Sex, War, Court Decisions Figured in Events of Faith

Many of the biggest stories this year in the world of religion had to do with topics that might otherwise seem far from the pulpit: sex, war, court decisions and movies.

The year 2003 produced the ordination of an openly gay Episcopal bishop, debate over the morality of the Iraqi war, continuing fallout from the sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church and the placement -- and removal -- of a Ten Commandments display in an Alabama courthouse.

There were court decisions affirming same-sex marriage and sexual acts in private between consenting adults, rulings fraught with religious overtones; a developing legal challenge over whether the words “under God” should remain in the Pledge of Allegiance; and a dust-up over a soon-to-be-released Mel Gibson film on Jesus’ crucifixion.

Many of those controversies stirred up interest beyond religious circles, noted Father Thomas Rausch, professor of theology at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

“There’s just as much division in the American society about the war, about how one recognizes domestic partnerships and about homosexuality,” Rausch said.

Bruce Mason, a spokesman for the American Anglican Council, which opposed the ordination of the gay Episcopal Church bishop, said he had been “constantly amazed” by how many non-Episcopalians had followed those developments in his church.

The whole country had views on the war in Iraq and anti-terrorist initiatives at home. But religious groups often were among those leading opposition to the invasion, particularly Roman Catholic bishops and liberal mainline Protestant churches, although their members were divided. On the home front, various religious groups, led by Muslims, sounded alarms over what they saw as an erosion of U.S. civil liberties under the USA Patriot Act as the government moved to protect the nation from terrorism.

Of course, there was more to religious news in 2003 than war and sex.

Pope John Paul II, 83 and frail, celebrated his 25th anniversary as supreme pontiff. Ailing evangelist Billy Graham held what may have been his last revival rally in California. Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest found great international success with his “purpose-driven” ministry, and his book, “The Purpose-Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?” has sold 7 million copies.

Mel Gibson’s coming motion picture about the trial and crucifixion of Jesus, “The Passion of Christ,” got a plug from John Paul. After an advance screening, the pope pronounced the film accurate. “It is as it was,” he was quoted by the Vatican as saying, though he stopped short of an endorsement. Many in the Jewish community worried that, when the film is released Feb. 25 -- Ash Wednesday -- anti-Semitism will be inflamed because of the movie’s portrayal of biblical-era Jews. Others said the movie is not anti-Semitic.

Then there was the resignation of Imam W.D. Mohammed, perhaps the most influential African American Islamic leader in America, as head of the American Society of Muslims, which has more than 300 affiliated mosques.

In 1975, Mohammed rejected the black nationalist vision of the Nation of Islam, founded by his father, Elijah Mohammed, and led his followers back into orthodox Islam. The Nation of Islam was later revived by Louis Farrakhan, who espoused teachings thought by mainstream Muslims to be heretical.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to take up an appeal to a ruling by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, based in San Francisco, that inclusion of the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance violated the separation of church and state. The case was brought by Michael A. Newdow, a Sacramento-area physician and atheist, who objected to his daughter’s having to recite the words in her public elementary school classroom.

In another church-state controversy, Roy Moore was ousted as Alabama’s chief justice after defying a federal court order directing him to remove his Ten Commandments monument from the state judicial building. The controversy made Moore something of a folk hero to conservative Christians. His removal is under appeal.

Clearly, however, sexual issues dominated religious news in 2003. The consecration of an openly gay Episcopal Church bishop, the Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, set the stage for possible schism in the 77-million member worldwide Anglican Communion, of which the Episcopal Church is a self-governing member. It was also a blow to ecumenical relations with the Roman Catholic Church and several Eastern Orthodox churches.

The Religion Newswriters Assn., a national organization of religion reporters for secular print and broadcast media, ranked Robinson’s consecration as the top religion story of the year.

Meanwhile, the Catholic sexual abuse scandal continued throughout 2003. In June, former Oklahoma Gov. Frank A. Keating resigned as chairman of the church’s sex abuse review board after comparing some bishops who refused to cooperate with prosecutors with the Mafia .

“To act like La Cosa Nostra and hide and suppress, I think, is very unhealthy. Eventually it will come out,” Keating said in an interview with The Times. He named Los Angeles Cardinal Roger M. Mahony as among those who “listen too much” to church attorneys, instead of cooperating with prosecutors.

Mahony hit back, calling Keating’s remarks “off the wall.” Within days, Keating had resigned, but he was unrepentant.

The sexual abuse scandal continued to play out in the courts. A new law took effect in 2003, temporarily lifting a statute of limitations on filing civil lawsuits in old sexual abuse cases. While the law was aimed at any employer who knowingly allowed an employee to abuse children, the law was clearly enacted with the Catholic church in mind.

This month, 17 alleged victims of childhood sexual abuse filed suit, charging that children had not been protected because of a “systemic failure” in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, allegedly abetted by sexually abusive priests in high-ranking positions who protected other alleged molesters from the consequences of their actions.

By year’s end, plaintiffs’ attorneys estimated that at least 453 civil cases, and perhaps many more, would be filed.

In another development, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a 1993 California law that would have permitted the criminal prosecution of some old sexual abuse cases after expiration of the three-year statute of limitations. The ruling forced prosecutors to drop a number of old molestation cases around the state, including cases against at least 20 priests. Ten of those were in Los Angeles County, but three of them were re-arrested on newer charges.

Meanwhile, a state court in Massachusetts overturned that commonwealth’s prohibition against gay marriages, and the U.S. Supreme Court struck down prohibitions in Texas against consensual sexual acts in private between members of the same sex.

Both decisions provoked a storm of debate within religious groups.

The court decisions prompted some evangelical Protestants to propose a constitutional amendment that would declare a traditional heterosexual marriage between a man and a woman as the only legally recognized union. It would also prohibit conferring on same-sex couples the same legal rights as married couples.