Christianity

Advocacy Group Claims First Amendment Violations at DC School System's 9/11 Memorials

September 19, 2002

Source: The Washington Post

On September 19, 2002 The Washington Post reported that "according to Americans United for Separation of Church and State, an advocacy group... the [District of Columbia public] school system appears to have violated... a memo from the school system's general counsel, headed 'Religious Neutrality Requirements' and sent to all school and central office administrators,... [which] told employees to 'be mindful that we are required under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to avoid entanglement with religious issues and...

Read more about Advocacy Group Claims First Amendment Violations at DC School System's 9/11 Memorials

2000 Glenmary Research Center Survey of Religious Congregations in America

September 18, 2002

Source: The New York Times

On September 18, 2002, The New York Times reported on "the study, 'Religious Congregations and Membership: 2000'... Because the Census Bureau does not ask about religion, some scholars regard this study, first done in 1971, as the most comprehensive assessment available of the changes in American religious affiliation. The study is based on self-reporting by religious groups, a method that the study's authors acknowledge is imprecise because religious groups can inflate their numbers. The study was conducted by Glenmary...

Read more about 2000 Glenmary Research Center Survey of Religious Congregations in America

2000 Glenmary Research Center Survey of Religious Congregations in America

September 18, 2002

Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

On September 18, 2002 The Atlanta Journal and Constitution reported that "the number of Catholics in the Atlanta metro area more than doubled over the last 10 years... And defying a national trend, most mainline Protestant denominations in the area --- such as United Methodist Church and Presbyterian Church (USA) --- gained members in the same time period... Southern Baptists held their No. 1 position in the South and in metro Atlanta. However, the survey does not account for "Black Baptists," which include...

Read more about 2000 Glenmary Research Center Survey of Religious Congregations in America

St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church in Alabama

September 14, 2002

Source: Newsday

On September 14, 2002 Newsday reported on "Benedict Tallant... a pastor of St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church [in Alabama], the oldest patriarchal Russian congregation in the South. St. Nicholas - which has about 70 members and averages 30 people for its Sunday service - is under the auspices of Alexy II, head of the church in Russia. St. Nicholas was organized in 1894 for Slavic immigrants who came to Alabama to work in the coal mines. The mines played out years ago, but a half-dozen children of the immigrants remain. Because of...

Read more about St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church in Alabama

Inclusion of Jewish and Muslim Holidays in the Workplace

September 13, 2002

Source: Equal Time

http://eastbay.bizjournals.com/eastbay/stories/2002/09/16/smallb3.html

On September 13, 2002 Equal Time reported that "few U.S. employers list the Jewish High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur as employee holidays. The same goes for Ramadan, the most religiously significant time of year for the world's 1 billion Muslims. But as the workplace has become more racially, ethnically and religiously diverse, firms have tried to...

Read more about Inclusion of Jewish and Muslim Holidays in the Workplace

The Muslim American Experience in the Past Year

September 13, 2002

Source: Christian Science Monitor

http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0913/p10s04-comv.html

On September 13, 2002 the Christian Science Monitor reported that "the impulse to place collective blame for 9/11 on [Muslims and Americans of Middle Eastern background] groups has surfaced in acts of prejudice and, sometimes, violence. But... there have also been acts of kindness and reassurance by Americans determined to show their Muslim neighbors or colleagues that they are...

Read more about The Muslim American Experience in the Past Year

Interfaith Memorials in Ohio

September 12, 2002

Source: The Plain Dealer

On September 12, 2002 The Plain Dealer reported that "throughout the [Northeast Ohio] region - in a Muslim mosque in Parma, at a Jewish candle-lighting ceremony downtown and in a daylong Buddhist walk of remembrance crossing nearly the entire city - people of all faiths joined in gestures of unity and respect... as thousands of worshippers gathered in special services, prayer vigils and communitywide events to commemorate the anniversary of the worst terrorist attack in American history."

Religious Groups Speak Out Against War with Iraq: Sep. 2002

September 12, 2002

Source: National Council of Churches

http://www.ncccusa.org/news/02news83.html

On September 12, 2002, the National Council of Churches issued a press release stating that "forty-nine heads of American Protestant and Orthodox churches and organizations and of Roman Catholic religious orders today announced opposition to U.S. military action against Iraq... In a letter to President Bush, the church leaders acknowledged that [Saddam] 'Hussein poses a...

Read more about Religious Groups Speak Out Against War with Iraq: Sep. 2002

Religious Services in New York: One Year Later

September 12, 2002

Source: Newsday

On September 12, 2002 Newsday reported that "from Battery Park to Bayside to Brooklyn Heights, many New Yorkers who said they rarely attend religious services came together yesterday to remember and to reflect. They said they came to grieve for those who were lost. They came to affirm the resolve to go on living. Most of all, they said they came to try to understand what had happened and to learn to cope with what they fear could happen again. Not all the gatherings around the city were organized. Interfaith pastor Eleni Marudis held...

Read more about Religious Services in New York: One Year Later

St. Petersburg Holds Interfaith Memorial

September 12, 2002

Source: St. Petersburg Times

On September 12, 2002 the St. Petersburg Times reported that "a prayer breakfast sponsored by St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker and the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce offered the opportunity for interfaith prayer. Held at the St. Petersburg Hilton, the event underscored a renewed commitment to faith in this country, Baker said. Ronald Tihal, 71, a Hindu and a retired headmaster from Guyana, South America, was among more than 400 people who attended the service sponsored by the St. Petersburg Ministerial Association,...

Read more about St. Petersburg Holds Interfaith Memorial

Muslims and Discrimination

September 11, 2002

Source: The Daily Telegraph

On September 11, 2002 The Daily Telegraph reported that "when it comes to everyday life, the state - from police to teachers and airport security guards - has often bent over backwards to avoid discrimination against Muslims. In fact, many conservative commentators have accused the authorities of excessive tact. Where there have been acts of clear discrimination, they have often been driven by the fears of private individuals. A number of foreign-looking passengers have been thrown off US flights since September 11 after...

Read more about Muslims and Discrimination

Vitriol Against, and Interest in, Islam Increased

September 11, 2002

Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

On September 11, 2002 The Atlanta Journal and Constitution reported that "Cable television news shows and talk-radio programs have criticized the Quran. The Rev. Franklin Graham called Islam "wicked, violent and not of the same God" to which Christians pray. Jerry Vines, the former president of the Southern Baptists, said the Prophet Muhammad was a "demon-possessed pedophile." In some places, the vitriol spilled into violence, even though most Muslims condemned the actions of al-Qaida. But there was another...

Read more about Vitriol Against, and Interest in, Islam Increased

Court Upholds Ruling: No Sectarian Prayers at Government Agencies

September 10, 2002

Source: The San Francisco Chronicle

On September 10, 2002 The San Francisco Chronicle reported "Government agencies in California can't open their public meetings with sectarian prayers, like those that invoke the name of Jesus Christ, a state appellate court ruled Monday. Such invocations used at the beginning of government meetings violate the constitutional separation of church and state, said the three-panel Court of Appeal in Los Angeles."

Pages