News

National Council of Churches Summit Issues Multifaith Principles Toward Peace

April 30, 2003

Source: National Council of Churches

http://www.ncccusa.org/news/03news51.html

On April 30, 2003 National Council of Churches reported that "as President Bush prepared his Thursday evening address to announce 'the end of the Iraq war,' more than 75 Muslim, Christian, Jewish and other faith leaders from across the United States converged on Chicago to issue a set of principles to lead toward a peaceful future. The summit addressed the humanitarian, spiritual and civil costs of war...

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Update: Hate Crimes on UC Berkeley's Campus

April 30, 2003

Source: UC Berkeley News

http://www.berkeley.edu/news/berkeleyan/2003/04/30_toler.shtml

On April 30, 2003 UC Berkeley News reported that "for some students, Berkeley’s reputation as a place of tolerance and acceptance doesn’t quite match their reality... Last spring, Berkeley Hillel, a Jewish student center, was marked by anti-Jewish graffiti and had a brick thrown through one of its windows. On Christmas Eve, a swastika and Aryan Nation symbol...

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Voodoo Officially Recognized as a Religion by Government

April 30, 2003

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2985627.stm

On April 30, 2003 the BBC News reported, "Voodoo has been practised in Haiti since the late 18th Century, but only now has it been recognised as a religion on a par with others worshipped in the country.

Haiti's Catholic President, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, took the decision earlier in April which means that voodoo ceremonies such as marriages now have equal standing with Catholic ones."

Hare Krishna Temples Call for Victims of Abuse to Make Formal Claim

April 30, 2003

Source: Boston Globe

On April 30, 2003 the Boston Globe reported that "the six Hare Krishna temples in California, along with several other Krishna organizations here and in West Virginia, took steps yesterday to identify minors who may have been sexually abused or mistreated at boarding schools during the 1970's and 80's. A lawsuit over the alleged abuse prompted the Krishna movement, known officially as the International Society of Krishna Consciousness, to file for bankruptcy last year to protect its assets and, the group said, to prevent closing of...

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Rick Santorum Dubbes Bush the "First Catholic President of the United States"

April 30, 2003

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62924-2003Apr30.html

On April 30, 2003 The Washington Post reported that "in an attempt to reassure those Americans who thought a Catholic president would take orders from the Vatican or somehow impose Catholic doctrine on a majority Protestant nation, Kennedy not only said he believed that 'the separation of church and state is absolute' but added something else as well: 'I...

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Virginia Court Bars Prayer at Public College

April 30, 2003

Source: The Boston Globe

On April 30, 2003 the Boston Globe reported that "in a precedent-setting ruling against prayer at a state college, a federal appeals court has barred the Virginia Military Institute from writing and reciting a prayer before cadets eat their evening meals. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Richmond, was the first court at its level to extend to public colleges and universities a series of Supreme Court rulings against prayers at public elementary and high schools... 'VMI's supper prayer exacts an unconstitutional toll on...

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Morton Grove Village Board Rejects Mosque Proposal

April 29, 2003

Source: Chicago Tribune

http://www.chicagotribune.com/archives

On April 29, 2003 the Chicago Tribune reported that "the Morton Grove Village Board [IL]unanimously rejected a proposal Monday night for a mosque that drew heavy opposition from residents who said it would create traffic and parking problems... But trustees made it clear that the Muslim Education Center, a school at 8601 Menard Ave., could submit a new plan and repeat the process before the Plan Commission and Village...

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Editorial: Religion and Public Policy

April 29, 2003

Source: Christianity Today

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2003/005/27.30.html

On April 29, 2003 Christianity Today printed an editorial stating that "many critics don't understand the complexity of religious and specifically Judeo-Christian language. Through religious language, as Fuller Theological Seminary President Richard Mouw recently put it, Bush 'has reintroduced into the culture the language of morality and moral distinctions...' This is not to defend...

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Update: Hindus Protest over Sandels with Ganesha Images

April 29, 2003

Source: American Hindus Against Defamation

http://www.hindunet.org/ahad/americaneagle/

On April 29, 2003 American Hindus Against Defamation issued a press release stating that "AHAD was informed of this issue on April 23, and its members launched an informal campaign to have the flip flops withdrawn. On April 27, AHAD launched a formal campaign against American Eagle Outfitters for putting Lord Ganesh on Flip Flops (shoes)... American Eagle Outfitters have offered a formal...

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