US poll: evangelicals in presidential election top religion stories of 2007

The fight for a Republican candidate in the 2008 US presidential race tops this year's religion stories, according to a recent poll.

A poll of members of the Religion Newswriters Association ranked the top 10 religion stories of 2007. Journalists ranked evangelical voters pondering whether they will be able to support the eventual Republican candidate as first.

Following close behind at second were efforts by Democrats to woo faith-based voters.

Rounding out the top three was the role of gays and lesbians in clergy as a continually divisive issue. The media spotlight lay on the global Anglican Communion this year as the 77 million-member body remains deeply divided over liberal theology and openly gay bishops. Also, conservative Jews have become more open to gay leadership.

Evangelicals and other religious groups actively taking up the issue of global warming and giving it high priority was ranked fourth. The debate among evangelical leaders over the importance of climate change compared to other social and moral causes has also frequented the headlines this year.

The question of what to do about illegal immigration stands at No 5 in the poll.

At No 6, was the thousands of Buddhist monks who led a pro-democracy protest in Mynamar only to be brutally supressed by the military-backed government. The pro-democracy protest was also named the top religion newsmaker of the year. More than half of those responding to the survey chose the Buddhist monks over Pope Benedict XVI, President George W Bush and US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, among others.

The remaining top ten religion stories are as follows:

No 7: Some Conservative US Episcopalians realign with Anglican bishops in Africa and elsewhere in the global South, initiating legal disputes about church property ownership.

No 8: The Supreme Court by a 5-4 vote rules on the conservative side in three major cases with religious implications: upholding a ban on partial-birth abortions, allowing schools to establish some limits on students' free speech, and denying a challenge to the Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives.

No 9: Death takes a number of high-profile evangelical leaders: Jerry Falwell, Rex Humbard, D James Kennedy, plus Billy Graham's wife, Ruth, and Jim Bakker's ex-wife, Tammy Faye Messner. Other deaths include Gilbert Patterson, presiding bishop of the Church of God in Christ, and Bible scholar Bruce Metzger.

No 10: The cost of sex-abuse perpetrated by priests to the Roman Catholic Church in the United States surpasses $2.1 billion with a record $660 million settlement involving the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and earlier settlements this year totaling $100 million in Portland, Oregon, and Spokane, Washington.

The annual survey polled active members of the Religion Newswriters. Of those polled, 80 people responded, for a 27 percent response rate. The poll was conducted December 7-13. Respondents selected the top 10 from 20 choices.