Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

On March 20, 2003 The Atlanta Journal and Constitution reported that "after meeting for six years in the old VFW building on Tara Boulevard in Jonesboro [GA], the Southern Korean Baptist Church hopes to celebrate Thanksgiving by moving into a 14,000-square-foot building adjacent to the current facility... The church will break ground for the project at 12:45 p.m. Sunday. The building will include a 228-seat sanctuary, fellowship hall and 11 classrooms and offices."

Source: The Associated Press

On March 20, 2003 The Associated Press reported that "each Wednesday, four veterans of the U.S. military kneel and offer prayers for peace - using words of the faithful from all over the world - at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in the Yakima Valley... There are Christian, Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist, Bahai and even Zoroastrian prayers... 'We just don't think we have an exclusive voice to heaven,' said Bill Flower, 66, an Army veteran and a lifelong member of Holy Trinity... The idea came from the church's Spokane Diocese, which...

Source: The Hartford Courant

On March 20, 2003 The Hartford Courant reported that "more than 25 churches in Connecticut have declared themselves "sanctuaries for peace" and will open their doors starting today for people to gather and pray... While congregations' opinions may be divided about the war, religious leaders say it's important that people have a place to go at such a crucial time... But the peace sanctuaries are not just a place for anti-war people to gather, Hughes said... 'Families may be coming from different perspectives -- some may be very...

Source: Tolerance.org

http://www.tolerance.org/news/article_print.jsp?id=731

On March 20, 2003 Tolerance.org reported that "suspicion, backlash, anger and fear... are the homeland insecurities that surround us in times of war... Muslims will feel it. Arab-Americans will feel it. Peace activists will feel it. The divides that separate us will be drawn into sharper relief... If 9.11 taught us anything, it taught us that our biases are emboldened in times of stress and...

Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

On March 19, 2003 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that "it is hard to define where the song, dance and food -- the culture of the Lebanese community -- end and the role of the Maronite church begins. 'The church is the sign of the unity of our people. It's what keeps us together,' said Joseph Anthony, who in 1936 was born into the first Lebanese Maronite Catholic church in Pittsburgh. 'And it's as important now as it was then...' Now, as Our Lady of Victory Church in Scott, the congregation is celebrating it's 100 th...

Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/112965_aboard18.shtml

On March 18, 2003 the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that "it is here... abroad the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Persian Gulf... on folding metal chairs, that shipmates utter private secrets and confessions, gather in Wicca circles for meditation, study Bible verses, offer up devout prayers to Allah, work their rosary beads, celebrate the Jewish Sabbath... The number of...

Source: The Associated Press

Source: The Associated Press

http://www.azdailysun.com/non_sec/nav_includes/story.cfm?storyID=61962

On March 18, 2003 The Associated Press reported that "having had months to focus on the buildup toward conflict, America's anti-war activists say they are ready to mark the first days of war with protests in dozens of cities coast to coast... They vow to block federal buildings, military compounds and streets in a rash of peaceful civil disobedience....

Source: The New York Times

Source: The Omaha World-Herald

On March 16, 2003 The Omaha World-Herald reported that "hundreds of people marched in Omaha Saturday chanting, 'Drop Bush, not bombs...' The march through downtown Omaha was part of a 11/2-hour rally staged by the Act to Stop War Coalition, a loosely knit group of local people opposed to a U.S. invasion of Iraq... On Saturday, exhortations against war came from such speakers as former U.S. Rep. John Cavanaugh; the Rev. Damian Zuerlein of Our Lady of Guadulupe Catholic Church; Rabbi Craig Marantz of Temple Israel; Ibrahim...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On March 16, 2003 the Los Angeles Times printed an editorial by Benjamin J. Hubbard stating that "peace activists must remember that the potential for war in Iraq is prompting differing responses from religious communities. According to the Web-based religion site beliefnet.com, liberal Protestant, Roman Catholic and Muslim groups tend to oppose the war, and Jewish groups want to exhaust other alternatives before any invasion. Southern Baptists (and presumably most other evangelicals) favor the war. The pope opposes war, former...

Source: The Houston Chronicle

On March 15, 2003 The Houston Chronicle reported that "Orthodox Christians worldwide continue to celebrate the restoration of icons to their churches after a bitter and at times violent iconoclastic - literally 'image smashers' - movement that racked Eastern Christianity for about 120 years... The Sunday of Orthodoxy, which is celebrated on the first Sunday of the Orthodox Lent, is one of the few services that draws the various branches together and beyond ethnic or national churches, said the Rev. John Stephanopoulos, dean of...

Source: The Columbus Dispatch

On March 14, 2003 The Columbus Dispatch reported that "the Jewish holiday of Purim and the Hindu festival of Holi will be celebrated next week. Christianity's Holy Hilarity Sunday will follow on April 27, a week after most believers observe Easter... In Purim, which begins at sundown Monday and runs through sundown Tuesday, comedy masks pain. The holiday commemorates how the Jews in ancient Persia survived a genocidal plot by Haman, royal adviser to King Ahasuerus... playfulness is exhibited in the festival Holi (pronounced...

Source: Beliefnet