Source: The Minnesota Daily

http://www.daily.umn.edu/articles/2003/12/12/7872

On December 12, 2003 The Minnesota Daily reported on the diverse ways Minnesota students will spend the holiday season. While Christian students prepare for Christmas, Hindus, Jews, pagans and students of other religions will also take part in activities during the holidays. Hindu students will celebrate Sankranti, a festival that traditionally marks the end of southern Asia’s harvest. 40...

Source: The Daily Oakland Press

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/a/2003/12/04/MNG0Q3FQD51.DTL

On December 4, 2003 the San Francisco Chronicle reported on the increasing number of "nones" in America, individuals who answer "none" or "no religion" when pollsters ask them their religious affiliation. According to the article, some "nones" identify themselves as atheists or agnostics, but the vast majority believe in God...

Source: Maariv

http://www.indypressny.org/article.php3?ArticleID=1134

On November 14, 2003 Maariv reported on "the complexity of leaving ultra-orthodox communities in New York. On top of the enormous challenges and identity crisis this metamorphosis entails, unbelievers have to face life in a big and difficult metropolis, often without any support, advice or outside assistance. Unlike in Israel, where there are support centers and organizations for such people, as...

Source: Daily Record

http://ydr.com/story/religion/10761/

On June 23, 2003 the Daily Record reported that "as an attorney, Arnold represents the Pennsylvania Nonbelievers, a York-based group of humanists, free-thinkers and atheists who protest government-sanctioned religious practices or events, such as the National Day of Prayer... Most people would think Arnold wouldn’t be caught dead in church. They would probably be right if it weren’t for the Unitarian Universalist...

Source: The New York Times

On April 13, 2003 The New York Times reported that "the Utah Supreme Court has granted an atheist the right to pray in City Council meetings... The court ruled on Friday that if officials in Murray, a Salt Lake City suburb, wanted to pray during government-sponsored events, the opportunity must be accessible to all who ask."

Source: The Times-Picayune

On April 10, 2003 The Times-Picayune reported that "members of First Unitarian Universalist Church are celebrating their congregation's 170th year in New Orleans as a small bastion of spiritual liberalism embedded in conservative New Orleans... Continuing a recent tradition, members of the congregation of 100 or so ended a regular Sunday service March 23 by laying a wreath on the grave of the Rev. Theodore Clapp, a robust, colorful figure who in 1833 founded what would become First Unitarian Universalist after being expelled as a...

Source: The Associated Press

Source: Star-Telegram

http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/local/4934945.htm

On January 13, 2003 the Star-Telegram reported that "a former atheist who is now president of the Unitarian Universalist Association will push to put the word 'God' into a new statement of principles of the Boston-based, liberal church group, he said Sunday... 'God' was not mentioned in a statement of principles approved in 1984, the Rev. William Sinkford said at First Jefferson...

Source: Suburban Chicago News

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/newssun/city/w07religs.htm

On December 7, 2002 the Suburban Chicago News questioned "why would a loving God permit human suffering? What is the surest path to spiritual enlightenment? How can both doubt and belief spring from the same insurmountable questions?" Then suggested that "these and other weighty matters will be broached during some thought-provoking discussions being offered by faith...

Source: Religion News Service

http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=1794

On December 3, 2002 Religion News Service reported that "twenty-two members of Congress have urged a federal court to dismiss a suit challenging the constitutionality of congressional chaplains. The American Center for Law and Justice filed a friend-of-the-court brief in U.S. District Court in Washington on behalf of itself and 22 members of Congress in response to a lawsuit filed in August by...

Source: The Associated Press

On October 15, 2002 The Associated Press reported that "a plaque displaying the Ten Commandments no longer hangs in Altoona's [PA] municipal building, and some council members who want to put it back on display are running into opposition. Groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the American Atheists Inc. argue that displaying the religious text in a government building is a clear violation of the separation of church and state and would offend some people. Altoona city officials say the plaque deserves to be...

Source: The Associated Press

http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=16939

On September 11, 2002 The Associated Press reported that "a federal judge... refused to halt the planned reading of a prayer at Mayor Richard M. Daley's public gathering... to remember the terrorist attacks of last Sept. 11, rejecting an atheist's claim that the prayer is unconstitutional. 'These religious aspects, however, occur separately and apart from any...

Source: Statesman Journal

http://news.statesmanjournal.com/article.cfm?i=44359.

On June 30, 2002, the Statesman Journal of Salem, Oregon featured an article on the recent Pledge of Allegiance ruling. "The decision created instant furor, in part because the pledge is an American icon. But it may have just as much to do with people’s relationship with God — or lack thereof... In America, God means different...

Source: The Houston Chronicle

On April 13, 2002, The Houston Chronicle reported that, according to two recent studies, "the number of people who say they don't belong to a religion has doubled over the last decade... For personal reasons, 29.4 million people said last year that they skip church, mosque and synagogue - up from 14.3 million in 1990, a rise from 8 percent to 14 percent of the U.S. population... That's the word from the American Religious Identification Survey, conducted in 2001... by the Graduate Center of City University of New York......