Source: Tricycle

http://www.tricycle.com/p_articles_id_123.html

On October 31, 2003 Tricycle described " Soka Gakkai International (SGI for short), the largest, most racially and ethnically diverse Buddhist organization in America and, with twelve million members in 186 countries worldwide and a full-time representative to the United Nations, the first global Buddhist presence in history... "Chanting for a better car, a new job, even a mate, has long been the hallmark of SGI...

Source: The Associated Press

http://www.fac.org/rel_liberty/publiclife/news.aspx?id=12139

On October 31, 2003 The Associated Press reported that "the City Council decided yesterday to move a controversial Ten Commandments monument out of a park and into a plaza that will honor a variety of historic documents. The 5-4 vote followed a unanimous rejection of an offer by the Rev. Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan.,to place his own monument...

Source: Eurasianet

http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/rights/articles/eav103003.shtml

On October 30, 2003 Eurasianet ran an opinion piece by Daan van der Schriek in which he commented on the state of religious intolerance in Georgia: "All the troubles plaguing Georgia - breakaway republics, political hostility, and economic dependence on Russia - may obscure the extent of religious intolerance in the country. Georgia has tolerated hundreds of...

Source: Calitoday

http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=18f277849ffa18848a8f9f88f3c8a0c5

On October 30, 2003 Calitoday reported that "in major cities throughout California, Vietnamese both young and old gathered to light candles or wield signs to protest a renewed crackdown on religious freedoms in Vietnam... In the past month, Hanoi has tracked, detained and arrested Buddhist clergy in the country with new...