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<\/a><\/h4>\nOne of the things I do to mark the coming of the New Year is to first look back on the old year, reflecting on what happened and then wondering what might happen next.<\/p>\n
Newspapers and websites are doing that, compiling lists of the top ten stories in news, politics, entertainment, or whatever their purview is.\u00a0 We\u2019ll survey some of those here.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also good for us to review the year in our personal lives.\u00a0 For me, this was the year my mother died.\u00a0 My wife and I bought a place in St. Louis.\u00a0 We are settling into our lives here, getting more involved in our new congregation and enjoying what the city has to offer.\u00a0 Two of our granddaughters are doing college visits!\u00a0 Tempus fugit<\/em>.\u00a0 In the words of my fellow St. Louisan T.\u00a0 S. Eliot<\/a>, \u201cI grow old \u2026 I grow old \u2026\/I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.\u201d<\/p>\n But let\u2019s look at the bigger picture. . .<\/p>\n Politico<\/em>\u2018s Jonathan Martin<\/a> is calling 2024 \u201cthe most extraordinary year in modern American politics.\u201d\u00a0 The consensus biggest story of the year has to be the re-election of Time Magazine<\/em>\u2018s Person of the Year, Donald Trump.\u00a0 He barely won in 2016, lost in 2020, was vilified by the nation\u2019s elite, dragged through the criminal justice system, was nearly assassinated twice. . . .And then was re-elected to the presidency, winning the popular vote with his coattails winning the legislative branch for the Republicans!<\/p>\n To add to the most extraordinary year, after President Biden swept his primaries, the Democratic Party nominated someone else!\u00a0 Having covered up the president\u2019s impairments throughout his term of office, the Democratic establishment decided he could not beat Trump and pressured him not to run after all.\u00a0 Instead, they anointed Vice President Kamala Harris, whom Biden beat in the previous Democratic primary because she was such an ineffective candidate.\u00a0 And extraordinary things keep happening, with the richest man in the world, Elon Musk, being put in charge of cutting the deficit and the health iconoclast Robert Kennedy, Jr., being put in charge of the government\u2019s health programs!\u00a0 Next year may shape up as the most interesting year in modern American politics.<\/p>\n Another big story is that the wars drag on.\u00a0 Russia invaded Ukraine two years ago<\/em>, since February 24, 2022!\u00a0 Hamas invaded Israel over a year ago<\/em>, on October 7, 2023!<\/p>\n For overviews of the year\u2019s news, sports, entertainment, pop culture, etc., etc., all illustrated with great photos, see this Year in Review hub<\/a> for the Associated Press.<\/p>\n I like to live over again the past year month by month.\u00a0 The Wall Street Journal<\/em> offers that\u00a0 with a timeline of 2024\u2019s Biggest News Stories<\/a>.\u00a0 That one, behind a paywall, is serious.\u00a0 More fun to read is Dave Barry\u2019s \u201cYear in Review<\/a>,\u201d which is also serious while being hilarious.<\/p>\n The Religion News Association polled its members to come up with the Top 10 religion stories of 2024<\/a>, my comments in brackets:<\/p>\n 1. \u201cFormer President Donald Trump won a second term in the White House with the help of many white Christians.\u201d [Trump even wins the top position in surveys of different topics!\u00a0 Yes, many white Christians voted for Trump.\u00a0 So did many black Christians, many Hispanic Christians, many Muslims, many Jews, many Nones, and many evangelicals who no longer go to church.]<\/p>\n 2. \u201cJews raised concerns about facing higher levels of discrimination and harassment.\u201d [I think this should be the top religion story.\u00a0 Anti-semitism is back in vogue around the world.\u00a0 What started as opposition to Israel\u2019s retaliation against Hamas for its invasion, hostage-taking, and atrocities, has become old-fashioned conspiratorial-minded Jew-hating.]<\/p>\n 3.\u00a0 The war between Israel and Hamas caused American Muslims to turn against the Democrats and vote for Trump, \u201ccomplicating Vice President Kamala Harris\u2019 path to victory.\u201d [One of many political turn-arounds. Note that even religion reporters have a bias for Harris.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t get very far on her \u201cpath to victory.\u201d\u00a0 I\u2019d say it was more than \u201ccomplicated.\u201d\u00a0 It didn\u2019t materialize.]<\/p>\n 4. Louisiana passed a law requiring the Ten Commandments be posted in the states\u2019 public schools.\u00a0 [I want to know what text they used.\u00a0 Do they have two commandments against \u201ccoveting\u201d?\u00a0 We Lutherans, like Catholics do, and there are lots of Catholics in Louisiana.]<\/p>\n 5. Christian nationalism gets attention because of the election.\u00a0 [Many Christian nationalists voted for Trump. So did many non-Christian nationalists and many non-nationalist Christians.]<\/p>\n 6. The Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are children. [And rightly so!]<\/p>\n 7. \u201cIslamophobia surged across the U.S. amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.\u201d [Islamophilia more like!\u00a0 On university campuses, Islam is the one religion that gets respected.\u00a0 You can even oppose extramarital sex and homosexuality if you are a Muslim, though not if you are a Christian.]<\/p>\n 8. In the election, seven states voted in favor of abortion.\u00a0 [Of these, also four voted for Trump.\u00a0 The bigger story is that the Republican Party dropped its pro-life platform.]<\/p>\n 9.\u00a0 The United Methodists dropped their ban on LGBTQ clergy and same-sex marriage.\u00a0 [Well, of course they did, after 7,600 more conservative congregations<\/a> left the denomination, leaving the progressives unopposed and firmly in charge.]<\/p>\n 10. \u201cThe Trump-Vance and Harris-Walz campaigns put a spotlight on candidates\u2019 unique religious backgrounds.\u201d [A non-church going Presbyterian and a devout Catholic convert up against an \u201cinter-faith\u201d candidate who as a child went to both a Hindu Temple and a Black Baptist church, where she currently is a member, and today has an \u201cinter-faith\u201d family with her Jewish husband plus a liberal Lutheran.\u00a0 Their backgrounds are not so much unique as all too common.]<\/p>\nNews of the Year<\/h4>\n
Top 10 Religion Stories of the Year<\/h4>\n
Most Influential in the Media<\/h4>\n