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March 21st, 2011
10:33 AM ET
Palin visits Israel as she mulls presidential runFollowing in the footsteps of several other Republicans considering a presidential bid, Sarah Palin was in Jerusalem on Monday to meet with Israeli leaders. Other potential GOP candidates to visit Israel in recent months include Mitt Romney, Haley Barbour, and Mike Huckabee. Palin is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu along with other politicians during her two-day visit, the Jerusalem Post reported. Read the full story Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in January.
March 18th, 2011
06:00 AM ET
My Take: Israel is the new Iowa for GOP presidential hopefuls
By Stephen Prothero, Special to CNN American politicians used to travel to Iowa and New Hampshire, home to the first presidential caucuses and primary, to test the waters for a White House bid. In this election cycle, however, Israel is the place to tip your toe in those waters, at least for Republican hopefuls. In recent months, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Haley Barbour and Rudy Giuliani have all visited the Holy Land. Yesterday, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin announced that she will be traveling to Israel over the weekend to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Palin, who was attacked during her 2008 vice-presidential bid for lacking foreign policy experience, has beefed up her travel resume over the last couple years. In 2009 she visited U.S. troops in Kosovo and Germany and addressed a conference of investors in Hong Kong. Last year she traveled with the Rev. Franklin Graham to Haiti.
January 12th, 2011
04:34 PM ET
My Take: Sarah Palin's bogus persecution complex
By Stephen Prothero, Special to CNN Just when you thought American political rhetoric couldn't get any more toxic, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin is taking us to a new low, casting herself on her Facebook page not just as a victim of the liberal media elite but as a victim of "blood libel." For those who do not know - and I can only pray that Palin is among them - "blood libel” refers to the anti-semitic myth that Jews were in the business of murdering Christians (often children) and then ritually drinking their blood - a myth that led over the years to the death of tens of thousands of innocent Jews. 
January 12th, 2011
03:01 PM ET
Palin criticized for using 'blood libel'The Anti-Defamation League, the organization that combats anti-Semitism, says Sarah Palin should have used a different phrase than "blood libel" to characterize attempts to link her discourse to the Arizona shootings, the latest in a series of criticisms leveled at the former Alaska governor Monday over her use of the controversial term. "We wish that Palin had not invoked the phrase "blood-libel" in reference to the actions of journalists and pundits in placing blame for the shooting in Tucson on others," said ADL National Director Abraham Foxman in a statement. "While the term 'blood-libel' has become part of the English parlance to refer to someone being falsely accused, we wish that Palin had used another phrase, instead of one so fraught with pain in Jewish history." Read the full story
January 12th, 2011
02:42 PM ET
Palin's use of 'blood libel' invokes ancient myth about JewsBy Dan Gilgoff and Eric Marrapodi, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editors When Sarah Palin said that efforts to connect statements by her or others to last weekend's Arizona shootings amount to a "blood libel," the controversial political figure set off yet another firestorm, invoking a powerful term with deep and terrifying reverberations in Jewish history. There are many variations on blood libel, but the myth almost always involves accusing Jews of murdering non-Jews and then drinking their blood for ritual purposes, according to Boston University religion professor Stephen Prothero. Blood libel has been invoked throughout Jewish history as a pretext for violence against Jews. The myth has historically been associated with the Jewish holiday of Passover, which coincides with the Easter season commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
January 10th, 2011
07:00 AM ET
My Take: Rep. Giffords and the karma of politics as war
By Stephen Prothero, Special to CNN My reflections on America's latest assassination attempt and on politics as "the continuation of war by other means" begin with one simple claim: ideas matter, as do the words we use to express them. We do not yet know what moved the killer to take aim at Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords on Saturday. But we know that when he shot her and murdered six others, including a federal judge and a nine-year-old girl, he did not act in a vacuum. He acted in a state where handguns such as the 9 mm Glock he reportedly used are about as easy to get as cigarettes.
December 13th, 2010
11:30 AM ET
Sarah Palin visits Haiti with Christian groupFormer Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was in Haiti on Sunday, urging the U.S government and other Americans to do more to help the earthquake-ravaged country. "Not to get political, but if some of the politicians would come here and see the conditions perhaps they would see the need for, say, a military airlift to bring the supplies that are so needed here," she said. Palin spoke at a brief press conference at a warehouse owned by the Samaritan's Purse organization north of Port-au-Prince. 
December 9th, 2010
10:04 PM ET
Palin to accompany evangelist Franklin Graham to HaitiIt turns out that Sarah Palin's next overseas trip won't be to England or Israel, as was widely reported Thursday. CNN has learned that the former Alaska governor will be traveling to Haiti this weekend with Franklin Graham and his relief organization Samaritan's Purse. Read the full post about Palin's trip to Haiti on CNN's Political Ticker 
November 25th, 2010
08:34 AM ET
Bristol Palin's safe sex ad gets mixed reviewsBristol Palin's abstinence web ad for the Candies Foundation is drawing mixed reviews. The reality TV star and daughter of former Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin, appeared in the spot to promote safe sex with Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino from the MTV reality show/morality play The Jersey Shore. In the web spot, "The Situation" hits on "B-Palin," who rebuffs his advances and then encourages him to practice safe sex. The teen mom says in the ad she won't be having sex anymore until she's married. The ad has been a viral hit on Youtube racking up over 630,000 hits. But Jo Piazza at the religion blog TheRevealer.org writes:
October 5th, 2010
10:33 AM ET
Most Tea Partiers call America a Christian nation, study findsMembers of the Tea Party movement tend to be Christian conservatives, not libertarians, and are more likely than even white evangelical Christians to say the United States is a Christian nation, a detailed new study has found. More than half of self-identified Tea Party members say America is a Christian nation, while just over four out of 10 white evangelicals believe that - the same as the proportion of the general population that says so. "We found actually that among the Tea Party, rather than being libertarians, at least on the issues of abortion and same-sex marriage, they're actually social conservatives," the survey's lead author, Robert Jones, said Tuesday. |
  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 "God is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions that Run the World," is a regular CNN Belief Blog contributor.