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 A young Indian Hindu devotee looks at the camera while being dressed as Lord Krishna in Kolkata.
December 20th, 2011
11:53 PM ET
Hindus ask Russian court to drop case against holy bookBy Moni Basu, CNN (CNN) – For Hindus it's the Song of God, but prosecutors in the Russian city of Tomsk want the Bhagavad Gita banned, calling it an extremist book that sows social discord. A court was supposed to have rendered a decision Monday on the proposed ban, but adjourned until December 28 to hear more academic opinion on the matter. Hindus around the world have expressed outrage at the treatment of one of the most important texts of Hinduism. The 700-verse scripture, written as a message from God taught by Lord Krishna, is a part of the Hindu epic Mahabharata. 
December 20th, 2011
11:31 PM ET
Iowa faith leader asked Bachmann to consider dropping out, campaign saysBy Shannon Travis, CNN Des Moines, Iowa (CNN) – Prominent Iowa faith leader Bob Vander Plaats asked Michele Bachmann to dramatically alter her White House plans, according to the Bachmann campaign, including the possibility of dropping her presidential bid altogether. "[Bob] Vander Plaats called us on Saturday and asked us to consider the possibility of merging with another candidate," Bachmann spokeswoman Alice Stewart told CNN. "He did not say whether we should be president or vice presidential candidate." "And obviously, we didn't even consider that," Stewart added. "We said, 'Why would we do that?' " Vander Plaats is the president and CEO of The Family Leader in Iowa, a Christian organization that holds sway over many Iowa social conservatives – a crucial voting bloc in the state's January 3 caucus. FULL STORY
December 20th, 2011
05:16 PM ET
TIME: Why Hanukkah Is the Most Celebrated Jewish Holiday in AmericaBy Tim Newcomb, TIME (TIME)– Even though listed officially as a “minor” Jewish holiday, Hanukkah has turned into the most celebrated Jewish holiday in the U.S. There’s nothing minor about Hanukkah anymore. Rabbi Kerry M. Olitzky, executive director of the Jewish Outreach Institute in New York City, says the notion of calling Hanukkah “minor” really presents a misnomer and it is only a term used when discussing holidays that impart major restrictions on people’s behavior. Major holidays include Passover, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot, and require restrictions on eating and other behavior, giving them titles of major holidays. But just because Hanukkah offers a festival void of the restrictions, it doesn’t make it any less important, Olitzky says. “Outside of the technical framework of Jewish law, Hanukkah is a major Jewish holiday,” he says. “We have really done ourselves a disservice by using the term minor.” Read the full story from TIME's Newsfeed here. Rick Santorum was endorsed by the head of Iowa's Family Leader on Wednesday.
December 20th, 2011
04:25 PM ET
Split GOP presidential endorsements reflect fractured evangelical baseBy Dan Gilgoff, CNN.com Religion Editor (CNN) - When Newt Gingrich’s campaign announced Tuesday morning that it had won an endorsement from Don Wildmon, president of the evangelical American Family Association, it seemed like one more bit of evidence that the former House speaker has become the unlikely favorite of conservative Christian activists. But a few hours later, Bob Vander Plaats, president of an influential Iowa evangelical organization called the Family Leader, announced he was throwing his personal support behind Rick Santorum. The day of split Republican endorsements reflects a Republican religious base that is largely fractured just two weeks before the first-in-the-nation Republican caucuses.  A controversial nativity scene features Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
December 20th, 2011
02:53 PM ET
Politicized nativity scene stirs controversy in VenezuelaFrom Osmary Hernandez, for CNN (CNN) - As far as Christmas traditions go, nativity scenes are generally quite similar, though local customs often find their way into such montages. But one nativity scene in Venezuela has sparked controversy for what critics say overstepped the lines of taste, religion and politics. The display in question is located inside the concourse of a group of residential and business towers in Caracas, placed there by employees of the country's ministry for women. 
December 20th, 2011
01:32 PM ET
My Take: Reclaiming the politics of Christmas
By Elizabeth Hunter, Special to CNN It has become a truism that the Victorians invented Christmas. We all know, through the yearly cycle of feature articles, that without Queen Victoria and Charles Dickens we’d all be much less merry at this time of year. We owe to them the tradition of decorating a tree, eating turkey, and the sense that Christmas is a time to retreat to a domestic idyll with family and bolt the door on whatever turbulent political or economic changes are raging outside. This Victorian invention is probably responsible for the results of a recent poll on the meaning of Christmas. Conducted for Theos, a think tank working in the area of religion and society, the poll found that 83% of British people think that "Christmas is about spending time with family and friends.”
December 20th, 2011
12:17 PM ET
My Take: Kim Jong Il and the danger of deifying leaders
By R. Albert Mohler, Jr., Special to CNN There are no atheists in dictatorships. The death of North Korea’s “Dear Leader” Kim Jong Il underlies a basic fact of earthly politics: when a political regime denies any transcendent supernatural reality, it deifies itself.
December 20th, 2011
04:59 AM ET
Belief Blog's Morning Speed Read for Tuesday, December 20
By Dan Merica, CNN Here's the Belief Blog’s morning rundown of the top faith-angle stories from around the United States and around the world. Click the headlines for the full stories. From the Blog: CNN: Two Muslim religious leaders sue airlines for discrimination  The United States has the largest Christian population in the world, of more than 247 million, followed by Brazil and Mexico. CNN: Christianity goes global as world’s largest religion 
December 20th, 2011
03:56 AM ET
Two Muslim religious leaders sue airlines for discriminationBy Jim Barnett, CNN Washington (CNN) – Two Islamic religious leaders from Tennessee filed a lawsuit against two airlines Monday, claiming they were discriminated against and not allowed to fly on a plane in May because of the way they looked. Masudur Rahman and Mohamed Zaghloul, both imams, request a jury trial in the suit, filed in federal court against Delta Air Lines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines. In the suit, the two said they arrived at the Memphis, Tennesseee, International Airport on May 6, wearing traditional Muslim attire, including religious garb and headgear. The two were headed from Memphis to Charlotte, North Carolina, to attend a conference on anti-Muslim bigotry. FULL STORY |
  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: Elizabeth Hunter is director at 
Editor's Note: R. Albert Mohler, Jr., is president of 
