c. 1997 Religion News Service
(Rabbi Rudin is the National Interreligious Affairs Director of the American Jewish Committee.)
UNDATED _ Here are my picks for the top 10 religion and ethics stories of 1997:
1. The religious world’s first reaction to the cloning of a sheep named Dolly was predictable. The possibility of duplicating human beings was called”playing God.”But as the year ended, some religious leaders perceived cloning as a potential aid in combatting diseases and disabilities. Above all, cloning forces us to ponder more deeply the meaning and mystery of creation. The dilemma posed by Dolly will not go away.
2. Two U.S. Supreme Court rulings had important implications for the religious community. The court struck down as unconstitutional the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act. It was another reminder of the inherent tension existing between the free exercise of religion and the compelling interests of the state. Americans have sought to achieve an appropriate balance between these two principles ever since the Constitution’s First Amendment was adopted more than 200 years ago.
In another decision, the High Court rejected the contention that physician-assisted suicide was a constitutional right. The difficult issue was sent back to the 50 states for further study and possible action.
3. The revelation that Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was born of Jewish parents was another poignant example of the persistent impact of the Holocaust upon both personal lives and the general society. The controversy surrounding looted Nazi gold, the war-crimes trial in France, the Broadway revival of”The Diary of Anne Frank”and the extraordinary number of visitors to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington were also vivid signs that the murder of 6 million Jews continues to haunt the human conscience.
4. The deaths in California of 39 members of the Heaven’s Gate cult made clear that some so-called”new religious movements”may be malignant in nature and even murderous in action. Cult leaders like Heaven’s Gate’s Marshall Applewhite remain a clear and present danger to society.
5. The growing campaign to enact congressional legislation to oppose religious persecution focused attention on the plight of many Christians throughout the world. Surprisingly, not every American Christian group supports the Spector-Wolf bill that would economically punish countries engaged in religious persecution. The National Council of Churches opposes the bill, while many in the evangelical community vigorously support Spector-Wolf.
6. The ethical misconduct of clergy continued to make news. Charges of serious financial improprieties threaten the continuing leadership of the Rev. Henry Lyons, president of the National Baptist Convention, USA, and reports that a Dallas Catholic priest engaged in acts of sexual abuse attracted wide attention.
7. Already badly shaken by the 1995 assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in Tel Aviv at the hands of an Orthodox Jew, the bitter divisions within the world Jewish community deepened during the past year. The growing campaign by the Reform and Conservative movements to gain full legal and religious rights in Israel was met with fierce opposition from the Orthodox community. Verbal invective sometimes escalated into ugly acts of violence directed against Reform and Conservative institutions in Israel. A three-month moratorium declared by the Israeli government to permit time for a compromise to be reached is set to expire in January.
8. The Southern Baptist Convention’s boycott of Disney’s films, theme parks, ABC network, and the rest of the Magic Kingdom is the latest chapter in America’s”culture wars.”Freedom of artistic expression and opposition to censorship clash with charges that”secular humanists”in the mass media are anti-family and hostile to traditional religious values. Stay tuned.
9. The Promise Keepers’ rally on the National Mall in Washington demonstrated the group’s organizing skills and appeal to many Christian men who seek to confess their sins of lust, infidelity, alcoholism and a host of other transgressions. Critics sharply challenged Promise Keepers’ teachings about the role of women and the group’s attitude toward non-Christians.
10. The monthlong U.S. visit of Bartholomew, the ecumenical patriarch, graphically illustrated the importance of Orthodox Christianity to the American religious landscape. Especially noteworthy was the patriarch’s moving address at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. However, Bartholomew’s visit also showed that the Great Schism of 1054 between Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy is far from healed. Clearly, the oft-proclaimed goal of Christian unity remains distant.
Just missing the top 10 were the death of Mother Teresa, adultery in the U.S. military and the personal war between Sheila Rauch Kennedy and Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. over Catholic marriage annulments.
MJP END RUDIN
