Source: The Bakersfield Californian

http://www.bakersfield.com/local/story/1505644p-1623213c.html

On July 29, 2002 The Bakersfield Californian reported that in Bakersfield, California "a ceremony in the council chambers will formally dedicate... 'In God We Trust'... the words that were mounted last week above the city seal behind the council dais... And representatives of the city's Islamic, Buddhist, Sikh, Hindu, Jewish, American Indian, Catholic and...

Source: Rediff.com

http://www.rediff.com/us/2002/jul/27us.htm

On July 27, 2002, Rediff.com reported that when Sadhvi Rithambara, a former prominent Hindu politician in India, spoke at reception, in Queens, New York, "40-odd angry demonstrators protested her presence with placards accusing her of communal bloodshed... Watching the demonstrators was a visibly shaken Uma Mysorekar, president of the Hindu Temple Society... ' The temple did not know she was going to speak. They just...

Source: The New York Times

On July 26, 2002 The New York Times reported that the Mayor of Schenectady, New York is actively encouraging Guyanese immigrants "to move to his struggling city of 62,000 people... The mayor's effort began after he received a telephone call last year from... a Guyanese immigrant who settled here 15 years earlier and was looking for a place to build a Hindu temple. There were only 200 Guyanese immigrants living here, but the mayor helped them find a vacant Catholic church to house the temple, and in the process he learned a few...

Source: San Antonio Express-News

On July 22, 2002 the San Antonio Express-News featured an article on the San Antonio Hindu Temple. "In the 13 years since it was built, the hilltop temple has served as the spiritual home to San Antonio's small but growing Hindu population. It has also evolved into a cultural anchor for many of the worshippers who are Indian or of Indian descent... Each Sunday after prayers and a study period, worshippers gather in an adjacent building for fellowship and traditional Indian cuisine...   The temple, which houses several...

Source: Dayton Daily News

On July 14, 2002 Dayton Daily News reported that "prayers from... a variety of Christian denominations routinely open governmental meetings in the Miami Valley [in Ohio]... [But] a Xenia councilwoman is inviting Muslims, Hindus and representatives from other faiths to do the same... 'This is America' Patricia Felton said. 'We need to make that opportunity available to anyone who wants to speak'... Likewise in Columbus, the majority of those who lead the prayers for state legislators are Christians, but in recent years several...

Source: The New York Post

http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/45304.htm

On July 12, 2002, The New York Post reported that the "Lutheran minister suspended for taking part in an interfaith prayer service for families of Sept. 11 victims said yesterday that he had no regrets... 'I feel that I've acted with integrity,' said the Rev. David Benke, pastor of Brooklyn's St....

Source: The Orlando Sentinel

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-locrelschools12071202jul12.story?coll=orl%2Dhome%2Dheadlines

On July 12, 2002 The Orlando Sentinel reported that "religious leaders from a spectrum of faiths met Thursday night in a Winter Park [Florida] church to grapple with the contentious issue of religious faith and public education... Panelists agreed that teaching about...

Source: India Abroad

On July 12, 2002, India Abroad reported that "thousands of devotees took part in the Maha Kumbhabhishekam celebrations at the Sri Siva Vishnu Temple in Lanham, Maryland... The Kumbhabhishekam... was under taken after a major renovation of the temple, including the addition of a rajgopuram, or temple tower... The three-day ritual... involved bathing the deities with sanctified water, after a series of pujas [worship rituals] spread over two days."

Source: The Columbus Dispatch

On July 12, 2002 The Columbus Dispatch reported that "the Interfaith Association of Central Ohio... and the Religious Experience Advisory Council of the Ohio Bicentennial Commission are planning [a new] book, Religion in Ohio: Over 200 Years of Experiences... As the state approaches 200, Christian and Jewish bodies remain prominent, but now they have plenty of company. [The] book for Ohio's bicentennial in 2003 also will discuss the beliefs of American Indians, Baha'is, Buddhists, Hindus, Jains, Muslims, Sikhs and...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On July 8, 2002 the Los Angeles Times featured an article on discrimination faced by Muslim Americans and South Asian Americans when renting apartments in Southern California. "Anxiety... heightened in May when the FBI issued a memo saying terrorists might target apartment buildings with explosives... The Los Angeles Police Department followed that memo by releasing a list of guidelines that encouraged owners to be more vigilant about prospective tenants... Some housing advocates and civil rights attorneys worry that the...

Source: The San Francisco Chronicle

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2002/07/06/MN157497.DTL

On July 6, 2002, The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Rev. David Benke, "a high-ranking Lutheran pastor, has been suspended from his duties and ordered to apologize to all Christians for participating with Muslims, Jews, Sikhs and Hindus in an interfaith prayer service in New York's Yankee Stadium after Sept. 11......

Source: The Providence Journal

http://www.projo.com/opinion/contributors/content/projo_20020706_cthicks6.835aa.html

On July 6, 2002, The Providence Journal featured an editorial by Prof. Douglas Hicks of the University of Richmond entitled "Let's Pledge to Respect Differing Beliefs." The piece emphasizes that "'One nation under God' means different things to different Americans... Both critics and supporters of the...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On July 3, 2002, the Los Angeles Times reported that last week's two U.S. court rulings concerning religion in the public square demonstrate the strong "disagreements over the relationship between God and public life in America... First, a federal appeals court ruled that religion could not be part of a daily ritual of public school life... The next day, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that religious schools could receive public school dollars... The Rev. C. Welton Gaddy, executive director of the Washington-based Interfaith...

Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

On June 30, 2002 the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on the opening of the new Hindu Temple of Wisconsin in the city of Pewaukee. On June 30, "after four days of elaborate rituals of purification and consecration, life will be ceremoniously breathed into the temple as statues of Hindu gods are infused with prana, or 'life force'... At the Hindu Temple of Wisconsin, hundreds of volunteers worked for days to prepare for the events, which are expected to draw up to 2,000 Hindus this weekend... The temple brought in a...