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 Paul Ryan, a Catholic, and Mitt Romney, a Mormon, make up the first non-Protestant ticket of a major party in recent U.S. history.
August 16th, 2012
09:24 AM ET
My Take: GOP's non-Protestant ticket changes meaning of 'values'
By Stephen Prothero, Special to CNN There has been a lot of conversation in recent years about the rise of racial and ethnic minorities in America. Census figures show that there are more minority births than white births, and the United States is on schedule to become a white-minority country by 2050 or so. A parallel story is playing itself out in religion, where Protestants, who have traditionally predominated in the United States, now constitute a little more than half of American adults. But the story of the decline of the Protestant establishment is particularly stark in U.S. public life, where Protestant leaders are giving way to Catholics and Jews, Buddhists and Mormons. Take the 2012 presidential election, which features in Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, the first non-Protestant ticket in recent U.S. history. Or the U.S. Supreme Court, which now boasts six Catholics, three Jews and zero Protestants. The 112th U.S. Congress remains solidly Protestant, accounting for 56.8% of the members of the House and the Senate, according to the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. But the hallowed halls of Congress are changing fast. There are now both Buddhists and Muslims in Congress. And Catholics, Jews and Mormons are better represented there than they are in the U.S. population as a whole.  Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church, is shown here on July 22. He is now in intensive care, a spokesman says.
August 16th, 2012
08:14 AM ET
Spokesman: Unification Church founder hospitalized with pneumoniaBy K.J. Kwon, CNN Doctors put the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, 92, in intensive care Tuesday, where he is breathing through a respirator, the church spokesman said. Moon felt ill suddenly and was hospitalized in Seoul in "grave condition." His doctor has given him only a 50% chance of survival, spokesman Ahn Ho-yeol said. FULL STORY
August 16th, 2012
08:09 AM ET
Virginia man charged in shooting at Family Research CouncilFrom Carol Cratty, CNN Washington (CNN) - A 28-year-old Virginia man was held late Wednesday on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon after a security guard was wounded in the lobby of the Family Research Council, a conservative policy organization, authorities said. Police and federal agents were investigating what prompted the suspect, identified by the FBI as Floyd Lee Corkins II, to walk into the group's headquarters about 10:45 a.m. and open fire. Corkins, is from Herndon, a suburb of Washington, the FBI said in a statement about the charge. FULL STORY
August 16th, 2012
05:24 AM ET
Belief Blog's Morning Speed Read for Thursday, August 16, 2012
By Arielle Hawkins, 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: Top Catholic defends Obama invite against conservative criticism Enlightening Reads: The Washington Post: Hindus from Pakistan flee to India, citing religious persecution |
  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 "
