The political grappling of evangelicals for a GOP presidential candidate is considered the top religion story of 2007 among the nation’s religion writers.
Members of the Religion Newswriters Association picked the Buddhist monks in Myanmar, who protested in September in support of democracy and were subdued by government forces, as the top religion newsmaker of the year.
The entire Top 10 list includes:
1. Evangelical voters ponder if they can support the eventual Republican candidate due to questions about the leaders’ platforms and/or faith.
2. Leading Democratic presidential candidates make conscious efforts to attract faith-based voters after acknowledging their failure to do so in 2004.
3. The role of gay and lesbian clergy continues to be a deeply divisive issue, with the Episcopal Church’s pledge of restraint on gay issues failing to halt the number of congregations making plans to leave the denomination.
4. Global warming increases in importance among religious groups, with mainline leaders considering it a high priority and evangelical leaders divided over its importance compared to other issues.
[blockquote]3. The role of gay and lesbian clergy continues to be a deeply divisive issue, with the Episcopal Church’s pledge of restraint on gay issues failing to halt the number of congregations making plans to leave the denomination. [/blockquote]
This reminds me of a story I heard from a priest very involved in addiction recovery. It concerns the difference between slowing down (showing restraint) or stopping. A man “slowed” through a stop sign and was pulled over by a police officer. When the man protested that he “slowed down,” the officer indicated that the sign said “STOP.” When the man said that there wasn’t much difference, the officer took out his baton and began to beat the man. When the man protested, the officer asked “Do you want me to slow down or do you want me to stop?”
TECUSA was not asked to show restraint concerning SSB or ordaining practicing homosexuals. It was asked to stop.
YBIC,
Phil Snyder
The RNA writers (who report religion for the secular press) missed the storm that has broken over the PCUSA. Similar story to TEC: dozens of congregations, many of them large ones, have left. Lawsuits over property underway across the country. Pittsburgh a center of action. Conservative-leaning presbyteries (regional governing units) under the gun by the national denomination for being too friendly to the departing churches.
The Episcopal and Anglican stuff should have been combined as a single story topic.
I don’t think immigration issues in reality ranked as one of the top 10 religion stories of the year. (Yawn.)
w.w.
W.W.,
The U.S. Catholic Confrence is assuring that illegal immigration issues are hot topics! There was a spokesperson on the radio today bemoaning the fact that the amnesty legislation was voted down and that lettuce will cost $10 a head if proponents of strong borders get their way!
second: [i]Global warming increases in importance among religious groups, with mainline leaders considering it a high priority and evangelical leaders divided over its importance compared to other issues [/i]
Yes, while totally ignoring the fact that a letter signed by over 100 scientists was sent to the UN Fiji confrence (why Fiji? Because New York was snowed in by an ice storm), stating that global warming was a natural cycle and political measures would only hurt developing nations and the poor, and would have no effec anyway.