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March 4th, 2012
09:31 AM ET
Churches aid recovery in storm-hit townBy Eric Marrapodi and Athena Jones, CNN Henryville, Indiana (CNN)– Church members held hands as they prayed among the pews at Henryville Community Church on Sunday morning. "One week ago, we prayed, 'God use us in some way,' " pastor Rich Cheek said as he led the congregation in prayer. "This morning, so many of you have lost everything," Cheek said, his voice cracking with emotion. "We asked God to use us, and he did." Outside, a forklift off-loaded pallets of dry goods and bottles of water from a tractor-trailer. The church recreation center and basement have become a clearinghouse for supplies brought in from nearby Louisville, Kentucky, and trucked in by tractor-trailers from Convoys of Hope, a relief agency from Springfield, Missouri. 
February 27th, 2012
12:52 PM ET
My Take: Stop supporting buffoonery in the pulpit
By Rev. DeForest B. Soaries Jr., Special to CNN (CNN) – When I was a child, if a crime were committed, my grandmother would say, “I hope he wasn’t colored.” Her concern was that all African-Americans suffered whenever one of us was caught doing something wrong. In those days black people raised their children to abstain from behavior that would give credence to the stereotypes that society had used to characterize us and justify the injustices heaped upon us. And most of us embraced that ethic. Read the full op-ed at CNN's In America Blog
February 18th, 2012
05:38 PM ET
My Take: Houston funeral brings world inside black church
By Stephen Prothero, Special to CNN Whitney Houston gave a lot of gifts to the world. She gave us the best rendition ever of "The Star-Spangled Banner." She gave us “I Will Always Love You.” But Saturday at New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey, where as a girl she sang in the choir, she gave us a church service — a chance for people of all races to see what church looks like inside the community that gave Houston (and us) her voice. “There are more stars here than the Grammys,” said Houston’s music director, Rickey Minor, and the service did feature pop star Stevie Wonder and music mogul Clive Davis, among others. But so much of popular music started in the black church, and today the black church talked back. CNN's Belief Blog – all the faith angles to the day's top stories In other words, this was an unapologetically Christian service, replete with references to salvation and “amazing grace,” where even the pop stars were transformed into gospel singers. People crossed themselves. They raised their hands to heaven. And the congregation kept shouting back: “Yes!” and “That’s it!” and “Praise the Lord!” 
December 12th, 2011
03:10 AM ET
The Obamas walk to church, reverend preaches understanding expectationsBy Dan Merica, CNN Washington (CNN) – On a cold, brisk day in Washington, DC, the president and his family walked across Lafayette Park to attended services at St. John’s Episcopal Church. According to a pool report, Reverend Luis Leon’s sermon was about John the Baptist heralding Jesus as the real god. Leon went on to discuss how John the Baptist’s heralding did not first go as expected but that it was a good thing because it taught people to accept reality. Rev. Leon also mentioned the president in his sermon. Playing off John the Baptist, the reverend discussed the expectations people had of Obama at first. Many people, he said, unfairly expected a messiah to cure all America’s problems, but that now it is becoming apparent it’s not that easy.
October 4th, 2011
01:22 PM ET
Libyan Jew returns from exile to restore synagogueBy Mohamed Fadel Fahmy, CNN (CNN) - Libyan Jew David Gerbi on Sunday hammered down the brick wall blocking the entrance to the rundown Dar Bishi Synagogue in Tripoli on what he called a “historic day.” Flanked by journalists and curious residents from the neighborhood, Gerbi, dressed in an “I love Libya” T-shirt, collapsed as he yelled, “This is for all those who suffered under Gadhafi." With a U.S. security contractor accompanying him, Gerbi continued to strike the wall until it was destroyed. Read the full story at CNN's news blog, This Just In A 500-ton crane collapsed at the Washington National Cathedral on Wednesday
September 7th, 2011
03:52 PM ET
Crane collapses at Washington's National CathedralBy Eric Marrapodi, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor Washington (CNN)– A 500-ton crane collapsed at Washington's National Cathedral Wednesday morning, crushing several cars in a nearby parking lot and sending one person to the hospital, officials said. The crane was working on the south side of the cathedral to stabilize debris on the central tower, the Cathedral administration said in a statement. Heavy rain was coming down when the crane fell around 10:55 a.m. in a parking lot adjacent to the cathedral, smashing cars and damaging another building on the grounds. One person was transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries as a result of the crane crash, authorities said.  The Islamic Center of Murfreesboro has faced intense local opposition over plans to construct a new mosque.
September 2nd, 2011
10:18 PM ET
Embattled Tennessee mosque to move forward with constructionBy Jamie Gumbrecht, CNN It has taken months, but leaders of an embattled Murfreesboro, Tennessee, mosque say that construction of a new facility could start as soon as next month. The Islamic Center of Murfreesboro has existed for more than a decade. As it surpassed 1,000 worshippers, its members planned to build a new 52,000-square-foot structure with a mosque, gym, playground and cemetery. Backlash followed, including lawsuits and an August 2010 fire that destroyed construction equipment and damaged vehicles at the construction site for the mosque. Police said it was arson.
August 1st, 2011
08:47 AM ET
Understanding the religious history of the Knights TemplarBy Fareed Zakaria, CNN The group has come to everyone's attention because of Anders Behring Breivik's killing spree in Norway, now just over a week ago. He claimed in his rambling manifesto to represent a modern-day "Knights Templar". But who are they? The name might ring a bell, especially if you've seen The DaVinci Code or National Treasure or one of any number of recent films. But these are, of course, all fictional. What are the facts? Read more about all the latest security news in CNN's new blog Security Clearance. The Knights Templar were a Christian military order founded in the early 12th century. Its members were said to be elite warriors who wore distinctive white mantles with a red cross. They made their reputation by winning a series of battles in the Crusades. Read more about the Knights Templar from GPS
June 25th, 2011
04:00 AM ET
Sacred Spaces: Inside a Hindu templeEditor's note: Sacred Spaces is an occasional series on the Belief Blog. In this installment, CNN Senior Photojournalist Anthony Umrani takes us inside Sri Siva Vishnu Temple, a Hindu worship space near Washington, DC. By Anthony Umrani, CNN Lanham, Maryland (CNN) – On a cool spring evening just outside Washington, a steady stream of worshipers arrive at Sri Siva Vishnu Temple for prayers. People are dressed in a mixture of colorful Indian attire and customary Western clothing. In this residential Maryland neighborhood about 12 miles from downtown, the temple stands out with a striking white exterior adorned with statues depicting Hindu gods. In India, a temple is typically dedicated to one particular god, but the Sri Siva Vishnu Temple has many gods to accommodate the diversity of Indian people in the area. "We have a wide variety of congregation and each one of them says, 'I want this god' or 'I want that god,' " said S. Krishnamurthy, one of the founder/trustees of the temple.  Sarah Palin leaving the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia on Tuesday.
June 2nd, 2011
07:55 AM ET
My Take: More places Palin should visit on bus tour
By Stephen Prothero, Special to CNN Dear Governor Palin, Your it’s-not-a-campaign-bus-tour has motored through the National Archives, Mount Vernon, Arlington National Cemetery, Gettysburg, Independence Hall, the Statue of Liberty and Donald Trump’s penthouse. So obviously you are highlighting America’s most historic sites. But as you head toward New England and beyond, I’d like to suggest four additional sites, sacred to the chain of memory that is American religion. Together these sacred places acknowledge not only the powerful role that Christianity has played in American life (something you often mention) but also the fact of American religious diversity (something you might mention more). |
  About this blog
The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke and Eric Marrapodi with daily contributions from CNN's worldwide newsgathering team and frequent posts from religion scholar and author Stephen Prothero.  |
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Editor’s Note: Rev. DeForest "Buster" Soaries is the senior pastor at First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens in Somerset, New Jersey. He is a former Secretary of State of New Jersey.
Editor's Note: Stephen Prothero, a Boston University religion scholar and author of "God is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions that Run the World," is a regular CNN Belief Blog contributor.
