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December 21st, 2011
11:56 PM ET
My Take: Iran must stop persecuting minority religionsBy Roxana Saberi, Special to CNN Editor's note: Roxana Saberi, an Iranian-American journalist, is the author of "Between Two Worlds: My Life and Captivity in Iran." (CNN) – In March 2009, when I was detained in Evin Prison in Iran, two evangelical Christians were arrested. I never met them but spotted them a few times through the barred window of my cell as they walked back and forth to the bathroom down the hall. I would later learn that Maryam Rostampour and Marzieh Amirizadeh had converted from Islam to Christianity and faced charges of spreading propaganda against the Islamic Republic, insulting religious sanctities, and committing apostasy. They resisted severe pressure to renounce their faith, and in November 2009, after an international outcry, the two women went free. News headlines are now highlighting the plight of another Iranian Christian accused of apostasy, or abandoning one's religion. When Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani was 19, he converted from Islam to Christianity. In 2010, a provincial court sentenced him to death. This year, Iran's Supreme Court ruled that the case should be reviewed and the sentence overturned if he recants his faith - a step Nadarkhani, 34, has so far refused to take. FULL STORY
December 21st, 2011
11:45 PM ET
Christmas compromise lesson for lawmakersBy Dan Lothian, CNN (CNN) – The mad dash to buy last minute Christmas presents is about at its peak. Shoppers rush around, their eyes glaze over. No words are exchanged but the message is clear, what can I find? What will it cost? Will they like this? The president of the United States joined the throngs just days before Christmas with an unannounced stop at a local Best Buy to purchase Just Dance 3, a Wii game. “This is for the girls,” he said. Retailers are banking on the holiday season to polish an otherwise dismal year in an economy that is struggling at best. FULL STORY Is it spelled Hanukkah or Chanukah?
December 21st, 2011
04:45 PM ET
TIME: Is there a right way to spell Hanukkah? Chanukah? Hannukah?By Tim Newcomb, TIME (TIME)–It began last night at sunset: Hanukkah. Or is it Chanukah? Or Hannukah? Sometimes getting the proper spelling of a Hebrew word transliterated into English gets tricky, especially when far more than a trio of options prove technically correct. But if you don’t fall into the Hebrew-scholar category, what should you do? With so many ways to correctly get the point of Hanukkah across, the proper spelling really turns into a matter of preference and mass appeal. If you want to fit in with the crowd, opt for the Hanukkah spelling, now the most widely used of the choices. However, don’t forget Chanukah, the second most often used spelling and the favorite of traditionalists. Just how did Hanukkah‘s spelling become so popular and oust Chanukah atop the list? You can blame it on the ch sound being similar to the H sound, making Hanukkah a bit easier for English speakers to understand the pronunciation. Read the full story from TIME's Newsfeed here. New Yorkers light a massive menorah in Manhattan on Tuesday to mark the beginning of Hanukkah.
December 21st, 2011
04:21 PM ET
Menorahs lighted in New York, nation's capitalBy Chris Boyette, CNN New York (CNN)–From big balloons at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade to a big Christmas tree at Manhattan's Rockefeller Center, the Big Apple is known for going big around the holidays. And on Tuesday, the first night of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, New Yorkers went big again, lighting a massive menorah outside the south side of Central Park. The nine-branched candelabra is 32 feet tall, 28 feet wide, weighs 4,000 pounds, and is considered the world's biggest, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Rabbi Shmuel M. Butman, director of the city's Lubavitch Youth Organization, said the gold-colored steel structure is equipped with oil lamps and has special glass chimneys to protect the flames from wind. The Brooklyn-based group has coordinated the lighting ceremony since it began in 1977, then coinciding with the administration of Abraham David Beam, the first Jewish mayor of New York City. Read the full story here.
December 21st, 2011
04:18 PM ET
Piers Morgan learns to 'Tebow'(CNN)–CNN's Piers Morgan is coached on how to pray like Tim Tebow of the Denver Broncos.  American Idol star David Archuleta is embarking on a Mormon mission.
December 21st, 2011
03:34 PM ET
David Archuleta to embark on Mormon missionBy Lindsey Hunter Lopez, Special to CNN (CNN) - Fresh-faced “American Idol” star David Archuleta is putting his promising career aside for a higher calling. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Archuleta – or Archie, as he’s known to fans – has announced that he’s embarking on a Mormon mission. The 20-year-old Utah native shared his news at the Salt Lake City stop of his My Kind of Christmas Tour. “I would like to make a special announcement: That I’ve chosen to serve a full-time mission,” he told the audience. “It’s not because someone told me I was supposed to do it and not because I no longer want to do music anymore,” the “Idol” season 7 runner-up explained to the crowd. “It’s because it’s what I feel I need to do next in my life.” Read the full story from CNN's The Marquee Blog
December 21st, 2011
03:26 PM ET
After layoff, finding new meaning in a lower paying jobBy Michelle Rozsa, CNN In America Plainsboro, New Jersey (CNN) “Four days short of my 58th birthday," Carl Fields said, “I received notice I was being laid off. It came as a total shock, honestly.” The company was reorganizing and his position was being eliminated. Fields and his wife, Lynette Clark Fields, appeared in CNN’s 2010 documentary “Black in America: Almighty Debt." At the time, he had been unemployed about a year and a half, and was tirelessly hunting for a job. “I feel that I am going to get a job,” Fields said last year while as he stood over a table piled high with applications to work as an account manager, administrative assistant, warehouse clerk, truck driver. Back then, he estimated he had applied for more than 300 job since his insurance company position was eliminated. He spent long days at the library, pouring over employment websites. Fields is a devout Christian and he remained positive about his job search – and his future – because of his unwavering belief in God. “I know he's already planned it,” Fields said in 2010. “And I know that he's bringing it into existence for me. I know that. I trust that." Read the full update on Carl's story here from CNN's In America Blog. A "Saturday Night Live" sketch imagined a meeting between Tim Tebow and Jesus.
December 21st, 2011
11:23 AM ET
SNL Tim Tebow controversy continues debate over quarterback's faithBy Dan Merica, CNN Washington (CNN) – When “Saturday Night Live” parodied Tim Tebow’s relationship with Jesus last weekend, not everyone was laughing. Televangelist Pat Robertson called the sketch, in which the Denver Broncos quarterback is met in a locker room by Jason Sudeikis playing Jesus, an example of “anti-Christian bigotry that is just disgusting.”
December 21st, 2011
04:36 AM ET
Belief Blog's Morning Speed Read for Wednesday, December 21
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:  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. CNN: Split GOP presidential endorsements reflect fractured evangelical base CNN: Hindus ask Russian court to drop case against holy book |
  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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