Top Ten lists seem to be all the rage at the end of the year, and we at Mind on Fire are not ones to shy away from the popular, provided that it is some that we can appropriate and reshape to meet our own devious ends.

The Religion Newswriters Association of America recently published their top religion stories for 2007. The top contenders were the suppression of political protests by Buddhist monks to the brutal military rule in Myanmar and the role of religion in the presidential campaign.  There are more, but I noticed that the list doesn’t include the big noise that vocal atheists made last year.  So here is John’s Top Five Doubt Stories of 2007 (guaranteed minimum arbitrary content: 92%):

1. The Rise of “New Atheism”, lead by best-selling anti-God and anti-religion books published and marketed by Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens.

2. Highest ranking unbelieving elected official in the U.S. is identified.  Rep. Pete Stark of California is 75 years old and has served in Congress since 1972.

3. Creation Museum opens in Kentucky, providing skeptic bloggers with a focused target for their ridicule.

4. Biography of Mother Theresa highlights her lifelong “crisis of faith.”

5. American Catholics campaign against The Golden Compass.

The list is in no particular order.  I’d love to make this a Top Ten list, if you want to submit ideas.