than 1 percent of the homeless population in the early 1980s, according to advocate and researcher Dr. Ellen Bassuk. HUD estimates put the number at 35 percent of people sleeping in shelters in 2010.
Large, Profitable Companies Employ Most Minimum-Wage Earners
By George Zornick — The Nation
Corporations with plenty of money to spare could afford to pay workers more—they just won’t.
Valley physician treats victims of Arizona’s health-care politics
By E.J. Montini — Arizona Republic, Opinion
Politicians get to condemn sick people to death without ever looking them in the eye. Dr. Randy Oppenheimer doesn’t have that luxury.
Solitary confinement is inhumane, has no redeeming purpose
By Rev. Steven D. Martin — Tennessean, Opinion
The experience of interviewing these people was ultimately transformative. I could no longer ignore the practice of placing human beings in a prolonged state of solitary confinement, which destroys the minds of prisoners for no reason that I could fathom.
Tennessee Mosque Will Not Open In Time For Ramadan
By Reuters
A newly constructed Muslim mosque in Tennessee, the subject of a long-running fight in the community, did not receive building inspectors’ clearance to open in time for the start of Ramadan on Thursday.
Angry Resolutions and Legal Warfare: Islamophobia in Tennessee
By Abby Rapoport — American Prospect
This is hardly the first incident of anti-Muslim sentiment in the state. Over the last two years, Muslim Tennesseans have seen a dramatic rise in Islamophobia both in the capital and in smaller communities like Murfreesboro.
Plot Thickens in Alabama Public TV Controversy Involving David Barton’s Pseudo-History
By Brian Tashman — Right Wing Watch
According to the lawsuit, “certain members of the Commission wanted to impose their own personal, political and religious views” on the commission and staff to guide the station’s programming.
ACLU: Pearce e-mails prove SB 1070 was racially motivated
By Alia Beard Rau — Arizona Republic
The e-mails from Pearce in the court documents include statements like, “Can we maintain our social fabric as a nation with Spanish fighting English for dominance … It’s like importing leper colonies and hope we don’t catch leprosy. It’s like importing thousands of Islamic jihadists and hope they adapt to the American Dream.”
Cruelty on the border
By John Carlos Frey — Salon
Border Patrol protocol requires agents to provide detainees with food, drinking water and emergency medical services, to hold them under humane conditions, and to refrain from making degrading remarks, but this is rarely honored in practice, say human rights advocates.
Asian Americans: A Mosaic of Faiths
By Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life
Not only do Asian Americans, as a whole, present a mosaic of many faiths, but each of the six largest subgroups of this largely immigrant population also displays a different religious complexion.
Church expelled after affirming gays
By Bob Allen — Associated Baptist Press
An American Baptist church in Ohio has been excommunicated from its association and state region after going on record as welcoming and affirming gays.
