 |
|
|
|
February 28th, 2011
06:00 AM ET
My take: Why this female priest loves 'Sister Wives'
By Danielle Elizabeth Tumminio, Special to CNN “Sister Wives” is virtually sacred time in my home. When it’s on, I refuse to answer the phone or move from the couch, and anyone who talks risks both a DVR rewind and a scornful look for interrupting the episode’s flow. I admit that referring to any television viewing as “sacred time” is a bit sacrilegious, especially coming from an Episcopal priest. But I can’t help it — I’m so fascinated by this show that I’ve seen every episode twice (including the honeymoon special), researched fundamentalist Mormon wedding rituals, and dreamed of visiting the cake tasting bakery.
December 2nd, 2010
06:18 PM ET
My take: Where's the outrage over Noah's Ark park?
By Stephen Prothero, Special to CNN A four-minute video that includes an eleven-second depiction of a crucifix crawling with ants has been removed from the “Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture” exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery, but it is still stirring up controversy in Washington, DC. First, incoming House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Virginia) blasted the National Portrait Gallery for its “obvious attempt to offend Christians during the Christmas season,” while the incoming House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and other Republicans threatened to scrutinize Smithsonian funding next year. 
October 25th, 2010
10:33 AM ET
"Sister Wives" explained: A fundamentalist Mormon polygamy primerBy Jessica Ravitz, CNN Going where no reality show cameras had gone before, TLC this fall aired “Sister Wives,” a television series that invited voyeurs into the lives of a fundamentalist Mormon family that practices polygamy. The finale aired earlier this month, when Kody Brown of Lehi, Utah, married his fourth wife and, with the addition of three stepchildren, expanded his kid base to 16. And while the show set out to reveal the human side of such families - not one sexed-up by Hollywood (think HBO’s “Big Love”) or sullied by allegations of under-aged brides (think the trial of Warren Jeffs ) - it kept details about faith out of episodes. Maybe that was a decision by TLC producers. Or perhaps the family, which is facing possible bigamy charges, wanted to keep those aspects of their life sacred. The finale’s spiritual wedding ceremony - only Brown’s first wife is recognized legally - was off-camera, after all. So here's a primer on what drives families like this one, religiously, historically and culturally.
October 7th, 2010
12:25 PM ET
Snyder: Pastor Phelps' actions 'cause emotional stress'It is an emotional battle at the Supreme Court of the United States, pitting free speech, no matter how vile and hate-filled against the right to privacy. Al Snyder is suing Pastor Fred Phelps for protesting at his son’s funeral, Lance Cpl. Mathew Snyder. Al was inside the supreme court when arguments were made and talks to John Roberts on American Morning.
September 19th, 2010
11:45 AM ET
Texas education board mulls banning ‘pro-Islamic’ history books
A new front in the Texas textbook wars may soon erupt. The Texas Board of Education is considering targeting history textbooks that promote a “pro-Islamic, anti-Christian” point of view, The Dallas Morning News reported. The board, which overhauled the state's history and social studies curriculum in May to reflect conservative values, will examine a resolution next week that would warn publishers not to “push a pro-Islamic, anti-Christian viewpoint” in world history textbooks, the newspaper reported. Conservative board members requested the resolution after a candidate for a board seat warned them that “Middle Easterners” are buying textbook publishing companies.
September 10th, 2010
06:10 PM ET
When is a Quran burning not a Quran burning?
By Stephen Prothero, Special to CNN Unless you have just woken up from a twenty-year nap, you have probably heard that Pastor Terry Jones of the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, may or may not be burning 200 Qurans on Saturday, the ninth anniversary of the horrors of 9/11. That’s roughly 4 Qurans for every member of the 50-person microchurch. What you may not have heard is that, even if he goes forward with his plans, he will not actually be burning Qurans. Christians consider translations of the Bible (which was written in Hebrew and Greek) to be actual Bibles. As any Muslim can tell you, however, the Quran is only the Quran in its original Arabic. Translations do not count.
September 7th, 2010
08:31 PM ET
My Take: Will moderate Christians fiddle as Qurans burn?
By Stephen Prothero, Special to CNN Yesterday I was sitting on a pier on Cape Cod watching the summer drift away and talking with a friend about Islam. She told me something I have heard dozens of times before—that Muslims need to do a better job of denouncing the violence perpetrated in the name of their religion. I told her that after 9/11, and after almost every act of violence perpetrated in the name of Islam, Muslims in the United States and around the world have lined up, individually and in groups, to denounce such violence in print, on television, and online. Unfortunately, as Daisy Khan of the controversial Park51 project in Lower Manhattan said in an August 25 conference call, “the voices of the moderate, mainstream majority Muslims have been drowned out by the actions of extremists.”
August 19th, 2010
12:54 PM ET
Sensitivity or Liberty? Pastor Phelps, ground zero, and our therapeutic nation
By Stephen Prothero, Special to CNN Pastor Fred Phelps is an insensitive man. He and his followers at the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas, made a name for themselves in the 1990s by protesting at the funerals of gay people who died of AIDS and, more recently, by protesting at the funerals of military officers. Their incendiary signs read, “God hates fags” and “Thank God for dead soldiers” and "Thank God for 9/11."
August 12th, 2010
04:18 PM ET
United States of Islamophobia?
By Arsalan Iftikhar, Special to CNN Almost everybody has heard about the protests against the mosque and Islamic center planned to be built about two blocks from ground zero in Manhattan. But most people are still unaware that these anti-Muslim political campaigns are spreading throughout our beloved country as a new wave of Islamophobia hits.
July 27th, 2010
12:48 PM ET
Utah court overturns conviction of polygamist 'prophet'The Utah Supreme Court has reversed Warren Steed Jeffs' two convictions on charges of rape as an accomplice and ordered a new trial, saying instructions given to jurors were erroneous. Jeffs, the so-called "prophet" of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or FLDS, was sentenced to two consecutive terms of five years to life after he was convicted in September 2007. |
  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.  |
|
|
|
Editor's Note: Danielle Elizabeth Tumminio is ordained in the Episcopal Church and has taught a variety of educational institutions, including Yale University. She is also the author of "God and Harry at Yale: Faith and Fiction in the Classroom."
Editor's Note: Stephen Prothero, a Boston University religion scholar and author of "God is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions that Run the World," is a regular CNN Belief Blog contributor.
Editor's note: Arsalan Iftikhar is an international human rights lawyer, founder of 