c. 2004 Religion News Service
(UNDATED) Here are my picks for the top ten religion stories of 2004:
1.This year’s American presidential election is the easy winner for first place. The three Gs of God, guns and gays were shorthand for the politically potent package of “moral values” that included stem cell research, abortion, creationism vs. evolution, church-state separation and same sex marriages. John Kerry’s Catholicism was a central feature of the campaign along with George W. Bush’s born-again Christianity.
2. The Middle East conflicts raged on in 2004. The Iraq war was frequently viewed in terms of nationalism, oil economics and democracy. But at its heart the war reflected the “Clash of Civilizations” between the Christian/Jewish West and militant Islam. The war also revealed bitter intra-Muslim schisms among Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds. The battles around the Najaf mosque highlighted the war’s religious aspect. Yasser Arafat’s death concluded one stage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and began an uncertain new chapter.
3. Many nations in Europe and North America confronted growing Islamic populations as Muslim immigration continued to accelerate in those regions. The lethal combination of Islamic fundamentalism and political extremism was a continuing source of concern. During the year the search for “moderate Muslims” intensified as political and religious leaders in both the West and in Islamic societies sought a counterforce to militant Islam.
4. Religious genocide continued in the Sudanese province of Darfur. Islamic killing squads roamed the poverty stricken province and systematically killed animists and Christians. Sudan’s Islamic government was either unable or unwilling to stop the slaughter of innocents and the world’s reaction to the Darfur massacres ranged from tepid to non-existent. As usual in such calamities, religion-based relief agencies brought desperately needed supplies and hope to a brutally victimized people.
5. Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” was a cinematic lightning flash that illuminated a polarized interreligious landscape. Critics charged the film conveyed anti-Jewish stereotypes and an historically and theologically flawed account of the death of Jesus. The film’s defenders rejected such criticisms and asserted Gibson, an ultra-conservative pre-Vatican Council II Catholic, provided a powerful spiritual message with graphic images of suffering and pain. Gibson also released a DVD version of his movie that will influence audiences for years to come.
6. The sex abuse scandal continued to rock the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. Because of the high legal costs incurred and the large monetary damages awarded to victims of priestly abuse, three dioceses filed for bankruptcy in 2004. In addition, the Boston Archdiocese, an epicenter of the crisis, was forced to close many of its parishes. Some laypeople physically occupied the targeted church buildings to express their opposition to the announced closures.
7. The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the USA voted for a process of “phased selective divestment in multinational corporations operating in Israel … ” The strong negative reaction to the PCUSA action was swift and broad based. In addition to American Jewish groups, opposition came from prominent Presbyterian leaders who denounced divestment calling it a major setback to Christian-Jewish relations that would be ineffectual and would undermine the PCUSA’s credibility as an agent for peace and reconciliation.
8. In early December the Rev. Irene Elizabeth Stroud, of the First Methodist Church of Germantown, Pa., was defrocked as a minister because she publicly announced she was a lesbian living in a “covenanted relationship.” The United Methodist Church trial court voted 7-6 to strip Stroud of her clergy status. She can continue to serve her congregation as a layperson, but cannot perform baptisms or communion. Stroud’s case illustrates how the role of homosexual clergy remains a divisive issue in American religious life.
9. The number of people in the United States identifying as Christians continued to decline in 2004. Almost one in five Americans, 18 percent, profess either no religion or are members of non-Christian faith communities, and that number will likely increase in the future. As the Christian percentage decreases, there will be increased intereligious tension, as Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, atheists, agnostics and others demand a larger public role in shaping American society.
10. While there were many notable deaths during the year, space allows the mention of only three. My close friend and rabbinical school classmate, Howard Rabinowitz of Houston, died in October. Cardinal Franz Koenig of Vienna, Austria, who died in March, was a pioneer in international Catholic-Jewish relations. Finally Elizabeth Kubler-Ross’ controversial teachings about death and dying had a great impact on all religious traditions. She died in August.
MO END RNS
(Rabbi Rudin, the American Jewish Committee’s Senior Interreligious Adviser, is Distinguished Visiting Professor at Saint Leo University.)
