FPL Daily News Reel: July 23, 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.
Why Gun Control is a Religious Issue
By Fr. James Martin S.J. — America Magazine
These shootings would not have happened if the shooter did not have such easy access to firearms and ammunition. So religious people need to be invited to meditate on the connection between the more traditional “life issues” and the overdue need for stricter gun control.
Religious leaders call for prayer and tighter gun control after Colorado shooting
By Daniel Burke — Religion News Service
Kathryn Mary Lohre, president of the National Council of Churches, called on elected officials to “seek policies that will foster greater peace in our communities and throughout this country.”
Can We Please Have an Honest Debate About Guns Now?
By Amy Sullivan — New Republic, Opinion
It’s easy to feel helpless when a tragedy like this shooting that claimed at least a dozen lives occurs. But that doesn’t mean that our nation’s leaders shouldn’t even try to talk about ways that we might make such incidents less likely or at least less deadly.
Colorado churches remember, reflect on Aurora theater shooting
By Elana Ashanti Jefferson, Kurtis Lee and Kristen Browning-Blas — Denver Post
All the victims had moms and dads, brothers and sisters. We need to lift them all up, Gelinas told the more than 600 who attended the service. The attendees were young and old, black, white and Latino. Some wore suits, others jeans.
Evangelical Leaders Blame Liberals, Media For Aurora Shootings, Say Only Christian Victims Will Go To Heaven
By Aviva Shen — Think Progress
On the conservative Christian radio show AFA Today, evangelical spokesperson Jerry Newcombe blamed the tragedy of the Aurora shooting on the nation’s loss of fear of God and hell.
HIV Stigma Lingers as Churches Battle Epidemic
By Jason Kane — PBS NewsHour
In two very different places — Zimbabwe and Washington, D.C. — Christian pastors have taken a leading role in the fight against HIV. But in both, some are wondering whether they should be doing more to help reduce the stigma.
Where Their Hearts Are
By Ed Kilgore — Washington Monthly
These governors aren’t victims of hard times or impossible choices: they choose to value regressive tax policies more than providing health insurance for their neediest citizens.
Conservative Congressman Blasts Bachmann’s Anti-Muslim Allegations, Stands Up For Religious Liberty
By Scott Keyes — Think Progress
That Sensenbrenner, a dyed-in-the-cloth conservative, would stand up to Islamophobic attacks from constituents and colleagues, is both laudable and heartening. Too often in the past, these voices of reason about Islam and religious freedom are only voiced on the left.
Islamo-fearmongering 2012
By Mark Silk — Religion News Service
The question is to what extent will 2012 be repeat of 2010, when Republican candidates around the country succeeded in using anti-mosque protests and anti-”sharia law” legislation as wedge issues against their Democratic opponents.
