Source: The New York Times

On February 12, 2002, The New York Times reported that "barely six months ago, Buddhism -- Tibetan and Zen -- was on a phenomenal upsurge in the New York area, attracting eager students to rural monasteries and urban meditation centers. Then came the attacks on the United States and the American war in Afghanistan. Nonviolence is no longer in fashion, particularly in New York, where the scars go deep and wounds are still fresh months after the destruction of the World Trade Center... Messages of peace and compassion that once...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On February 11, 2002, the Los Angeles Times reported that "leaders at one of the largest Buddhist temples in the Vietnamese community on Sunday criticized a decision by Garden Grove [CA] officials to restrict parking for a popular service on the eve of the Lunar New Year... 'They've blocked too many streets for such an important day,' said the Rev. Thich Phap Chau of the Vietnam Temple, which attracts about 1,000 worshipers... 'People only come here for mass and they leave,' Chau said. 'It's just like going to church on Christmas...

Source: Star Tribune

On February 9, 2002, the Star Tribune reported that "ever since Sept. 11 the United States has seen a resurgence of sensitivity to and expressions of civil religion - we value service, cooperation, equality of justice and opportunity, respect for diversity and national symbols and ideas... The Rev. Peg Chemberlin, executive director of the Minnesota Council of Churches, said, 'Part of what we're seeing is a firm commitment to the celebration of religious pluralism. In that it's a central value of a democracy'... Chemberlin said, '...

Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

http://www.asia.si.edu/exhibitions/mandala

On February 3, 2002, The Atlanta Journal and Consitution reported that "for six hours a day for two weeks... 20 Tibetan Buddhist monks... [created] the largest sand painting ever constructed in the United States... They began creating Jan. 11, four months after terrorists struck the Pentagon, [until] the day of the painting's final consecration, just before it was destroyed, its millions...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On February 2, 2002, the Los Angeles Times reported on a common "concern in Asian and Asian American churches: In becoming a Christian, does a convert sever ties with his non-Christian loved ones." The article focuses on the story of Dickson Yagi, "born in a Buddhist family in Hawaii... He had been the first member of his Shingon Buddhist family to convert to Christianity... Yagi went on to become a Southern Baptist minister... The third-generation Okinawan American's personal experiences convinced him that the 'good news' of...

Source: The Oregonian

On February 1, 2002 The Oregonian featured an editorial on a meeting in Clatskanie, OR that was "sponsored by a Portland-based Zen Buddhist group, the Zen Community of Oregon, to explain its plans to remodel a former elementary school into a monastery and seminary. But many objected to adding the Zen sanctuary to the community's eight churches... 'Our goal is to protect those that have not yet accepted Christ,' said Loren Dummer, the Assembly of God pastor. He worried that that the Zen Buddhists, who are not evangelical, would try to...

Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

On January 25, 2002, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that "as diverse a religious gathering as Pittsburgh ever sees came to what participants called 'our little piece of Assisi' last night to join their prayers for peace with those of Pope John Paul II and religious leaders from around the world... Catholic Bishop Donald Wuerl came first down the aisle of the chapel of the Sisters of St. Francis of Millvale, where 125 people had gathered. After him came veiled Muslim women, a Baptist minister, Jewish leaders, a Zen...

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

On January 23, 2002, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that "leaders of more than 20 faiths and denominations in the St. Louis region will gather tonight to reflect on the call to peace found in their respective scriptures... Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Taoist, Sikh and Ba'hai leaders will enter the sanctuary of the St. Louis Cathedral Basilica and individually read from their scripture about peace... Archbishop Justin Rigali, past chairman of the Cabinet of the Interfaith Partnership of Metropolitan St....

Source: Los Angeles Times

On January 20, 2002, the Los Angeles Times featured an article on "the 14th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Service, hosted by the San Fernando Valley Interfaith Council... Speakers representing the Bahai, Jewish, Islam, Buddhist and Christian faiths will speak about peace and nonviolence from the perspective of their religion, organizers said. An interfaith choir will perform."