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September 29th, 2010
09:25 AM ET
Accuser's message for Bishop Eddie Long: 'You are a monster'One of the young men who has accused a Georgia pastor of sexual coercion told Atlanta television station WAGA that he wanted to send a message to Bishop Eddie Long: "You are not a man. You are a monster." "I cannot get the sound of his voice out of my head, I cannot forget the smell of his cologne and I cannot forget the way that he made me cry many nights when I drove in his cars on the way home," Jamal Parris, 23, told a WAGA reporter who traveled to Colorado to interview him. Parris, a former church employee and personal assistant to Long, filed one of four lawsuits last week accusing the Baptist televangelist of coercing young male church members into having sex with him.
September 28th, 2010
10:19 PM ET
Obama questioned on abortion, why he is a ChristianAn event billed as a discussion on the economy turned personal Tuesday when a woman asked President Barack Obama about his Christian faith and views on abortion. The question came at a town hall-style meeting in the yard of an Albuquerque home as part of Obama's public outreach to explain his policies and campaign for Democrats in the November congressional elections. With a recent survey showing that only a third of Americans can correctly identify Obama as a Christian, the president gave a personal account of his conversion as an adult and how his public service is part of his faith.
September 28th, 2010
12:01 AM ET
Don't know much about religion? You're not alone, study findsOdds are that you know Mother Teresa was Catholic, but what religion is the Dalai Lama? How about Maimonides? And - no Googling - what's the first book of the Bible? How about the first four books of the New Testament? Americans who can answer all of those questions are relatively rare, a huge new study has found. In fact, although the United States is one of the most religious developed countries in the world, most Americans scored 50 percent or less on a quiz measuring knowledge of the Bible, world religions and what the Constitution says about religion in public life.
September 28th, 2010
12:01 AM ET
My Take: Why American public schools need religion courses
By Stephen Prothero, Special to CNN Who knows more about religion - the arch-atheist Christopher Hitchens or Islam basher Rev. Franklin Graham? Most likely the unbeliever, according to a U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey released today by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. In this, the first major study of religious literacy among American adults, Americans as a whole flunked, answering correctly 16 of 32 questions about Christianity, the Bible and the world’s religions - for an embarrassing score of only 50 percent. 
September 27th, 2010
02:44 PM ET
Reporter's notebook: Covering Eddie Long's serviceEditor's Note: CNN's Martin Savidge filed this reporter's notebook from New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. The video report above is the piece Martin and his team filed. Below is a look at what it took to get the story. 5:30 a.m.: Usually when you show up at a news story at this hour the only people you see are other media. Not so at the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. Parishioners were already there sitting in their cars waiting for the church doors to open 2 1/2 hours before any service. Supporters of embattled bishop Eddie Long had risen before the sun. 
September 27th, 2010
01:37 PM ET
U.N. partnering with faith groupsEditor's Note: CNN White House Producer Xuan Thai filed this report from the U.N. General Assembly. It might be called a match made in heaven. The United Nations is partnering with faith based organizations and their vast network of donors, development groups, and grass roots organizers to bring aid to developing countries around the world. You could say they are putting their money where their mouth is. Except both groups have been putting money up for a long time. Last week during the annual U.N. General Assembly, the United Methodist Church announced a five year, $75 million pledge to the United Nations’ Global Fund, the first of its kind for the fund.
September 27th, 2010
07:00 AM ET
A look inside NYC Islamic center imam’s mosquesEditor's Note: CNN Belief Blog co-editor Dan Gilgoff files this report from New York. The controversy over a proposed Islamic center in lower Manhattan has spiraled into a global debate over Islam’s place in the United States, but the arrival of a mosque a couple blocks from ground zero was driven mostly by the simple need for more space. As the Muslim population of downtown New York has shot up in recent years - especially during daytime working hours - worshippers at Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf’s small mosque in the city’s Tribeca neighborhood found themselves stuck in lines outside the door during Friday afternoon prayers. Rauf’s storefront mosque, called Masjid al-Farah, had started out holding one weekly prayer service but had ramped up to three or four Friday services in recent years to accommodate the surging crowds.
September 26th, 2010
06:55 PM ET
Opinion: Why black church culture rejects homosexuality
Editor's Note: Shayne Lee, Ph.D, is an associate professor of sociology at Tulane University. He is the author of "T.D. Jakes: America's New Preacher," which analyzes major changes in the black church culture and contemporary American religion, and co-author of "Holy Mavericks: Evangelical Innovators and the Spiritual Marketplace," which looks at the appeal of celebrity preachers. As a sociologist who studies black churches, my research allows for compelling conversations with some of our nation's most powerful religious leaders. But my most memorable interview to date was not with a celebrity preacher, but a lesser known young gay Christian I'll call David. Like many black Christians, David grew up in a theologically conservative church culture that views the Bible as the authoritative word of God. This supplied David with a healthy dose of guilt and regret for succumbing to same-sex cravings, eventually leading to his despondent spiritual state. In gripping detail, David recalled spending many days and nights fasting and praying for God to "deliver" him from his homosexuality.
September 26th, 2010
05:52 PM ET
Televangelist Eddie Long: 'I'm going to fight' sex allegationsLithonia, Georgia (CNN) - Baptist televangelist Eddie Long said Sunday he will fight allegations that he coerced young male church members into having sex with him. "I am not the man that has been portrayed on television," he told his congregation. Speaking publicly about the accusations for the first time, Long did not address the specific allegations contained in four lawsuits filed against him earlier this week.
September 26th, 2010
10:15 AM ET
Eddie Long breaks his silenceBy the CNN Wire Staff ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) - Five days after the first of four lawsuits was filed claiming he coerced young males into sexual relationships, Georgia pastor Eddie Long took to the pulpit Sunday to tell his side of the story. Speaking to the massive congregation packed into the Atlanta-area New Birth Missionary Baptist Church for an 8 a.m. service, Long said that "this is probably the most difficult time" of his entire life, but he intends to fight the allegations against him. |
  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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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.
By Shayne Lee, Special to CNN