The role of faith in President Bush's re-election and Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ tied as the top stories of 2004 in a survey of religion newswriters.
The online survey of Religion Newswriters Association members was conducted Dec. 10-14 and released Dec. 15.
Gibson also was named the organization's Religion Newsmaker of the Year, receiving 51 percent of the votes from survey participants. Bush garnered 40 percent of the votes, making him runner-up for the newsmaker designation.
Gibson's movie, released in February, earned record crowds and DVD sales and sparked extensive discussions about topics ranging from possible anti-Semitism to faithfulness to Scripture.
There has been much coverage about how religion and values played a role in the presidential campaign and the election, with some studies crediting evangelicals with giving Bush his margin of victory.
The third most newsworthy topic, the nation's religion reporters said, was the issue of gay marriage. Stories covering that topic ranged from court cases to proposed legislation to the mobilization of religious groups on both sides of the issue. Forty-one percent of 260 eligible RNA members-or 108 journalists who write about religion for non-religious news media-responded to the survey. They were required to rank their top 20 choices and no tie votes were permitted.
The rest of the top 10 stories chosen are:
No. 4: Several Catholic bishops say they will deny Communion to politicians with abortion rights stances.
No. 5: The Anglican Lambeth Commission criticizes conservatives and liberals and has an apparently unsuccessful attempt to heal the rift caused by last year's installation of a gay bishop in New Hampshire.
No. 6: The U.S. Supreme Court upholds “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance on technical grounds.
No. 7: Debate continues over the U.S. role in Iraq, with some religious leaders calling for withdrawal and others voicing support for the troops.
No. 8: Two lesbian preachers are tried in the United Methodist Church, with one acquitted and another found guilty. The Presbyterian Church (USA) also continues to deal with differences over homosexuality.
No. 9: The largest settlement in the Catholic sex-abuse cases is reported in Orange County, Calif.
No. 10: High tensions continue in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Leaders of the Presbyterian Church (USA) call for withdrawing investments from companies profiting from Israel's occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, prompting complaints from some Jewish groups.
Religion News Service