Which have been the significant developments reported in the field of religion in 2002? John Rakestraw, editor of the the daily electronic newsletter onReligion.com [no longer published – 19.08.2016], is definitely one of the best qualified persons to offer a summary about media coverage of religion news in the United States. He has put together this list for a radio show on religion and he has agreed to share it with the readers of Religioscope.
“As I told the interviewer, narrowing the list of possible stories down to ten was difficult enough; putting these ten in any particular order was tougher still. If I were doing it tomorrow, I suspect that the list would be slightly different“, comments Rakestraw.
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Clergy sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. While many of the activities and decisions revealed in the news this year actually happened years ago, the revelations this year about decisions (and non-decisions) made about abusive priests by people in authority have dominated the news media.
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Islam redefining itself for the modern world. We don’t know yet what will happen to emerging efforts in Iran and Turkey to create a more moderate Muslim government that is more open to Western ideals of democracy and human rights. And we can’t be sure of the motives of all those involved in these efforts. But there is some chance that these nascent movements will be seen later in this century as crucial steps toward an Islam whose people are better able to live in community with non-Muslims.
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Challenges to authority and traditional structures in the Catholic Church. This year has brought an escalation of earlier tendencies in American Catholicism in the direction of greater power for the laity and more openness in the clergy and hierarchy. The resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law and the circumstances which brought it about are examples of this. I think we’ll see much more — and perhaps even a split within the American Catholic Church or between the American Church and the larger Catholic Church.
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Reactions to Islam in the United States. As the United States becomes more diverse, and as both Muslims and non-Muslims deal with the implications of the beliefs of those who attacked the Pentagon and the World Trade Centers, many Christians struggle to understand the relationship between firmly held convictions about absolute truth and living with others who don’t share those convictions. And Muslims in the U.S. respond that they can be both Muslim and American.
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The continuing struggle to establish a proper relationship between religion and government in an increasingly diverse United States. The big issues here — so far — are school vouchers, government aid to faith-based social service organizations, the placement of such documents as the 10 commandments in public spaces, the presence of “under God” in the U.S. pledge of allegiance.
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Conservative vs. liberal/moderate in the worldwide Anglican Communion. Churches in the Anglican tradition throughout the world, especially in the United States, Great Britain, and Australia, are struggling with the broad spectrum of perspectives represented in the church on such issues as homosexuality and the ordination of women. There are some who expect a schism in the communion.
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The role and place of women in more conservative religious communities. This one overlaps with others in this list, but it’s worthy of special mention because it crosses lines between different religions. The Vatican holds fast to the tradition of not ordaining women, Southern Baptists argue that a woman must be subservient to her husband, traditional Muslim countries place severe restrictions on women’s practices. And yet some within these and other more conservative religious communities are arguing for more power for women.
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Discovery of ossuary and debate about its authenticity. Scholars seem to have reached a consensus that the burial box with the inscription “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus” is approximately 2000 years old, but some argue that at least part of the inscription was added later to suggest a direct connection to the biblical Jesus.
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Alliance efforts between Jews and conservative Christians concerning U.S. and UN policies regarding Israel. Efforts include joint fund-raising activities and financial support to American Jews relocating to Israel.
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Religious response to proposed US/UN invasion of Iraq. Statements by most mainstream Christian churches and other religious organizations have been against a preemptive invasion of Iraq. An official of the Southern Baptist Convention has argued in support of such an invasion. One important element of this news story has been the relative lack of response to these arguments from government officials.
John A. Rakestraw
© 2002 onReligion.com / John A. Rakestraw / 27 December 2002
