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June 29th, 2014
08:19 PM ET
Hobby Lobby: the Bible verses behind the battleBy Daniel Burke, CNN Belief Blog Editor [twitter-follow screen_name='BurkeCNN'] Washington (CNN) – For the Greens, the Christian family behind the Hobby Lobby chain of stores, their battle with the Obama administration was never really about contraception. It was about abortion. After all, the evangelical Greens don't object to 16 of the 20 contraceptive measures mandated for employer coverage by the Affordable Care Act. That puts the family squarely in line with other evangelicals, who largely support the use of birth control by married couples. Like other evangelicals, however, the Greens believe that four forms of contraception mandated under the ACA - Plan B, Ella and two intrauterine devices - in fact cause abortions by preventing a fertilized embryo from implanting in the womb. (The Obama administration and several major medical groups disagree that such treatments are abortions .) “We won’t pay for any abortive products," Steve Green, Hobby Lobby's president, told Religion News Service. "We believe life begins at conception.”  President Barack Obama bows his head during a prayer at the National Peace Officers Memorial Service.
February 6th, 2014
10:56 AM ET
Obama: religious freedom 'under threat'Washington (CNN) – President Barack Obama says that "around the world, freedom of religion is under threat." And at the annual National Prayer Breakfast Thursday, the President also said he's looking forward to meeting Pope Francis. "I'm especially looking forward to returning to the Vatican next month to meet his holiness, Pope Francis, whose message about caring for the least of these I hope all of us heed. Like (the Apostle) Matthew he has answered the call of Jesus, who said 'follow me' and he inspires us with his words and deeds, his humility and his mercy and his missionary impulses to serve the cause of social justice," Obama said. The President touted the Pope's stance on inequality as he and congressional Democrats highlight the issue of income inequality. Obama met Francis' predecessor, Benedict XVI, in 2009. That meeting, which took place at the Vatican, was Obama's only meeting with a Pope. Much of Obama's remarks focused on threats to religious freedom abroad, from China to Egypt to Sudan and Burma. FULL STORY
January 14th, 2014
01:17 PM ET
Kerry: Obama to meet with the PopeBy Kevin Liptak, CNN (CNN)– President Barack Obama plans to soon meet with Pope Francis for the first time. Secretary of State John Kerry said the President was “looking forward” to visiting the popular new leader of the Roman Catholic Church at the Vatican. Kerry did not say when the trip would take place. The White House said it had no specific travel announcements to make, but that Obama “very much looks forward to meeting Pope Francis at some point in the near future.” Kerry, a Roman Catholic, met with Vatican leaders on Tuesday to discuss foreign policy and economic issues, including Francis’ outspoken stance on income inequality worldwide. FULL STORY
October 22nd, 2013
12:05 PM ET
The prayers inside the President's BlackberryOpinion by Joshua DuBois, Special to CNN Washington (CNN) - One thing is for sure: I didn't feel ready to send morning devotionals to the next President of the United States. I was a young staffer, 25 years old, on Barack Obama's 2008 campaign. I had known Obama for a few years, and at the time worked as faith outreach director for his campaign. In addition to my professional role reaching out to the faith community, I also personally prayed for Obama by myself each day. I had been an associate pastor at a small Pentecostal church in Boston, and my Christian faith was, and is, the guiding force of my life. But I wasn't some famous mega-church pastor or internationally known cleric. I went to public policy school, not seminary, and although I loved Scripture and history and could write a bit, I was still learning more about Jesus every day. But one day I felt a tug at my spirit, a sense that this young candidate needed some support. Not Secret Service protection or policy advice or political strategy - he had plenty of that. I thought he needed some folks who were caring for his spirit, his soul.
March 23rd, 2013
09:38 AM ET
My Take: The Empathy President gives an empathy speech
By Stephen Prothero, Special to CNN (CNN) - In religious studies courses, professors often try to get their students to see the world through Hindu eyes or to walk a few miles in the shoes of a Confucian. Anthropologists refer to this as cultivating an emic (or insider) perspective. The less fancy name for it is empathy. Barack Obama is, for better or worse, an empathetic man who has tried for years to see the world through Republican eyes even as he has pleaded for Republicans to walk a few miles in Democratic shoes. As a former community organizer, he knows that you need a little empathy all around to get anything done among people with different world views. Alas, his efforts have met with little success in gridlocked D.C. This week, Obama took his toolbox of hope, change, trust and empathy to Israel. Addressing a group of Israeli students in Jerusalem on Thursday, he spoke of Iran and of America’s unwavering support for Israel. He even fended off a heckler, joking, “We actually arranged for that, because it made me feel at home.” 
January 23rd, 2013
03:09 AM ET
Obama thanked for living in 'glass house' at National Prayer ServiceBy the CNN Political Unit (CNN) – On the day following his ceremonial inauguration, President Barack Obama received warm praise Tuesday while attending an interfaith prayer service at the National Cathedral. Rev. Adam Hamilton, senior pastor at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Kansas, said Americans should "more often" give thanks to Obama and those who serve in higher elected office. FULL STORY
January 22nd, 2013
06:31 AM ET
King: Obama MLK Bible use 'heartwarming'Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., on of President Obama using her father's Bible for his inauguration.  Obama took the oath on two Bibles: one used by Lincoln in 1861, the other the “traveling Bible” of Dr. King.
January 21st, 2013
04:32 PM ET
My Take: Obama delivers Lincoln's Third Inaugural
By Stephen Prothero, Special to CNN Equality. That's what today's inauguration was about. And we have Abraham Lincoln and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to thank for it. President Obama took his oath of office on two Bibles: one used by Lincoln during his 1861 inauguration, the other the “traveling Bible” of Dr. King. And during his second inaugural address, Obama read U.S. history through the words and actions of these two men. In his Gettysburg Address, Lincoln turned to Jefferson's words in the Declaration of Independence to argue that the United States was “dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” In his "I Have a Dream" speech, King argued that our national commitment to equality demanded that we emancipate ourselves from segregation as well as slavery. FULL POST
January 21st, 2013
06:09 AM ET
Obama ends oath with 'So help me God'By Bill Mears, CNN Supreme Court Producer Watch CNN's comprehensive coverage of President Barack Obama's second inauguration this weekend on CNN TV and follow online at CNN.com or via CNN's apps for iPhone, iPad and Android. Then, on Monday, follow our real-time Inauguration Day live blog at cnn.com/conversation. Need other reasons to watch inauguration coverage on CNN's platforms? Click here for our list. Washington (CNN) - At his request, President Barack Obama is ending his inaugural oath with: "So help me God." Those four words are not legally or constitutionally required, unlike other federal oaths that invoke them as standard procedure. Historians have wrangled over whether George Washington established precedent by adding the phrase on his own during his first Inaugural acceptance, but the Library of Congress website states he did. FULL STORY
January 20th, 2013
04:46 AM ET
Obama chooses Bible steeped in historyCNN's Lisa Sylvester is given access to the Bible President Barack Obama has chosen for his inauguration, a tiny book used by Lincoln. |
  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 "
