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Top Religion Stories of the Decade

Faith News: The Stories That Shaped the Past 10 Years 

Top Religion Stories

By Omar Sacirbey
The last 10 years in religion have been the most meaningful and turbulent since the 1960s, when America elected its first Catholic president, the Civil Rights Movement was being fought in the streets, and "Godless communism" was the enemy.

This decade is similar, yet in many ways more intense, more dismal, and maybe more hopeful. The terrorist attacks of 9/11 alone made this decade unique. America had never suffered an attack to its mainland, and pursued an unconventional enemy that claimed no country.

New barriers were falling as well, but not without resistance and conflict. Homosexuals could become religious leaders and get married in some countries, but were still being killed in others. Many Muslims in the West had fully integrated into their adopted societies, some even becoming congressmen or members of European parliaments, but others faced discrimination or were vulnerable to extremism.

Multiple and powerful forces worked on the United States and the rest of the world this decade, and at times, cruelty, intolerance and misunderstanding seemed to dominate. Yet dark days also inspired reflection, study, and interfaith fellowship, processes that helped the world survive and made it stronger going into the next decade.

Ref: Belief Net

The Sept. 11 Attacks and the Evolution of Global Jihad

 

9/11 Attacks

Carried out by 19 Muslim extremists who justified their actions as retribution for American crimes in Islamic countries, the 9/11 terrorist attacks were the climax of a global jihad. Al Qaeda became a household phrase,  Americans felt vulnerable, and the world would never be the same.

9/11 also provoked the invasion of Afghanistan and more aggressive intelligence gathering and financial monitoring that weakened Al Qaeda. But rather than disappear, Islamic terrorism found new outlets--in the Iraq War, with militant groups in Pakistan, and among individuals and small groups.

The 9/11 attacks also spawned an unprecedented interest in Islam, galvanized interfaith work, and tested American tolerance. While anti-Muslim bigotry exists, backlash has been minimal.

Some assert that Islamic terrorism is not a religion story because the terrorists are not true Muslims whose beliefs are antithetical to Islam. That is true. Nevertheless, they act out of religious conviction. It may be more accurate to say this is a story about the abuse of religion.

 Ref: Belief Net

The Death of John Paul II 

Popes on the Road

When Pope John Paul II died on April 2, 2005, his 26-year reign was the second longest of any Pope, a tenure marked by unconventionality, unprecedented interfaith work, and the rise of the beloved Pontiff as a global superstar.

Karol Josef Wojtyla became the first non-Italian pope elected in nearly 500 years, and started his tenure by breaking with tradition and addressing the gathered faithful from the balcony above St. Peter's Square. This accessible demeanor was a hallmark of his papacy, during which he visited more countries than any pope before him.

He became the first pope to visit the Auschwitz concentration camp, a synagogue, Jerusalem, and the first to pray at the Western Wall, where he placed a letter asking forgiveness for crimes committed by Christians against Jews. Seeking to repair ties between Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians, John Paul II became the first pope to visit Eastern Orthodox Countries--Romania, Ukraine, Greece--since the Great Schism in 1054. In another papal first, he visited the Ummayad Mosque in Syria, and made a speech calling on Christians, Muslims, and Jews to work together.

For all his interfaith outreach, Pope John Paul II remained staunchly conservative on other issues, such as abortion, contraception, and the ordination of women.

Pope John Paul's death was also important because of his successor, Pope Benedict XVI.  While Pope Benedict has continued his predecessor's conservative stance on many issues, his first years as head of the Catholic Church have also been marked by tense relations with Muslims and Jews.


Ref: Belief Net

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