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Alabama church signs iReport: 'Sermons in a Sentence'Among the submissions we received for CNN's recent church sign iReport was a voice-tracked montage from an Alabama-based iReporter who calls herself amandawriter. "After seeing the church signs assignment, I had to take a drive this afternoon around my region here in central Alabama," she says. "There are so many churches - and so many stereotypes about the Bible Belt, especially its supposed religious intolerance - that I wanted to see what the signs actually reflected. What I discovered might surprise you." The Dalai Lama is wrong
By Stephen Prothero, Special to CNN I am a big fan of the Dalai Lama. I love his trademark smile and I hate the fact that I missed his talks this week in New York City. But I cannot say either "Amen" or "Om" to the shopworn clichés that he trots out in the New York Times in “Many Faiths, One Truth.” Towards a younger, hipper IslamWhen talking to those of my generation and younger from the Muslim American community, an oft-mentioned challenge is a disconnect from the Islam one knows and believes in and the messaging received in places of worship. This seems to be changing tremendously here in the U.S. due to one simple thing: time. Jules Feiffer, Judaism and motherhoodIn an interview about his new book, “Backing into Forward,” cartoonist Jules Feiffer observed, “The two things I knew I wasn’t going to write about was my mother and my Jewishness. And, of course, they became the central themes of the book.” My adult baptismWhat was it like to go on a pilgrimage? How did it feel the first time you spoke in tongues? Where did the experience of a week-long meditation retreat take you? The CNN Belief Blog will occasionally share the spiritual journeys of others and begins with this one from Jascinth Hall, a 26-year-old wife and mother of three who was baptized - along with 109 others - on Saturday, May 8, at Berean Seventh-day Adventist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. This is her account of the experience, in her own words. ![]() When did God become a sports fan?Baseball players point to the heavens after hitting home runs; NFL players pray in the end zone after scoring. Competitors routinely thank Jesus, along with their sponsors, in post-game interviews. Thanking God from the winner's circle has become so common that one British newspaper published a letter to the editor entitled: "Leave me out of your petty games - Love, God." The letter raised a question: Does God care who wins on game day? And, if so, do losers somehow have less faith? 'Lost' leaves viewers a lesson on faithFor scores of viewers who tuned in to see the finale of "Lost," a satisfied sense of closure might be the subject of fervent debate for a long time to come. It certainly took a giant leap of faith to end without explaining all the mythology that has spurred numerous water cooler discussions since the series debuted in 2004. 'Lost' ends on a spiritual note![]() For six seasons, there was a lot on the series "Lost" that was open to interpretation. One thing pretty clear, however, was that the final moments of the series on Sunday night - with many of the characters "moving on" from a kind of purgatory inside a church - were intensely spiritual. 'God must have something specific in mind for me'From CNN's Sara Sidner in Mangalore, India: It’s puzzling how we human beings can fight so fiercely over our differences, but when it boils down to it we are all so similar. No matter what religion we believe in or don’t believe in, it never escapes me that in life’s most extreme circumstances our differences suddenly fade away and what is left are the simple human traits we all share. |
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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 with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team. ![]() ![]() |
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