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December 26th, 2010
10:26 AM ET
Imam of controversial N.Y. mosque proposal to begin U.S. speaking tourThe imam behind the controversial Islamic community center and mosque planned near the site of the September 11 attacks in New York will begin a nationwide speaking tour next month to promote the project and encourage interfaith dialogue, a spokeswoman said Friday. Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf has been at the center of a national firestorm over his proposal to build a high-rise community center and mosque two blocks north of ground zero, when the World Trade Center's twin towers stood before the 2001 airliner attacks. "His speaking tour commences on January 15 in Detroit, and he will continue speaking throughout the year in about 12 different markets," Leyla Turkkan, the imam's spokeswoman, told CNN. Read the full story here about the speaking tour and security concerns surrounding it.
December 24th, 2010
11:43 AM ET
Ohio woman says markings in pistachio look like Jesus' face
Michelle Phipps, of Dublin, thinks an image on a pistachio shell she found has a striking resemblance to Jesus. A co-worker brought the nuts into the office to share with other employees. Phipps said one of the nuts stood out from the rest. Her co-workers thought they saw some other images in the nut. "We all started joking about it and talking about it. One thought it looked like Jason from a movie, or Freddy Kruger or George Washington. All sorts of things," Phillips said. Read the full story on WCPO.com
December 24th, 2010
10:43 AM ET
Iraq's Christmas fearsMany Christians in Iraq are afraid they'll be targeted by militants. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh reports.
December 24th, 2010
06:00 AM ET
Our Take: Rethinking Christmas
By Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, Special to CNN It’s not all that strange this time of year to see Christians outside in bathrobes, trying to keep a little baby warm in the straw of a cattle trough. (Truth be told, it’s usually a doll; but we get a real donkey from time to time.) We Christians like to re-enact the birth of Jesus and hear the angels sing again, “Peace on earth, good will toward men.” This is our good news. It feels good when our neighbors pause to listen. But we rarely tell the whole story. The baby in a manger is cute. The shepherds in their field are quaint. The magi from the east give the whole scene some dignity. 
December 24th, 2010
06:00 AM ET
What’s with the donkey in the parking lot?By Eric Marrapodi, CNN Belief blog Co-Editor It was a brisk December night, and Little Bit, a pregnant Sicilian miniature donkey, was munching hay as little children poked and pet her. She looked like she could go into labor at any moment there in the parking lot, which an Alexandria, Virginia, church was using for a live nativity scene. There was no rest for the weary. Little Bit’s schedule was packed. Most weekends, she was double-booked through Christmas Eve.* 
December 23rd, 2010
05:44 PM ET
'God is' billboard replaces controversial Lincoln Tunnel atheist billboardBy Emanuella Grinberg and Nicole Saidi, CNN An atheist billboard on the New Jersey side of the Lincoln Tunnel that declared Christmas a "myth" has been replaced by a pro-Christian billboard. The old billboard, put up in late November by the American Atheists organization, said "You know it's a myth. This season, celebrate reason." The sign stirred controversy among Christian organizations, prompting the Catholic League to erect its own pro-Christmas billboard on the New York side of the tunnel that read, "You Know It's Real: This Season Celebrate Jesus." The new sign, which was posted by the Manhattan-based Times Square Church, reads "God is," and includes a word cloud of religious themes.
December 23rd, 2010
04:33 PM ET
Christmas blossoms in ChinaEditors note: "Jaime's China" is a weekly column about Chinese society and politics. Jaime FlorCruz has lived and worked in China since 1971. He studied Chinese history at Peking University (1977-81) and served as TIME Magazine's Beijing correspondent and bureau chief (1982-2000). Inside Beijing's Immaculate Conception Cathedral more than 1,000 parishioners gather to say mass. A young Chinese priest conducts the service, which is punctuated by hymns and Christmas carols sung by a choir. The priest enjoins the congregation to "pray for the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI and the Chinese bishops." It is a stark change from Chairman Mao's time in the 1960s and '70s, when religion was banned in China as the "opiate of the people" and Christmas was taboo. In the early 1980s, years after Mao died, the government began loosening its religious restrictions. Back then, some Catholic friends and I would bike to Immaculate Conception for midnight mass. At the gate, wary church officials screened people who wished to enter. Read the full story
December 23rd, 2010
04:15 PM ET
Pat Robertson's marijuana remarks cause stirBy Alan Silverleib, CNN The Rev. Pat Robertson - a longtime fixture in Christian conservative politics - is drawing attention for questioning an article of faith among many Republicans: mandatory prison sentences for certain marijuana-related crimes. Some pot legalization advocates noted that Robertson also appeared to question the criminalization of possession of small amounts of marijuana - a position later denied in a written statement released by his media outlet, the Christian Broadcasting Network. "It got to be a big deal in campaigns," Robertson said on the December 16 edition of his show "The 700 Club." "Lock 'em up, you know. That's the way these guys ran, and they got elected. But that wasn't the answer."
December 23rd, 2010
02:10 PM ET
Christians face rising persecution, experts sayBy Richard Allen Greene, CNN A pastor sits on death row in Iran. His crime? Renouncing Islam for Christianity. A Christian mother of two faces execution in Pakistan - and a preacher has put a price on her head in case the president pardons her. Her crime? Insulting the Prophet Mohammed. In Iraq, dozens of Christians lie in fresh graves. Their fatal mistake? Going to church. And these are not simply isolated incidents, but part of a broader pattern, experts say. "There does appear to be an upsurge in violence directed against Christians," said Leonard Leo, the chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. 
December 23rd, 2010
10:44 AM ET
Some Iraqi churches tone down holiday festivities over threatsSome churches in Iraq plan to tone down holiday celebrations following violence targeting Christians in recent weeks. Church leaders made the decision recently after a meeting in Iraq's Kurdish north, said Archbishop Louis Sako, the head of the Chaldean Church in Kirkuk. There will be no Christmas Eve mass, no Santa or decorations at some churches during Christmas or the New Year, Sako said. Some churches will continue with Christmas Day mass as usual. Cancellations don't include the relatively safe Kurdish region in northern Iraq. Authorities said they will increase security around churches in Kirkuk. In Mosul, residents said celebrations have been canceled. Read the full story here of toned down Christmas in Iraq. |
  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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Some call a central Ohio woman a little "nutty," but she says to use your imagination.
Editor's note: Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove are co-compilers of Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals (Zondervan). 