Three religious leaders on World's Most Powerful list.

[rug]

http://www.forbes.com/powerful-people/list/

7 Pope Benedict XVI

The spiritual leader to one-sixth of the world's population--1.2 billion souls--delivers the final word on matters of abortion, gay marriage, female priests and, most recently, Occupy Wall Street. In October the Vatican called for a supranational authority to oversee the global economy: "To function correctly the economy needs ethics, and not just of any kind but one that is people-centered." 2011 Lowlight: Two victim groups asked the International Criminal Court to ­investigate and prosecute Pope Benedict XVI for covering up instances of sexual abuse.

26 Ali Hoseini-Khamenei, Grand Ayatollah, Iran

Hatred of the U.S., and more generally the West, remains a cornerstone of Khamenei's foreign policy. The cleric is a fan of the ­Occupy Wall Street protests: "The roots of this movement will grow in such a way that will knock the U.S. and Western capitalist system to the ground." 2011 Lowlight: American accusations that Iranian ­operatives were behind an ­attempt to assassinate the Saudi ­ambassador to the U.S.

51 Dalai Lama

Remains a potent political thorn in the side of China despite plans to step down as Tibetan head of state in exile. 2011 Lowlight: His South African visa to visit Desmond Tutu on his 80th birthday was denied, forcing the living god to extend his greetings via Google+.

[Ernesto]

1. What about the Easter Bunny? nt

[rug]

3. He was at #37 until Kim Jong-il ate him.

[dmallind]

2. Seems right enough as individuals, but these lists misstate cumulative influence

I suppose people can quibble about including one or two more on the margins but the issue of religious influence is rarely concentrated on individuals. Even though US power and influence is hardly at its peak it's undeniable that the collective pull of fundamentalist religious figures exhibits great sway on US policy, which in turn impacts the globe greatly. Start adding up the Warrens, Hagees, Haggards, Robertsons, Wildmons, Dobsons, Coes, Colsons, Ahmansons, Cortes' etc and their political acolytes in and out of the C Street Family and you have a big reason why we are messing up and in the Middle East, a big reason we are leaving major medical research to less wealthy and therefore capable nations, a big reason why we alienate a population segment based on sexuality, and a big reason why we imprison a greater ratio of our people than any other advanced wealthy democracy. That's a lot of influence by any measure, and it's a monolithic influence with a unified vector - it's just spread between many people.