c. 1996 Religion News Service
(Rabbi Rudin is the national interreligious affairs director of the American Jewish Committee.)
UNDATED _ The top news stories of 1996 involved the high and the mighty, as well as humble, ordinary people, whose fates express universal lessons and unanswered questions for us all.
Here are my choices for the year’s top religion stories.
1. The Religious Right remained a major force in American life, though it had far less impact than expected on the 1996 presidential elections.
In order to gain the Republican nomination, Bob Dole appeased the Religious Right on a number of key platform issues, including abortion and prayer in the public schools. But once he gained the nomination, Dole blithely declared that he never even read the party platform.
President Clinton, the man the Religious Right loves to hate, easily won re-election. And although Ralph Reed of the Christian Coalition claimed that his group prevented a Democratic takeover of Congress, the mixed results demythologized the Religious Right as an irresistible force in the political arena. Reed’s group was revealed to be just one more player, albeit a powerful one, on the American scene.
2. The nation was dismayed by the epidemic of church burnings _ many of them black congregations in rural areas in the South. But the tragedy generated a generous response from the public.
Millions of dollars were collected from all religious groups to reconstruct the destroyed houses of worship, but questions were raised whether the burned-churches epidemic was exaggerated, and some critics termed it a hoax. At year’s end, the number of burned churches declined, and charges of false claims abated.
3. The role of women remained a divisive issue in religious communities and in society at large. The patriarchal religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam vigorously debated the issue _ ranging from female ordination to restrictive dress for women. Many institutions, including the U.S. Army, Virginia Military Institute, and the Citadel, were shaken by sexual harassment charges.
4. The Holocaust ended in 1945, but it still haunts the world. In 1996, it was Switzerland’s turn to face judgment for collaborating with Nazi Germany. It was revealed that once-respected Swiss banks had acted as Hitler’s agents in the 1930s and 40s. As more facts were revealed, the myth of Swiss neutrality and fiscal probity crumbled, and upcoming investigations promise to further damage Switzerland’s reputation.
5. Disclosures about corruption within some religious groups continued in 1996. Those who naively believed that Jim Bakker of the PTL Club was the exception rather than the rule were shocked by the prison sentence handed out to Ellen Cooke, the former national treasurer of the Episcopal Church, for her multi-million dollar theft of church funds.
Financial scandals also rocked the Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens, the New England Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and the Council of Jewish Organizations of Borough Park, a social services group in New York City.
6. In June, the Southern Baptist Convention adopted a resolution calling for expanding its evangelization efforts among Jews. The SBC action generated a firestorm of criticism from Jews and from some Christian leaders, including Billy Graham, who criticized the”targeting”of Jews or any other group for conversion.
The larger question of religious pluralism was highlighted by the controversy that raged over the Rev. Richard Rhem’s assertion that Christianity is not the sole means to achieve salvation. Rhem, a Reformed Church in America pastor, was publicly criticized by his denomination, but his Michigan congregation supported his decision to leave the RCA.
7. Cancer claimed Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago, and millions were touched by the courageous way he faced his last days. Even in death, the cardinal was a great teacher.
Severe health problems also plagued three other well-known religious figures: Pope John Paul II, Mother Teresa and Billy Graham.
8. The deadly clashes that erupted between Israelis and Palestinians following the opening of a 2,100-year-old archaeological tunnel in Jerusalem by the Israeli government was proof of the fragility of the Middle East peace process.
As the century nears its end, it is religion, surprisingly, and not political ideology that represents one of the greatest threats to world peace. Indeed, the continuing resurgence of fundamentalism among all religions is an ominous sign for the future.
9. The bigotry expressed by corporate executives in the so-called”Texaco tapes”was a reminder that anti-Semitism and racism remain alive and well within corporate executive suites. Texaco officials quickly denounced the ugly sentiments uttered by their colleagues and have promised sweeping changes in their company. But the question remains whether one has to be both white and Christian to receive promotions at Texaco.
10. While many of the top stories involved high-profile personages, everyday people from all walks of life were caught up in senseless, large-scale tragedies: the crash of a ValuJet airliner in the Florida Everglades; the explosion of TWA Flight 800; and the massacre of children in Dunblane, Scotland, by a man with a high-powered firearm.
And on a busy New York street in November, Joyce Mono, a daughter, wife and mother of two sons, was tragically killed by a hit-and-run bus driver. She was a member of her synagogue’s pastoral care committee and was struck while returning home from a visit to an AIDS patient.
Her death and the deaths of all those other innocent victims, are cruel reminders that we have never solved the questions of theodicy: Why does God allow decent people to suffer? Why does God prematurely snuff out the life of a righteous person?
MJP END RUDIN
