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August 22nd, 2010
11:16 PM ET
California school aims to be country's first accredited Muslim collegeAs controversy swirls around a proposed Islamic center near New York City's ground zero and a handful of other mosque projects around the country, students will arrive this week at a California school that is aiming to become the country's first accredited Muslim college. Zaytuna College hopes to the train a generation of Islamic clerics and professionals in a Western Islamic tradition that school officials say is ill understood by many of the foreign-born imams currently working in the United States. "There's a triumphalist view that's not conducive to the type of religion we need to see," said Hamza Yusuf, chairman of Zaytuna's trustees board, describing many foreign-born imams. "American Muslims can help change a lot of the Muslim world to create the potential for conviviality."
August 22nd, 2010
07:00 PM ET
Obama's 2004 interview about his faith
[cnn-video url= http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoftv/2010/08/22/question.of.faith.cnn%5D
Back in 2004, then Illinois State Senator Barack Obama sat down with Cathleen Falsani, then the religion columnist for the Chicago Sun Times. Falsani's interview with Obama gives deep insight into the President's faith. Falsani talked about the interview with CNN's Fredricka Whitfield on Saturday.
August 22nd, 2010
06:03 PM ET
My interview with Obama on his Christianity and the 'Muslim issue'Long before last week's revelation that a large and growing chunk of Americans believe that the President is Muslim - and that only about one in three Americans correctly identify him as Christian - Barack Obama was battling misperceptions about his religion. In early 2008, right as Obama was in desperate need of a win in the South Carolina primaries - he'd beaten Hillary Clinton in Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucuses but lost to her in subsequent contests in New Hampshire and Iowa - false rumors swirled that he was Muslim. Obama's father was raised in a Muslim household, though the presidential candidate had repeatedly called him an agnostic, and Obama had spent time attending an Indonesian school where most students were Muslim. An e-mail smear campaign alleged that the White House hopeful was disguising his true faith. In South Carolina, whose primaries were Obama's first electoral test in the Bible Belt, that was a big problem.
August 22nd, 2010
03:34 PM ET
Opinion: Finding refuge in Buddhism
Editor's note: Buddhist Myokei Caine-Barrett is the first woman of African-Japanese descent, and the only Western woman, to be ordained as a priest in the Nichiren Order. She is the resident priest and guiding teacher for the Myoken-ji Temple, home of the Nichiren Buddhist Sangha of Texas. She talks about her journey to Buddhism in "The Black Pulpit," a weekly series that explores faith in the black community. Next week: A view from the first Muslim Chaplain at Howard University.CNN's "Almighty Debt: A Black in America Special" premieres October 21. My journey of faith began at age 11 when I began to study the Bible, inspired by Audrey Hepburn in "The Nun's Story" and enamored of Jeffrey Hunter in "King of Kings." I yearned for the passion and devotion of faith, as expressed Hollywood-style, to deal with my isolation as a child of mixed ethnicity in a black and white world. I did not fit anywhere, and the path of faith seemed to offer the greatest sense of belonging.
August 22nd, 2010
03:16 PM ET
Protesters rally against, for planned Islamic center in New YorkWith chants and banners, protesters against the construction of an Islamic community center and mosque near ground zero faced off on Sunday with protesters in favor of the facility. Hundreds of critics and supporters of the proposed center in New York showed up despite an overcast and drizzly sky to express their views amid the national debate over the facility. Police estimated that by 11:30 a.m. supporters of the center numbered up to 250, and critics numbered about 450. Read the full story
August 22nd, 2010
03:06 PM ET
August 22nd, 2010
02:51 PM ET
Opinion: Islam-inspired comic superheroes fight for peaceBy Naif Al-Mutawa, Special to CNN Editor's note: TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to "Ideas worth spreading," which it makes available through talks posted on its website. Naif Al-Mutawa, who was trained as a clinical psychologist, created a comic series called "THE 99," with superheroes based on Islamic archetypes. The series is coming to television in the U.S. and THE 99 heroes will be in a joint comic book this fall with Superman and other Justice League heroes. Fifteen years ago I walked out of a mosque in silent protest of the imam's sermon. Outside, the heat of the desert sun could hardly match the fire of the rhetoric being spewed forth inside. The imam was railing against the foreign enemies of Islam and the sinners within. With every genocidal rant came an "amen" from the congregation. Some regrettably came from the heart. Others came from those on autopilot putting in their "time" at the mosque to fulfill their quota of good deeds. Still others were a tradeoff: penance for their sins, an economy of convenience that was born long before Islam and long sold as the path to heaven of other faiths. |
  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 with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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By Myokei Caine-Barrett, Special to CNN