-Caveat Lector- Reformation Top Religious Event By RICHARD N. OSTLING .c The Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) - The nation's religion newswriters have selected the Protestant Reformation and the invention of the movable type printing press as the leading religious events of the second millennium. The newswriters also picked the Nazi Holocaust and resulting establishment of Israel as the top event of the last century. The Second Vatican Council and the Russian Revolution rounded out the century's top three. Survey responses came from 30 members of the Religion Newswriters Association, made up of specialists covering the field for the general media. The writers voted the top story of the millennium to be Martin Luther nailing his 95 theses to a church door in Wittenberg in 1517, sparking the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Church's Counter-Reformation. The invention of printing with movable type, and publication of the Gutenberg Bible in various languages came in second. The Great Schism of 1054 splitting Eastern and Western Christianity was third. Their choices for the millennium's other top 10 events, in order: The Nazi Holocaust and founding of Israel. The Papacy's launching of the Crusades in 1095 to reclaim holy sites from Muslims, with some crusaders turning against Eastern Orthodoxy. Destruction of Buddhism in India by Muslim invaders (1190-1200) and expansion of Islam into Africa and Asia. The Byzantine empire ended in 1453 when Muslim Turks seized Constantinople. Reforms of Catholicism's Second Vatican Council (1962-65). Settlement if Plymouth, Mass., church-state separation in Roger Williams' Rhode Island, and religious freedom in the U.S. Bill of Rights. Darwin, Freud, Marx and Nietzsche publish 19th century ideas seen as hostile to religion. The Azusa Street Revival of 1906 launches Pentecostalism, which by the end of the 20th century ``becomes the fastest growing segment of Christianity.'' In the survey on 20th century events, the newswriters chose the following top events in addition to the Holocaust, Second Vatican Council, and the rise and fall of communism in Russia and Eastern Europe: The Azusa Street Revival. The great increase in Protestant and Jewish female clergy. Discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947. Increasing influence of radical Islam, including theocracy in Iran. Election of John Paul II, the first non-Italian pope in four and a half centuries, who is nearly assassinated. The civil rights movement led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., with strong support from religious leaders. Gandhi's non-violent campaign wins independence for India. The voting was open to all members of the association and was held via Internet, mail and fax from Nov. 12, 1999, to Nov. 24, 1999. Richard DuJardin of the Providence Journal-Bulletin administered the newswriters survey. Full results, and other top events listed on survey ballots, are posted on the association's Web site, www.rna.org. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
