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December 5th, 2010
08:29 PM ET
Iraq: Gunmen kill elderly Christian couple inside their BaghdadAttackers gunned down an elderly Christian couple late Sunday inside their Baghdad home, the latest in a string of religious-rooted violence that has spurred international outcry and a full-court press for justice from Iraqi authorities. Gunmen broke into the couple's residence in Baladiyat, a predominantly Shiite area in eastern Baghdad, during the night and shot them dead, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official said. Hours earlier, Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta said in a press conference broadcast on state-run Iraqiya TV that 15 "Arabs" - in Iraq, a euphemism indicating they came from outside the country - were responsible for three deadly attacks in Baghdad in recent months, including a bloody church siege.
December 5th, 2010
06:56 PM ET
Military chaplains debate their role without 'don't ask, don't tell'Editor's Note: CNN's Padma Rama brings us this report from Washington. As Congress debates the repeal of the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, military chaplains are doing their own soul-searching. About 3,000 chaplains currently serve in the military, endorsed by a multitude of faiths, including Christian, evangelical Protestant, Jewish and Muslim denominations. It's a unique culture where chaplains of various beliefs serve alongside one another counseling and caring for an equally diverse congregation of armed service members. "Some of the most intense and sharpest divergence of views about Don't Ask, Don't Tell exists among the chaplains," states the Pentagon report, released last week, on the potential impact of repealing the policy. The report concludes that allowing openly gay or lesbian troops to serve in the military would have little lasting impact on the U.S. armed forces. Read the full story on CNN.com/Politics.
December 5th, 2010
05:24 PM ET
Pakistani cleric puts price on condemned Christian's head
Moulana Yousaf Qureshi made his announcement at a Friday service in the northwestern city of Peshawar. He condemned any effort by Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari to pardon or release Asia Bibi (pictured) and said he and his followers will call on millions to protest if Pakistan's blasphemy laws are amended. 
December 5th, 2010
10:33 AM ET
My Take: Didn't Jesus die for gays, too?
By Stephen Prothero, Special to CNN The controversy over the “Fire in My Belly” video just pulled from the National Portrait Gallery appears, on the face of it, to be about using tax money to display art that some Christians find offensive. Or so the critics - from Bill Donohue of the Catholic League to Glenn Beck of Fox News to conservative Republicans such as the incoming House Speaker John Boehner - would have us believe. But the artist, the late David Wojnarowicz, was gay. The video is informed, among other things, by the AIDS crisis. And the broader exhibit, “Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture,” attends to issues of gender and sexuality, including homosexuality. So what is at stake here is not just money but the contested intersection of religion, morality and sexual politics that has been going in recent years by the tagline of “the culture wars.” |
  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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A Pakistani cleric is offering a nearly $6,000 bounty for the killing of a Christian woman whose death sentence for blasphemy is being challenged by Pakistan's government.
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.