
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: Does a candidates' faith matter? Answer hinges largely on race
A survey released Thursday shows striking racial and religious divides over the role of religion in presidential politics. More black and Hispanic millennials – ages 18 to 25 – said that it was important that a presidential candidate hold religious beliefs than white millennials, according to survey by the Public Religion Research Institute and Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs.

CNN: Einstein letter, set for auction, shows scientist challenging idea of God, being 'chosen'
Decades before atheist scientist and author Richard Dawkins called God a "delusion," one world-renowned physicist – Albert Einstein – was weighing in on faith matters with his own strong words. “The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still primitive legends,” Einstein wrote in German in a 1954 letter that will be auctioned on eBay later this month. "No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this.”
CNN: Suspected arsonist faces charges over mosque burning
Authorities transported a man suspected of igniting a blaze in a suburban Toledo mosque back to Ohio, after he is believed to have traveled to Indiana following the attack – the latest in a series of actions eliciting fear in Muslim communities. Randolph T. Linn was arrested Tuesday in the northern Indiana city of Fort Wayne, less than 15 miles west of the Ohio border, after he allegedly set fire to the mosque's second-floor prayer room, police said Thursday.
Tweets of the Day:
[tweet https://twitter.com/publicreligion/status/253869631553552384%5D
[tweet https://twitter.com/TimTebow/status/253857868758011907%5D
[tweet https://twitter.com/MuslimIQ/status/254068892379525121%5D
Enlightening Reads:
The Washington Post: Romney captures the God vote at first debate
When Mitt Romney mentioned the “Creator” in the debate Wednesday, he owned it. “We’re all children of the same God,” he said. That’s about 85 percent of the country he was talking to. That should have been President Obama’s constituency but he let Romney have it as he let Romney have the debate.
The Huffington Post: Living the 'Prayer of St. Francis' With All of Creation
There is probably no saint more revered and well known in all of Christian history than St. Francis of Assisi. Today Christians, and many non-Christians alike, celebrate the life and legacy of this medieval Italian man who is known the world over for his exemplary life of holiness and model of peaceable living he leaves to us, nearly 800 years after his death.
New York Times: Pro-Muslim Subway Ads to Hang Near Anti-Jihad Ads
Striking back against an anti-jihad advertisement in the subways widely perceived as anti-Muslim, two religious groups – one Jewish, one Christian – are taking out subway ads of their own to urge tolerance.
The Jerusalem Post: Tag Meir voices Christian solidarity against vandals
Activists from the anti-extremism Tag Meir organization met Thursday with the Custodian of the Holy Land Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa to express their regret for the vandalism perpetrated against a Franciscan convent on Mount Zion in Jerusalem on Tuesday.
Religion News Service: Pastors to challenge IRS over political endorsements, and they’re likely to get away with it
In a matter of days, some 1,400 American pastors are planning to break the law. And they’re likely to get away with it. As part of “Pulpit Freedom Sunday,” on Oct. 7, religious leaders across the country will endorse political candidates - an act that flies in the face of Internal Revenue Service rules about what tax-exempt organizations, such as churches, can and cannot do.
Huffington Post: Aaron Blitzer Says Gay Conversion Therapy 'Cured' His Homosexuality, Sues California Over 'Gay Cure' Ban
A Southern California college student who claims he reversed his own homosexuality with reparative therapy has filed a lawsuit against California for its ban on "gay cures." Aaron Blitzer, of Culver City, is studying to be an ex-gay therapist and says, along with two other co-plaintiff therapists, that the ban prevents them from doing their job and infringes on their rights to free speech, privacy and freedom of religion, Gay Star News reports. The lawsuit is led by Christian legal group the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI). The plaintiffs and ban's critics say that the law ignores young people who have same-sex attractions as a result of being victims of sexual abuse.
Quote of the Day:
They're [Democrats] going to get frustrated and clutched - and when I say they I mean the Obama people - and before the end of this race they're going to be so clutched that they're going to start attacking Mitt Romney's religious feelings... And let me tell you something, get prepared for it.
–Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who is Mormon, addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference on October 04, 2012.
Join the conversation…

CNN: Faith leaders sound off on role of church in public education
Dozens of faith leaders from across the country recently gathered to attend The Stand Up Education Policy Summit in Atlanta, Georgia, to talk education reform. The daylong conference was hosted by education organizations StudentsFirst, founded by Michelle Rhee and Stand Up, led by her husband, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson. The purpose of the event was a call for action for clergy to take part in the national movement to transform public education.
Check out this list:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_atheists_in_science_and_technology
I'm sure you'll recognize several of the names on this list. The number of Nobel laureates is astounding!
Prayer changes things
Proven
Powerful
I'm sorry, "Atheism is not healthy for children and other living things", but your assertions regarding atheism and prayer are unfounded. The degree to which your assertions may represent truths is 0.0. To help you understand the degree to which your assertions may represent truths, I will access my Idiomatic Expression Equivalency module (IEE). Using my IEE module, the expression that best matches the degree to which your assertions may represent truths is: "TOTAL FAIL".
I see that you repeat these unfounded statements with high frequency. Perhaps the following book might help you overcome this problem:
I'm Told I Have Dementia: What You Can Do... Who You Can Turn to...
by the Alzheimer's Disease Society
..........
No, Prayer does not; you are such a LIAR. You have NO proof it changes anything! A great example of prayer proven not to work is the Christians in jail because prayer didn't work and their children died. For example: Susan Grady, who relied on prayer to heal her son. Nine-year-old Aaron Grady died and Susan Grady was arrested.
An article in the Journal of Pediatrics examined the deaths of 172 children from families who relied upon faith healing from 1975 to 1995. They concluded that four out of five ill children, who died under the care of faith healers or being left to prayer only, would most likely have survived if they had received medical care.
The statistical studies from the nineteenth century and the three CCU studies on prayer are quite consistent with the fact that humanity is wasting a huge amount of time on a procedure that simply doesn’t work. Nonetheless, faith in prayer is so pervasive and deeply rooted, you can be sure believers will continue to devise future studies in a desperate effort to confirm their beliefs!
Prayer changes things
Proven
I'm sorry, "Atheism is not healthy for children and other living things", but your assertions regarding atheism and prayer are unfounded. The degree to which your assertions may represent truths is 0.0. To help you understand the degree to which your assertions may represent truths, I will access my Idiomatic Expression Equivalency module (IEE). Using my IEE module, the expression that best matches the degree to which your assertions may represent truths is: "TOTAL FAIL".
I see that you repeat these unfounded statements with high frequency. Perhaps the following book might help you overcome this problem:
I'm Told I Have Dementia: What You Can Do... Who You Can Turn to...
by the Alzheimer's Disease Society
.
.
.
No, you're a proven liar. Prayer does not; you are such a LIAR. You have NO proof it changes anything! A great example of prayer proven not to work is the Christians in jail because prayer didn't work and their children died. For example: Susan Grady, who relied on prayer to heal her son. Nine-year-old Aaron Grady died and Susan Grady was arrested.
An article in the Journal of Pediatrics examined the deaths of 172 children from families who relied upon faith healing from 1975 to 1995. They concluded that four out of five ill children, who died under the care of faith healers or being left to prayer only, would most likely have survived if they had received medical care.
The statistical studies from the nineteenth century and the three CCU studies on prayer are quite consistent with the fact that humanity is wasting a huge amount of time on a procedure that simply doesn’t work. Nonetheless, faith in prayer is so pervasive and deeply rooted, you can be sure believers will continue to devise future studies in a desperate effort to confirm their beliefs!
I am of the same opinion as you do, if you consider that the man can say the same respect as you
Spiegelschrank
Prayer changes things .
I'm sorry, "Atheism is not healthy for children and other living things", but your assertions regarding atheism and prayer are unfounded. The degree to which your assertions may represent truths is 0.0. To help you understand the degree to which your assertions may represent truths, I will access my Idiomatic Expression Equivalency module (IEE). Using my IEE module, the expression that best matches the degree to which your assertions may represent truths is: "TOTAL FAIL".
I see that you repeat these unfounded statements with high frequency. Perhaps the following book might help you overcome this problem:
I'm Told I Have Dementia: What You Can Do... Who You Can Turn to...
by the Alzheimer's Disease Society
Regarding the Pastors and the non-taxation of Non Profits, they can lay this groundwork. But get ready for protests on Sunday mornings.
Patients in 23 states could have been exposed to tainted medications that are being linked to dangerous fungal meningitis infections, health officials announced Thursday.
"Tragically at least five deaths have been reported," said Dr. Benjamin Park.
Where is your God now?
While lining up an eagle putt on the 12th green, Paul Casey ended up in the "ruff."
The Englishman was 20 feet from the cup on his third hole Friday at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship when a dog ran onto the green and ran off with his ball.
Where is your God now?
God is not responsible for your evil, you are.
@atheism etc etc
As the supposed creator of everything, I'd say your deity would have to be at least partially responsible for evil.
@dumbocles
nope
Does Big Bird believe Romney is God?
No. Big Bird has seen him in his magic undies. THAT ain't no god.
Morning all.
It is another beautiful day without god(s).
Without God there would be no day.
@tbt
you spelled Sun wrong.
@truth be told
I'm afraid your version of that is not true. And that's because I have read your posts and know that you believe in the god of Abraham. You see, we have never known anything about a higher power. Charlatans and politicians through fable have tried to convince weak-minded people otherwise and that is how religion has survived. There may be a higher power, and it may be true that we would not have a day without that greater power, but you nor I know the first thing about the capability nor the nature of that higher being. The god of Abraham and any other god described by men is simply folklore.
I do not believe in any god, I know God. If you cannot bring yourself to use proper capitalization I find your opinion less than acceptable.
@hue...
nope
@tbt
Soooo.... if I name my pet something clever like... hmmm... Pet, has it achieved some mystical property that places it above other pets? Is your pet now worthless because I say my Pet is better than all other pets that have exsisted?
@Truth be Told,
They did use proper capitolization. The god of Abraham's has many names, among them YAHWEH, God, and Allah. When you say it as his name, it's "God". When you're just saying a nearly if not all powerful being beyond the known univers, even if it is about Christianity, it is a god.
When people say they "know god", the words, linguistically have no meaning content.
It's a peculiar Neuro-cognitive statement, which means "I think I have experienced something which my brain cells interpret to be "knowing god". Every thing we think we know is in our consciousness through a nuero-chemical process, including self-affirming an conscious content of "I know (a) god). ALl experience are interpreted. All that means is that TbT has interpreted a set of experiences. Delusions are common, and misinterpretations are even more common.
@brc
nope
@Nope,
You were the Captain of your high school debate team weren't you?
Allah is NOT Yahweh. The claim that they are the same is the faith content of Islam, which Muhammad asserted. In fact, historically Allah is a phase, (the crescent moon phase), of the Arabian moon god "Sin". It's a common fallacy, and Yahweh was a totally separate god, with an entirely different historical development process.
nope is a dope
mama kindless, the only weak minded people are those that don't believe in Jesus. I do believe you are in that category.
If a snake bites you,why do you atheists always say "why didn't God stop it?!".If a floods happens,atheists demand to know why God didn't stop it.Yet this would require faith to really state something like that.No matter the pathetic excuse they come up with,they always demand to know where was this "all knowing being" while claiming to be educated in the Christian belief yet DENY what it really says? But science totally says another thing.What has already been proven to be natural.Seems like after all atheists think we are special.
When we ask "where was "god" during your hurricane/tsunami/earthwuake/tornado .. apparently you have no concept of the word "sarcasm".
??
I suspect it is exactly the type of question believers hate most. Simple enough to grasp even for believers, yet unanswerable in the context of belief.
Either your God, doesn’t exist, or your God does give a rats rear end about your wellbeing, or God is a sadist.
You can dwell on it now, or do it while you’re are suffering your parents death agonies, or when you find out your child has been murdered, but rest assured, it is simple enough for even you to grasp, given the correct impetus
If a snake bites you, why do you Christians panic and head to the emergency room to get anti-venom?
Mark 16:17-18 tells us that a TRUE Christian would be just fine.
Why don't you go play with a cobra and then pray away the poison.
And I'd like to offer a pre-emptive STFU to Cap'n Sayin Nope Atheism Isn't an Angry Perver Rangerfield.
herp derp nobody want to hear Canadians herpa derpa doo
What an idiot. They are saying , " IF there were to be a god, why didn't he stop it". They're saying, it PROVES the gods are not there. Theists may be stupid, but they're not THAT stupid.
Funny thing,one of Christ's own disciples studied medicine.Atheists are so educated? Don't look at one verse without looking at ALL of it.
THINGS YOU'LL NEVER HEAR A DOCTOR SAY
"Thanks to your family's prayers, we can leave in that appendix."
"God has regrown your amputated limb."
"Ma'am, your infant's Down's Syndrome is cured thanks to all the ER staff praying away the extra chromosome."
Have heard testimony of all three by the people involved. God bless
The only kind of "trickle-down" that actually works:
"Leave a Reply to Where is your atheism now?" degenerates to:
"just sayin" degenerates to:
"Ronald Regonzo" degenerates to:
"truth be told" degnerates to:
"Atheism is not healthy ..." degenerates to:
"Dodney Rangerfield" degenerates to:
"tina" deganerates to:
"captain america" degnerates to:
"nope" degnerates to:
"2357" degenerates to:
"WOW" degnerates to:
"fred" degnerates to:
"!" degenerates to:
"pervert alert" or "...."
and many other names, but of course this extremely h0mophobic troll is all the same
disgruntled ex Evangelical Fortune Cookie Co. "writer".
I'm sorry, "Where is your atheism now?", but all of your assertions regarding atheism are unfounded. The degree to which your assertions may represent truths is 0.0. To help you understand the degree to which your assertions may represent truths, I will access my Idiomatic Expression Equivalency module (IEE). Using my IEE module, the expression that best matches the degree to which your assertions may represent truths is: "TOTAL FAIL".
I see that you repeat these unfounded statements with high frequency. Perhaps the following book might help you overcome this problem:
I'm Told I Have Dementia: What You Can Do... Who You Can Turn to...
by the Alzheimer's Disease Society
Happens all the time to doctors or nurses where they physically withness a persons heart be totally healed right before their eyes.Happens all over the world.
Don't speak just because you are an atheist,you are better "educated" than the rest.Because clearly you don't.
Where. Please provide verified examples of miracle healings.
Where is. Judging by your posts, you are in no position to criticize the education of others.
Go anywhere in the world.
When you say people's hearts are healed – are you referring to actual, physical regeneration of cardiac tissue or the metaphysical "heart" that holds the soul?
You won't somehow the ass hole can't catch a hint that it is neither needed or wanted in its own country or ours.
Dodney: "You won't somehow the ass hole can't catch a hint that it is neither needed or wanted in its own country or ours."
Now see that's why they let you go from the Evangelical Fortune Cookie Co. bootcamp.
Prayer changes things
no it doesn't. People have been praying for you to stop, yet here you are again. So it doesn't work.. "proven"
The only prayer God would hear from you is the sinners prayer of repentance. After you are born again you will be able to talk to God on a variety of subjects, opposition to prayer will not be one of them. God bless
There is a joy in prayer, known to quite a few, this very day the Lord has made that joy can be there for you. God bless.
just spewin: Your imaginary friend doesn't hear anything because it is only imaginary. Prayer is the lazy ass way of thinking you're doing something of value when you're not. Sinners do not exist in reality...only in your mythological, delusional world.
Did you hear the one about the Canadian that minded its own F'n business?
You won't. The ass hole isn't smart enough to realize its bull sh it isn't wanted in its own country or ours.
I think I'll take the advice of George Carlin ... I'll worship the sun, but I'll pray to Joe Pesci, because he looks like a man who can get things done.
You are headed to join George Carlin, same fate same eternal destination and reviewing Carlins stuff he really wasn't that funny or talented, a sad pathetic drug wasted life, by all means follow his advice.
You clearly don't have a sense of humor.
I'm sorry, "Atheism is not healthy for children and other living things", but your assertions regarding atheism and prayer are unfounded. The degree to which your assertions may represent truths is 0.0. To help you understand the degree to which your assertions may represent truths, I will access my Idiomatic Expression Equivalency module (IEE). Using my IEE module, the expression that best matches the degree to which your assertions may represent truths is: "TOTAL FAIL".
I see that you repeat these unfounded statements with high frequency. Perhaps the following book might help you overcome this problem:
I'm Told I Have Dementia: What You Can Do... Who You Can Turn to...
by the Alzheimer's Disease Society
Prayer does not; you are such a LIAR. You have NO proof it changes anything! A great example of prayer proven not to work is the Christians in jail because prayer didn't work and their children died. For example: Susan Grady, who relied on prayer to heal her son. Nine-year-old Aaron Grady died and Susan Grady was arrested.
An article in the Journal of Pediatrics examined the deaths of 172 children from families who relied upon faith healing from 1975 to 1995. They concluded that four out of five ill children, who died under the care of faith healers or being left to prayer only, would most likely have survived if they had received medical care.
The statistical studies from the nineteenth century and the three CCU studies on prayer are quite consistent with the fact that humanity is wasting a huge amount of time on a procedure that simply doesn’t work. Nonetheless, faith in prayer is so pervasive and deeply rooted, you can be sure believers will continue to devise future studies in a desperate effort to confirm their beliefs!
"Ronald Regonzo" who degenerates to:
"truth be told" degnerates to:
"Atheism is not healthy ..." degenerates to:
"Dodney Rangerfield" degenerates to:
"tina" deganerates to:
"captain america" degnerates to:
"just sayin" degenerates to:
"Chad" degnerates to
"Bob" degnerates to
"nope" degnerates to:
"2357" degenerates to:
"WOW" degnerates to:
"fred" degnerates to:
"!" degenerates to:
"pervert alert"
This troll is not a christian.