Religious Stories and Trends from 2005

Admittedly, much of this is Christian-based religion. Still, the trends are interesting for what they say about religion in America (and the world). The information here is from three sources: Newsweek (Rabbi Mark Gelman), Integrative Spirituality, and the Buddhist Channel.

First up, Newsweek's trends in religion from 2005, based on research by The Barna Group. These are the first sentence or two from each item; read the rest here.

1. Pathetic prayer. Churches are more concerned with programming than with prayer. Barna discovered that prayer is rated as one of the top priorities by less than one out of 25 churches. Most church attendees say that they do not experience the presence of God in the service and fewer than one out of 10 spent any time worshipping God outside of their church service.

2. The continuing demise of the black church. Using the measures of church attendance, Bible knowledge, the priority of faith in a person's life, and the reliance on the religious community for support and relationships, Barna concludes that things are not looking good for black churches. Barna surprisingly concludes that the main reason for this decline is the increasing wealth of the black community.

3. The energizing of the evangelicals. Although only 7 percent of adults are evangelicals, their voice is the loudest and their energy, charity, Bible study, and prayer life is the greatest. They give away more than three times as much money as other Americans.

4. Biblical illiteracy. The Barna Group has discovered that most Christians (and I would add most Jews) are in increasing numbers biblically illiterate. Churches have demoted and de-emphasized Bible study.

5. Revolutionaries. Barna labels as “Christian revolutionaries” the more than 20 million people who are pursuing their Christian faith outside the box. They meet in homes or at work. I even knew some New York Knicks who had a prayer and Bible-study group, but perhaps to see members of the Knicks turning to deep prayer may be motivated more by necessity than by faith.

Next up, the top 10 religion stories of 2005 from Integrative Spirituality.

The death of Pope John Paul II, followed by the election of Pope Benedict XVI, were rated the top two stories in religion for 2005 in a survey of specialized reporters belonging to the Religion Newswriters Association.

Participants also overwhelmingly picked John Paul as the year's top "religion newsmaker."

The other top 10 events, in order:
- Controversy over removal of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube.
- Faith-based agencies' response to hurricane Katrina, the Asian tsunami and Pakistan earthquake.
- Mainline Protestant denominations' o­ngoing discord over homosexuality.
- Evolution and "intelligent design" debates, especially in Kansas schools and a Pennsylvania federal case.
- The U.S. Supreme Court's split decisions o­n Ten Commandments displays.
- Religious involvement in Supreme Court nomination politicking.
- A Vatican policy statement barring most gays from seminaries and ordination.
- Billy Graham's farewell revival meeting in New York City.

Finally, the top ten Buddhist events from 2005, courtesy of the Buddhist Channel (click the link to read the story).

Event No. 1 CATASTROPHE Asian Tsunami Disaster
Event No. 2 Tzu Chi shines in humanitarian relief
Event No. 3 Stem cell: Shocking breakthrough, then a heartbreak
Event No. 4 Revered Dharma Masters passes on: Venerable Sayadaw U Silananda passed away peacefully on August 13, 2005
Event No. 5 Buddhism tangos with the Mind
Event No. 6 Ancient artifacts threatened
Event No. 7 Buddhism grows fastest in the West
Event No. 8 Temple building in US suburbia face protests
Event No. 9 Buddhism rises in Russia
Event No. 10 The Dalai Lama turns 70