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Holy Week resources and reflections

The year in religion – 1987 (30 years ago)

30 years ago — January 18, 1988

The Religion Newswriters Association selected the top 10 news stories of 1987 in the field of religion. First was the “PTL financial and sex scandal involving Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker.” The 10-day visit of Pope John Paul II to the U.S. was second and the third was religious leader Pat Robertson’s entrance into the race for the Republican Party’s nomination for the presidency. “The fourth selection … was the scandals in business, government, politics, sports and religion which raised questions about ‘the condition of the nation’s soul.’” Fifth was the formation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Sixth was television evangelist Oral Roberts’ claim to have raised people from the dead. AIDS took the seventh spot. The eighth selection was the tension between Pope John Paul II and Jewish leaders over his audience with Austrian president Kurt Waldheim, a former Nazi and officer in the German army. “The ninth selection on the list was the action of a federal appeals court in Atlanta reversing a district judge’s order banning textbooks because they allegedly promoted what he called the religion of secular humanism.” The tenth choice was the controversy in the Southern Baptist Convention between conservatives and moderates.

From “The year in religion – 1987,” edited by George L. Hunt

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